A search and rescue operation will recommence in the Bamaga area today, in
relation to a person reported missing from New South Wales.
Jamilla Humphrey, aged 52, was last seen about 1.00am Tuesday, 20 August
2024, leaving a home on Moss Avenue, Toukley (NSW).
Jamilla is described as Caucasian appearance, fair complexion, about 180cm
tall, thin build, blonde shoulder length hair, and blue eyes.
She was last seen wearing a green jacket and khaki long pants.
On Thursday, August 29, a white Mitsubishi van with NSW registration AE 92
WX – believed to be driven by Jamilla – was located on The Old Telegraph
Track, near Jardine River in Cape York.
Local police will continue the search and rescue operation this morning,
with the assistance of SES, Heathland Indigenous Rangers and a chartered
helicopter.
A broad land search is being conducted, with SES also planning to commence a
water search along the Jardine River today.
Anyone who may have seen Jamilla or has any information that could assist
police, is urged to contact police.Quote
this reference number: QP2401426465
Police have released new images of 52-year-old Jamilla Humphrey, who was
reporting missing from New South Wales on August 20.
She was last seen around 1am leaving a home on Moss Avenue, and on Thursday,
August 29, a white Mitsubishi van with NSW registration AE 92 WX – believed
to be driven by Jamilla – was located on The Old Telegraph Track, near
Jardine River in Cape York.
Jamilla is described as Caucasian appearance, fair complexion, about 180cm
tall, thin build, and blue eyes.
Police believe she now has short, brown hair, and may be wearing dark shorts
and a dark t-shirt.
The search operation is continuing, with the assistance of SES, local
rangers and aerial assets.
Anyone who may have seen Jamilla or has any information that could assist
police, is urged to contact police.
Missing woman Jamilla Humphrey's van found bogged on Cape York Peninsula
road
Queensland Police say a 52-year-old woman missing on Cape York may have
walked off from her car in remote bushland possibly looking for help.
Jamilla Humphrey was last seen leaving a family's residence in Toukley on
the New South Wales Central Coast on Tuesday, August 20.
Cairns Detective Inspector Kevin Goan said Ms Humphrey told her family she
was embarking on a solo drive to the tip of Cape York, more than 3,000
kilometres away.
He said the vehicle she was driving, a white Mitsubishi van with NSW
registration AE 92 WX, was spotted by a member of the public on Friday,
bogged by the side of the road about 3km south of the Jardine River.
"It's on a dirt track which is described as the Old Telegraph Track,"
Detective Inspector Goan said.
"Jamilla's personal effects appear untouched within the vehicle, which would
give rise to the fact that she's walked off, away from the vehicle, likely
seeking help.
"The remote track, approximately 60 kilometres as the crow flies, from the
tip of Cape York, is only suitable for four-wheel drive vehicles."
Police, State Emergency Service (SES) and park rangers started searching for
Ms Humphrey on Friday with Indigenous rangers and a chartered helicopter
also assisting.
Survivability timeframe 'shortens'
Detective Inspector Goan said the open scrub country where the car was found
was "quite a difficult area" with infrequent traffic.
"But having said that, the temperatures that you would experience up there
are probably more significant than what we're experiencing in Cairns."
He said while there were some provisions in Ms Humphrey's car, it was
unknown what, if any, items she may have taken with her.
"There's opportunity of water availability, albeit creek and river water, so
survivability is OK," he said.
"But having said that, the other elements that can impact on a person in
Cape York, will start to take effect, and that is likely to shorten the
timeframes around survivability."
He said there was no suggestion of crocodile activity or foul play but park
rangers would survey the area.
"One of the things that we have is national parks rangers coming in to
assist us, looking to see what crocodile activity there is in the area," he
said.
SES Cairns area controller Sean McGinnis said members had also been briefed
on the risks of searching in croc country.
"It is definitely an area where that risk is evident, and so we have to
brief our members to be mindful of the environment that they are searching
in," he said.
Detective Inspector Goan urged anyone who may have seen Ms Humphrey along
the track or in the days before to contact police.
"It's quite a difficult area, as you can appreciate, for people to traverse
looking for anyone that has wandered off."
Police have this afternoon suspended the search for a 52-year-old woman
Jamilla Humphrey, who was reported missing from New South Wales on August
20.
An extensive search and rescue operation continued for eight days after her
vehicle was located on The Old Telegraph Track, near the Jardine River in
Cape York on August 29.
Police were assisted by wildlife officers, SES volunteers, and local
rangers, however search efforts have failed to locate Jamilla.
The Queensland Police Service acknowledges the contribution of other
services, volunteers and the community in the search.
The suspension of the search is subject to additional information or
intelligence being received regarding her disappearance.
Theories flow as Cape York search for missing woman Jamilla Humphrey is
called off
MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
Bryan Littlely
Journalist
Last updated:
Bamaga, Cape York -
The search for missing person Jamilla Humphrey in one of Australia’s most
remote settings near the tip of Cape York was abandoned on Saturday leaving
more speculation than answers in the increasingly baffling mystery.
Humphrey, 52, from Toukley, NSW, was last seen at the Jardine River Ferry
Crossing around 1pm on Friday, August 23. Her two wheel drive Mitsubishi van
was discovered bogged nearby on the iconic Telegraph Track, a haven for the
most adventurous off road enthusiasts, on August 29.
Police believe the vehicle could have been abandoned about 3 kilometres
south of the Jardine River as early as Saturday, August 24, and she may have
walked away from the bogged vehicle to look for help.
Strangely, Ms Humphrey’s phone and wallet were left in the van.
Police, SES and Indigenous rangers have combed the area for more
than a fortnight, an Aboriginal tracker who learned his craft
from legendary tracker Barry Port, also assisting in the
investigation.
As ground and air search operations kicked into full swing, with
a number of aerial assets, police told media on September 2 they
believed Ms Humphrey could have walked away from her vehicle to
find assistance.
“We understand that she was travelling alone with the intention
of travelling to the tip of Australia,’’ Cairns Detective
Inspector Kevin Goan said.
“It’s concerning to us that she has left her vehicle; the
vehicle was located in a bogged state.
“Jamilla’s personal effects appear untouched within the vehicle,
which would give rise to the fact that she’s walked off, away
from the vehicle, likely seeking help.’’
Ms Humphrey’s disappearance was first reported with concerns for
her welfare raised on August 20 when she was unable to be
located or contacted after leaving her Toukley, NSW, home.
Officers attached to Tuggerah Lakes Police District, NSW Central
Coast, raised concerns for her whereabouts.
Police have released new images of Ms Humphrey from those
releases at that time, with footage from Jardine River Ferry
Crossing showing her hair had been cut and dyed brown.
The search efforts finding little and drip feeding of
information rolling up the track to the Tip, including
suggestions Ms Humphrey has “gone missing” on two other
occasions, have done little but fuel speculation across the
Cape.
“I reckon a croc’s got her,’’ a young Irish lad working at
Archer River Roadhouse said.
“She’s gone down to the river and gone… they might never find
her.’’
The crocodile attack theory has emerged as the most likely based
on local opinion.
Jardine River Ferry operator Charles Woosup says he hopes the
missing person had not tried to swim across the river.
“There is a big croc in the river,’’ he said. “But maybe she had
someone waiting to pick her up.’’
Charles was not on duty when Ms Humphrey booked a trip across
the river on the ferry, but his colleagues said she crossed and
came back almost straight away, asking for a refund of the $130
fee.
“They say she was in NSW on August 20 but she was here by August
23…. She must have really been moving to get here.’’
The trip is more than 3300 kilometres and takes in some of the
worst roads imaginable.
Others along the track, including a Coen shopkeeper and tourists
at the infamous Croc Tent near the Tip, have other theories.
Earlier this year, two men faced court over a $44 million
cocaine haul, caught unloading 110kg of the substance at remote
Seisia wharf.
“There’s been some bad business, drugs running up that way in
recent times. If they have any involvement in that, anything
could have happened to them,’’ one lady said.
“We hear this is not the first time this person has gone
missing,’’ said another.
“They went missing in Alice Springs and the Grampians at other
times and turned up with an altered identity, is what has been
suggested.
“If that’s happened here, it really has been a huge waste of
resources and people’s time.’’
Ms Humphrey is described as Caucasian in appearance with a fair
complexion, about 180cm tall, thin build and blue eyes.
Anyone who might have seen Ms Humphrey or her vehicle in the
area is urged to call the Bamaga police station or Crime
Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Police confirm missing NSW woman crossed Jardine
River
16 September 2024 | By Lyndon
Keane - Cape York Weekly
Missing New South Wales woman Jamilla Humphrey crossed the Jardine
River twice in a short period of time before disappearing in remote
Cape York, police have confirmed.
The extensive search for the 52-year-old was called off on 6
September after her white Mitsubishi van was located on the Old
Telegraph Track, about three kilometres south of the Jardine River
in the Northern Peninsula Area (NPA) on 29 August.
Ms Humphrey has not been seen since her disappearance and the
Queensland Police Service confirmed she had been heading northbound
on the Bamaga Road after using the Jardine River ferry, only to
cross back to the southern side of the river the same day.
“Investigations indicate Ms Humphrey crossed the Jardine River ferry
travelling north,” a police spokesperson told Cape
York Weekly.
“Ms Humphrey crossed the river ferry a short time later travelling
south on the same day.”
Her vehicle was subsequently found bogged and abandoned on the OTT,
which runs parallel to the Bamaga Road.
There has been speculation in the NPA the woman’s disappearance was
somehow linked to the two Torres Strait men allegedly arrested in
possession of 110 kilograms of cocaine at Seisia around the same
time, however, police said there was no evidence to support the
rumour.
“Police have identified no link between Ms Humphrey’s disappearance
and the recent arrest of two men is Seisia,” the police spokesperson
said.
Anyone with information about the disappearance is urged to call the
Bamaga police station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
