QLD Police and SES volunteers continue the search for Jack Farr, who went
missing from his home in Tinbeerwah on Monday.
Jack Farr was last seen by family members in Wendoma Court, Tinbeerwah
around 12.40pm.
Police and SES volunteers conducted a search but failed to locate the man.
Residents in the area are urged to check their properties for any sight of the
man.
Police Dog Squad Unit and officers on trail and mountain bikes will
continue to search the area today.
Police hold concerns for the man’s safety as he suffers from memory loss.
The 88-year-old is described as 170cm tall with a thin build, grey balding
hair and a cleanly shaven face. He was last seen wearing white shorts, a light
coloured shirt (possibly with stripes) and sneakers.
Anyone with information which could assist police with their
investigations should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Police search for man, 88
23rd December 2010
THE search for an elderly man missing in the Tinbeerwah area since
Monday intensified yesterday.
Police officers on trail and mountain bikes ventured off road in the
search for Jack Farr.
Mr Farr was last seen by family members in Wendoma Court about 12.40pm
on Monday.
The 88-year-old, who suffers from memory loss, is believed to have
wandered away from a home.
Police and SES volunteers have been searching for Mr Farr this week
but have been unable to find any trace of him.
He has a past history of wandering to bus stops but checks have not
turned up any clues.
Police sniffer dogs were unable to find a scent earlier this week.
The cloud cover and wet weather have hampered helicopter searches of
the area.
The search initially concentrated on an area of about 1km along Mr
Farr’s street – the typical distance wandered by people with memory loss –
but has been expanded.
Residents have been asked to check their properties for Mr Farr.
He is described as 170cm tall with a thin build, grey thinning hair
and a cleanly shaven face.
He was last seen wearing white shorts, a light coloured shirt
(possibly with stripes) and sneakers.
Anyone with information should phone Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
Family hopes for Jack's safe
return
Rae Wilson |
6th January 2011 - Sunshine Coast Daily
THE sign on the cottage reads “Jack and Nona’s Home”, but their family
is distraught over its emptiness.
Nona died on November 12 after suddenly falling ill and now Jack is
missing after wandering away from their Tinbeerwah abode five days before
Christmas.
To make matters worse, their son Wayne Farr was diagnosed with bowel
cancer in August and has undergone debilitating chemotherapy ever since.
The spitting image of missing 88-year-old Jack, Wayne is sometimes
barely able to get out of bed, let alone join the search for his father.
Wayne’s wife Jenny said Jack, who has a form of dementia where he sees
images, often of people who have passed many years before, had wandered away
previously, but he had never been gone this long.
She said Jack often spoke of Warwick Farm in Sydney, where they lived
until 16 years ago, and Parkes, in central NSW, where he grew up and hoped
he tried to make his way south.
“We feel like it’s a nightmare we’re going to wake up from,” she said.
“I think we’re numb at the moment, especially with Wayne so crook.
“But I think there still is hope. Our biggest hope is that someone has
picked up him up and gave him a lift. I think it’s important to get a
message out there to that person.”
Jenny said the whole family, including her mother, who died two years
ago, had moved to Tinbeerwah 16 years ago from Sydney.
She said Jack had disappeared about a week before he went missing, but
they found him on nearby Sunrise Road soon after.
“He was extremely confused, walking along in the dark,” she said.
Jenny said she had given Jack lunch on December 20 before she and
Wayne went to Maroochydore for new tyres.
She said their phone stopped working when Jack went missing so he
could not phone home.
“When we got home about 4.30pm, the cottage door was closed which
normally means he is asleep,” she said.
“But he must have gone when we weren’t here because he wasn’t there
when I went to give him dinner about 5.30pm.
“It’s just horrendous because Jack sees images, people he believes are
as real as you and I. Whether he’s gone off with Nona or his brother in his
imagination and he’s trying to get back to Warwick Farm, or whether he’s off
in the bush, we don’t know.”
Noosa senior constable Nic van der Maat said police and SES had
conducted an extensive land and air search for about five days. He said
local dams were also searched.
“We’re really relying on the public now,” he said.
“With people of that age with medical conditions like dementia, there
aren’t many traceable avenues to find them because they don’t have bank
accounts or vehicles.”
HELP FIND DAD
Jack Farr was last seen by family in Wendoma Court, Tinbeerwah about
12.40pm on December 20.
The 88-year-old is 170cm tall with a thin build, grey balding hair.
Last seen wearing white shorts, a light coloured shirt and sneakers.
Anyone with information should phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Jenny Farr's
father-in-law Jack went missing last December and has not been
seen since. Then last April her husband Wayne died from cancer.
Picture: Ben Vos Source:
Quest Newspapers
Local man Jack Farr should have celebrated his 90th birthday
this year. Instead, his family is left wondering what happened to the
much-loved old man who disappeared from his Tinbeerwah home last
December.
This week his daughter-in-law Jenny told of the toll his disappearance
has had on her family.
‘‘My husband Wayne, Jack’s son, passed away from cancer just a few
months later, in April,’’ she told The Journal.
‘‘We knew he was ill but I didn’t expect to lose him, he was so fit.
It was the stress of it all.’’
Mr Farr was last seen at his Wendoma Court home on December 20.
‘‘Wayne and I went (out) . . . and when we got home his bedroom door
was closed.
‘‘I went to get him up and realised he had gone.’’
Suffering from dementia, Mr Farr had disappeared about a week before
he went missing but was found on nearby Sunrise Rd soon after.
‘‘He never went very far but this time we just couldn’t find him,’’ Ms
Farr said.
Police and SES responded immediately.
‘‘They were unbelievable – I couldn’t praise them high enough,’’ she
said.
But despite a widespread search using police sniffer dogs, trail and
mountain bikes and a helicopter, police found no trace of him.
‘‘Jack’s wife Nona died on November 19 that year and he had been
talking about her a lot, and seeing her, so we thought maybe he had gone
looking for her.’’
She said he often spoke of Warwick Farm in Sydney, where they lived
until 16 years ago, and Parkes, in NSW, where he grew up.
‘‘He kept talking about going home and if anybody picked him up, he
would ask to go to the train station or bus station,’’ she said.
‘‘Perhaps somebody did pick him up and he got on a train to somewhere
but can’t remember where he came from.
‘‘I know a long time has passed but the police haven’t found anything.
I can’t quite believe he’s in the forest. I’m sure they would have found
something if he was there.’’
While she struggles to move on with her life Jenny is grateful for
wonderful family memories.
‘‘I just want to know what happened to Jack so please, if anybody
knows anything, then let us know.’’
Jack Farr is 165cm tall with a fair complexion, grey hair and hazel
eyes.
Phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
