Keith FOGGIN
BACCHUS Marsh police have asked for public assistance to find a 46-year-old man missing since last week.
Keith Foggin was last seen at Millbank Street, Bacchus Marsh, Victoria about 10.30am on September 24. He is about 170cm tall and of medium build with short, dark hair, a grey beard and hazel eyes.
Mr Foggin is known to keep in regular contact with his daughter via phone, but she has not heard from him in the past week. Contact Bacchus Marsh Police Station on 5366 4500.
MISSING man Keith Foggin may have picked up a hitchhiker before he went missing on his way to live with his daughter in Queensland.
The nice natured Mr Foggin, who had hitchhiked extensively himself, has not been seen since September 24.
His brother, Bruce, and daughter, Cassie, hold grave concerns for him.
Mr Foggin had picked up his unregistered station wagon from Bacchus Marsh before disappearing.
His bank account and phone have not been used.
His XD Falcon is also missing.
Bruce said his brother was looking forward to starting a new job as a truck driver.
He was looking forward to moving and changing jobs, he said.
But he said picking up hitchhikers was in his nature.
Maybe (he did). He has hitched a lot in his life, he said.
He said his brother enjoyed Jim Beam and was trusting.
His daughter Cassie said her father would call her most days.
Police confirmed they would look at hitchhiking as an avenue of inquiry and the route Mr Fogggin had taken.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A distinctive grey car may help find a man missing for two weeks.
Keith Foggin, 46, was last seen in Millbank Street, Bacchus Marsh, about 10.30am on Thursday, September 24.
An emotional Bruce Foggin urged his brother to "please come home."
Detective Sergeant Emma Lobb from the missing persons squad, said he had been due to pick up his car, which had been worked on, from there.
He had planned to leave the next day to drive to live with his daughter, Cassie, in Scarborough, Queensland.
He had recently worked at the Royal Melbourne Show and had found a new job as a truck driver.
There has been no contact since an 8am phone call with Cassie on September 24. Cassie and her uncle, Bruce Foggin, reported him missing on October 1.
Detective Sergeant Lobb said Keith had not used his phone or bank accounts since September 24.
Mr Foggin was described as Caucasian, 170cm tall, of medium build, with short dark hair, grey beard and hazel eyes. He was last seen wearing a grey
hooded zip-up jacket, dark grey pants and thongs.
Detective Sergeant Lobb said police had received information that Mr Foggin had collected his 1979 Ford Falcon XD station wagon, which is a distinctive
grey undercoat colour, and has no registration plates.
Bruce Foggin called on Keith to "please contact police or Cassie .... we just want you to come home." He said his brother was trusting and "too nice".
Cassie Foggin said her father was happy and "talks to anyone" but he was also a "very private person".
She wasn't aware of any issues her father faced. The maximum father and daughter would go without speaking was three days, so the disappearance was
out of character.
Detective Sergeant Lobb said anyone with information could call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
No one has seen Keith Foggin, dead or alive, since 2015.
For this reason, no one can be prosecuted for his murder, a Supreme Court jury has found.
Bacchus Marsh mechanic Christopher Trotter was on Tuesday found not guilty of murdering Mr Foggin because without a body prosecutors could not prove he was actually dead.
Prosecutors alleged Mr Trotter had been paid to restore Mr Foggin's 1979 XD Ford Falcon and had strung the customer along for more than two years, promising he would repair the $500 car but not making any progress.
Mr Foggin, 46, was seen at Mr Trotter's workshop on the morning of September 24, 2015, and police alleged in a Supreme Court trial that the customer confronted the mechanic, which led to a fight and Mr Foggin's death. Police alleged Mr Trotter then removed and disposed of the other man's body.
Mr Foggin's phones and bank accounts have not been accessed since that day.
Mr Trotter, 47, pleaded not guilty to murder.
His legal team acknowledged their client was a crummy mechanic who was lazy, probably incompetent and had constantly lied to Mr Foggin, who had wanted the car to drive to his native Queensland to live closer to his daughter and grandchildren.
But defence counsel Neill Hutton told the jury last week that without a body, it was near impossible to say for certain Mr Foggin was dead.
There was also no evidence of a fight in the workshop where the roller doors stayed up all day and no signs Mr Trotter or Mr Foggin had been injured. Mr Foggin's DNA was found in the mechanic's ute, the court heard, but it was not blood and Mr Trotter told police his customer had once helped him clean the ute.
If Mr Foggin was dead, Mr Hutton said, it was possible he took his own life, as he previously suffered depression, briefly contemplated suicide in December 2014, was a heavy drinker and daily cannabis user with financial problems. Police found antidepressants past their use-by date among his possessions, the court heard.
"Is he actually dead, Mr Foggin, or has he just gone off the radar from his own personal difficulties?" Mr Hutton asked the jury in his closing submission last Thursday.
"If he is dead, how did he die and when? At his own hand? These are the questions I asked on day one.
"If someone else other than Mr Foggin is involved in the death, who is it, and importantly, where, when, how and why? And what's the motive? These simply no motive of any substance that's been provided."
Prosecutor Daryl Brown told the jury it was implausible Mr Foggin either took his own life or was alive not wanting to be found, as he spoke to his daughter daily, was close to his grandchildren and planned to drive to see them. Mr Foggin sought help when he previously contemplated suicide, he said.
The prosecutor also argued it was implausible Mr Foggin calmly left Mr Trotter's workshop that day and planned to return a week later, as Mr Trotter had told police, given the customer told people he would confront the mechanic over his car.
Mr Trotter regularly lied to Mr Foggin and police, Mr Brown said.
But Mr Hutton said his client had lied to police in fear of their investigation and did so in panic or possibly stupidity.
The jury's verdict, delivered after almost two days of deliberations, was met with gasps, tears and smiles from Mr Trotter's family and friends.