Terry, then 12, was last seen alive on Saturday, June 28, 1975.

“I can’t wrap my head around that - that, yes, I do have a brother who has been missing for all of these years,” she said.

“You know, we were just a normal family, with Mum and Dad and six kids.

“Thirty-four years later, with Terry’s body never found, the family is still looking for answers.

“I don’t think that he’d still be alive,” Ms Cain said.

Terry grew up in Maryborough, one of six children to parents Ken and Dorothy Floyd.

“He was cheeky, he didn’t like going to school,” she said.

“He was a bit defiant at times and he always seemed to be in trouble.”

On the day he went missing, Terry played football for the Maryborough Rovers under 15s at Jubilee Oval, just like he did every other Saturday morning.

But instead of going with his teammates to watch the seniors play at Harcourt, he made his way to Avoca - about 25km from Maryborough - and visited a school acquaintance, Greg Jess.

Mrs Jess offered Terry a ride home, but he said that he didn’t need one, because his “Unk” was picking him up at the intersection of the Pyrenees and Sunraysia highways at 4.30pm.

Greg Jess accompanied Terry to the crossroads, and left him leaning against a white post.

At his mother’s request, Greg returned some 15 minutes later to check on Terry.

Greg saw him walking towards Maryborough.

He had no idea that this would be the last time Terry would be seen alive.

There are several reported sightings about this time of a young boy being near a white or cream-coloured panel van or ute with a canopy.

“We just assumed that he got into that car,” Ms Cain said.

A 2001 Melbourne Coroners Court inquest heard how police continued to interview witnesses the week before the inquest into Terry's disappearance.

Terry was last seen at the intersection of the Sunraysia and Pyrenees highways, near Avoca, at 5pm on Saturday, June 28, 1975.

Coroner Francis Hender found Terry had likely died from unknown causes at an unknown place at an unknown time.

Mr Hender said the inquest could be re-opened if new information came to hand.

While the inquest found that Terry likely died, no body has been found and his family still lives in hope he will one day walk through the door.

Despite more than three decades since his disappearance, one relative is still undecided about the young boy's fate.

"He may be dead, like some people and the police think, but he could also be working in the mines at Coober Pedy," said the relative, who did not want to be named.

Terry was the third child of eight _ five boys and three girls _ of Ken and Dorothy Floyd of Maryborough.

His relative who spoke with The Courier believes the boy travelled to Avoca to see a girlfriend.

"A friend's parents were travelling to Avoca from Maryborough on that day and saw a boy walking on the side of the road. They were about to stop, but another car pulled over and Terry got in. That was the last time Terry was seen," the relative said.

During the search, police scoured bushland and crawled into mineshafts in the hopes of finding a trace of the Form 1 (now Year 7) boy from Maryborough High School.

Weeks and months went by and the search was eventually called off.

"We always thought Terry would come back. We didn't think that it was going to be the last time we would hear from him," Terry's relative said.

"I always got the impression he caught transport and headed to Adelaide.

"He was a robust kid, who got into a lot of mischief, like any kid at that age, but he always got on well with his family.

"He joined in a lot of school activities and was pretty good at sports, particularly football."

Terry's parents died many years ago without knowing their son's whereabouts.

"If Terry is still alive and walked down the streets of Maryborough today, no one would know that he was Terry Floyd. After 30 years, no one would recognise him," his relative said.

Preliminary works were carried out in recent weeks to ensure the shaft in a state forest at Bung Bong Hill was structurally sound for an excavation crew to work in during the painstaking search for the body of Maryborough boy, Terry James Floyd, who disappeared in 1975.

Terry, then aged 12, was last seen on Saturday, June 28, 1975, standing on the roadside of the Pyrenees Highway, seven kilometres from Avoca.

His younger brother Daryl, who was 10 at the time, strongly believes the mineshaft, only 500 metres from where Terry was last seen, is the final resting place of the cheeky, well-liked boy.

After years of researching the case, scrutinising the 254-page police brief on his brother's disappearance and following new information received in recent months, Daryl believes his brother's body may be down the shaft.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment and the mine's lease-holder, a South Australian mining company, have given permission for Daryl to excavate the shaft. The search also has the approval of Victoria Police.

Daryl is spending tens of thousands of dollars of his own money to find his brother's remains, while generous business owners have donated vital items to be used in the search, including machinery and security fencing.

Steven and Brooke Burchell, a father-and-daughter excavation crew from Compact Mining at Maldon, will begin work tomorrow to start removing 35 years' worth of rubbish dumped in the 20 metre-deep shaft. During preliminary works rubbish removed from the shaft mouth included oil cans and drums, carpet, clothes and household rubbish. One rubbish skip has already been filled.

The Burchells are expected to clear about a metre of rubbish each day and Daryl believes his brother’s remains could be as far down as 17 or 18 metres.

Once the excavation begins, a vet will be on site to identify animal bones. In the event any human remains are found, police will be called in.

Victoria Police said there are no solid facts to support the belief that the body of Terry is in the disused mine, a police spokesman said yesterday.

“This is the reason Victoria Police decided not to fund the cost of the excavation,’’ the spokesman said.

“The Terry Floyd case remains open and police are always prepared to act on new information and commit resources where appropriate.’’

Mining records indicate the mine was last active in 1920, but it was used as a dump for sewerage in the 1960s and early 1970s, just before the disappearance of Terry.

“I’m feeling quite anxious at the moment,’’ Daryl said yesterday. “Terry’s disappearance has haunted my family for 35 years, now I want to get this over and done with. I want some closure.’’

On the day of Terry’s disappearance, two separate witnesses told police they saw a ''skinny, wiry’’ boy standing next to a white panel van on the Pyrenees Highway.

The last sighting was made by a man who was dumping animal offal into the bush. He told police he first saw a boy standing next to the vehicle at Bung Bong Hill about 4.55pm on June 28, 1975.

When he returned to the highway minutes later, the panel van was still on the roadside, but there was no sign of the boy.

Daryl’s love for his big brother has never waned. For months after his disappearance, the Floyds held out hope that Terry had run away and would be found safe and well.

But as those months turned into years, Daryl’s hope turned into despair and then anger as he realised that his big brother was probably dead and would never be coming home.

A 2001 coronial inquiry found Terry had likely died from unknown causes at an unknown place at an unknown time.

The 35-year search for Terry has taken its toll on the Floyd family. Daryl said the stress had contributed to the premature death of his mother, Dorothy. She died, aged 56, 12 years to the day after Terry disappeared. He said his remaining siblings were divided by the disappearance.

“Some of them are handling it very well, while others are still not coping and can’t even talk about it.”

Anyone who may have information about the disappearance of Terry Floyd is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The four cylinder engine and what is believed to be a tail shaft, were found last weekend by a Maldon excavation crew searching for the remains of Terry Floyd, who disappeared from the outskirts of Avoca on June 28, 1975.

Homicide detectives confirmed yesterday that police were investigating the discovery on Sunday in the Morning Star gold mine, just off the Pyrenees Highway, and would try to trace the owner of the engine.

VicRoads data bases will be checked in an effort to trace the owner. As their computerised records only go back to 1982, police may have to sift through years of microfiche and hard copies to find the owner.

Convicted paedophile Raymond Kenneth Jones has long been a suspect in the murder, but denied any involvement when questioned by police.

Jones is believed to have been familiar with the area after spending part of his childhood there.

Terry's brother Daryl, who is funding the mine shaft excavation, said yesterday that he believed his own investigation was "heading in the right direction'', but he was not allowing himself to become over-confident.

After scrutinising the 254-page police brief and on receiving new information in recent months, Daryl believes the mine shaft, 500 metres from where Terry was last see, is the final resting place of his brother.

Daryl and the excavation crew will return to the mine shaft tomorrow.

The team has already dug 10 metres into the 20-metre gold mine. Anything of interest is recorded by a crime scene photographer, the pictures are then sent to Melbourne where they are examined by a pathologist. A detective is also on site during digging.

Working only at weekends, a Maldon excavation crew has already dug

14 metres of the 20-metre mine shaft looking for the body of Terry James Floyd, who disappeared from the Pyrenees Highway on the outskirts of Avoca on June 28, 1975.

Terry's brother Daryl believes the body could be as far as 17 or 18 metres down the Morning Star mine, only 500 metres from where the Maryborough school boy was last seen.

Daryl, who is funding the search of the mine after receiving new information about his missing brother in recent months, said the excavation team was stalled last weekend by tree stumps and an old kitchen stove which had plugged the shaft.

Unable to use a standard chainsaw, the crew painstakingly cut up the huge pine stumps with an air saw.

"Getting the stove out of the shaft was another snag. Because of its sheer size and shape, it became jammed about four or five feet from the top. It was a big relief when it finally squeezed through the opening," Daryl said yesterday. "Barring any other snags, the mine could be fully excavated by the end of this weekend.''

Daryl said he was trying to keep an open mind about the search.

"(Police) have told me to live by the ABC method ... assume nothing, believe nothing, check everything," he said.

Anything of interest found in the mine shaft is recorded by a crime scene photographer, and the pictures are then examined by a pathologist. A detective is also on site during digging.

The red Miller's shirt was discovered by an excavation crew on Thursday after a six-week search of the former Morning Star gold mine at Bung Bong Hill.

The shirt, found in good condition about 25 metres down the shaft, is believed to have been worn by Terry the day he disappeared from along the Pyrenees Highway on June 28, 1975.

Terry's brother Daryl, who has been financing the excavation of the shaft, located only 500 metres from where his brother was last seen, was confident the children's sized shirt belonged to the missing 12-year-old.

"We were a poor family and so didn't have many clothes. Terry had two Miller's shirts, a blue one and a red one, and he was wearing one the day he disappeared," Daryl said yesterday from the search site.

"I was only 10 when Terry went missing and I can remember stories that Mum told at the time saying that he was wearing a Miller's shirt, but I can't remember which colour it was.

"I will be shattered if we don't find anything after the search, but the discovery of this shirt has lifted my hopes and makes me convinced that the information given to me about this particular mine shaft a few month ago was spot-on."

While Terry disappeared in the mid-1970s and the shirt was found among rubbish dating back to only the early 1980s, Daryl believes the item of clothing may have been snagged on the side of the shaft for some years before being dislodged. The shirt has been bagged ready for police examination.

Yesterday, the Maldon excavation crew reached the 25.2-metre mark of the shaft, but experts believe the mine could be as deep as 30 metres.

Daryl said the excavation crew, which initially worked at the site only at weekends, had spent eight hours each day since last Saturday down the mine removing tonnes of rubbish in the search for Terry's body.

"They go down at 9am, come back up for a break at 3pm, then go back down for another two hours. They need to work six hours straight because getting up an down the ladder, which goes down 25 metres at the moment, is just too hard," Daryl said.

Anything of interest found in the mine is recorded by a crime scene photographer and pictures are then sent to Melbourne where they are examined by a pathologist. A detective has also been on site during the digging.

A spokesman for Police Minister James Merlino said yesterday talks were continuing to find a funding solution for Daryl Floyd, who has spent his life savings in the search for his brother Terry, who, at the age of 12, disappeared 35 years ago.

The minister's spokesman said he did not want to see the project abandoned and would discuss its funding with Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Simon Overland.

This followed a plea at the weekend by Daryl for help to finance the search of the Morning Star gold mine at Bung Bong Hill. The full-scale excavation of the mine, which began early last month, has already cost $20,000, with another $45,000 needed to pay the Maldon mining crew leading the search.

Daryl is financing the mine excavation following new information in the case. The search has left the Rutherglen farmer financially ruined after he spent is life savings looking for his brother. He now fears the search may have to be abandoned if funding is not found.

While detectives have been on site at the mine since the search began, Daryl has not received any financial assistance from Victoria Police in an effort to find his brother's final resting place.

When the search began last month, a Victoria Police spokesman said there were no solid facts to support the belief that the body of Terry was in the mine. This was the reason Victoria Police decided not to fund the cost of the excavation.

Last Thursday a shirt believed to belong to Terry was found about 25 metres down the shaft.

The red Miller's shirt was in good condition and has been handed over to police for examination.

The collapse came as miners uncovered thousands of cow heads thrown into the shaft in 1979, leaving four years of bones and other material to sort through before reaching the period schoolboy Terry Floyd disappeared.

Terry’s brother Daryl Floyd said the miners were reassessing how to get through the collapsed shaft and cow heads.

Mr Floyd said miners found the cow heads in a second shaft connected to the one they had been excavating.

“The shaft that the heads are in, it is behind the one we had been working in,” he said.

“What we are thinking is that shaft, the one behind us, might have been the original shaft that they used to use.

“It has got three feet of sewage.

“We have been down it, it has a 20-foot drop before you get to all the collapsed stuff. It is very unstable ground.” Terry disappeared more than 36 years ago, aged 12.

He had played football for Maryborough in the morning, visited a friend at Avoca in the afternoon and was last seen on the corner of the Pyrenees and Sunraysia highways.

Mr Floyd believes his brother’s remains are in the mine shaft.

He resumed the excavation earlier this year.

Mr Floyd and the miners returned to Morning Star mine at Bung Bong Hill, near Avoca, last week.

They discovered the heads and spent the remainder of the week plotting how they could get through the bones.

Mr Floyd said he hoped to open-cut the area above the new shaft and drill down to the area they needed to excavate.

He said he needed permission from authorities to open cut the land and drill into the shaft.