Zjaequaan "Jake" SEBASIO
Zjaequaan "Jake" SEBASIO
Pilbara District WA Police
5th February 2026
The mother of missing 18-year-old Zjaequaan Sebasio says she is "sick" with worry as WA Police calls off the search for her son.
Mr Sebasio, who also goes by Jake, was last seen on Thursday, January 29, when he left his home in South Hedland, about 1,600 kilometres north of Perth.
"I'm just feeling sick to my gut,"Beatrice Sebasio said.
"If he goes somewhere, he'll let us know where he goes, his whereabouts, but from Thursday night, he didn't say where he was going."
Since Mr Sebasio was reported missing on Saturday, South Hedland Police have scoured land, air, and sea near his home and Finucane Island, where he is known to fish.
No trace of the missing man was found.
It is understood that the search will resume if new information regarding his whereabouts comes to light.
WA Police Inspector Matt Froude urged anyone with knowledge of Mr Sebasio's disappearance to contact police.
"If you've seen Jake since last Thursday night, if you know where Jake is now or have any information relating to his whereabouts, please call the police," he said.
Mr Sebasio is described as being 170 centimetres tall, with a slim build, short dark hair and wearing a black T-shirt and shorts.
Inspector Froude said his lack of communication with family was most concerning to authorities.
"It is out of character for Jake not to have contacted or spoken to his mum in that time," he told the ABC.
Indigenous Missing Person Support Services director Taz Millar said Mr Sebasio's disappearance was the latest in a string of missing persons cases throughout the region.
She said the police needed to act faster.
"When young fellas go missing, I don't have the confidence that the police are acting as quickly as they should," she said.
"I think they should be throwing more resources into disappearances such as this."
She said she was not confident WA Police had handled past investigations correctly.
"The pattern that they have shown — even as recent as the Zane Stevens case, that's not even two years ago — they have not done enough."
"The most important thing that police seem to miss, is listen to the families."
Inspector Froude defended the authorities' attempts to locate Mr Sebasio.
"As soon as we were advised that Jake was missing, we've thrown every resource available to us here in South Hedland, which [his] mum should hopefully be able to attest to," he said.
The search is expected to continue amid severe summer temperatures in the Pilbara town.
In January, the average maximum temperature in Port Hedland was 37.4 degrees, while the mercury every day this month has surpassed 40 degrees.