More than 1,000 people gave more than 10,000 hours over 12 days but, in the end, no one could find Gary Tweddle.
With no sign of the 23-year-old who disappeared from the Fairmont Resort on July 16, his grieving parents reluctantly left Leura last Friday to return to their homes, the fate of their son still a mystery.
His father, David, who had flown from England with his partner to help in the search, gave thanks on behalf of the family as the reality set in that the young man could not have survived 12 days in the elements.
“I just put a heartfelt thank you to some of the most amazing people I have met in my life,” he said. “Everybody that’s been involved in this has been as keen as I and as keen as Gary’s family have been to find Gary. And I truly believe and I know that not one option has been ignored, not one stone has been unturned.”
“To see a thousand people come through this [Leura] golf course in the seven days we’ve been in this country is a testament to the spirit of Australia.”
Mr Tweddle senior said the family owed a “debt of gratitude that I don’t think we’ll ever be able to repay”.
Senior Constable Steve Adams said the search was probably the largest ever undertaken in the Blue Mountains. Hundreds of professionals and volunteers walked, called and door-knocked in the bush and urban areas around Leura and Wentworth Falls.
Experts abseiled down cliffs, hacking their way through heavy growth with machetes. Helicopters used infrared technology in an effort to detect the missing man.
Police Rescue, State Emergency Service, Rural Fire Service, Ambulance officers, Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad, Caves Rescue, Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network and Sydney University Speleological Society (a caving club) all took part in the search.
And each day dozens of Gary Tweddle’s workmates from computer technology firm Oracle also helped.
Mr Tweddle, a technology sales rep with Oracle, was at Fairmont for a work function when he disappeared. After dining in Leura and having a few drinks at the resort, he walked outside, wearing just trousers, a shirt and a jacket.
At 12.20am, he called a colleague on his mobile phone, saying he was lost. He also said his battery was running low. Police engaged Apple in the United States to try to pinpoint where Gary Tweddle made the call from but it could not be traced.
At 3am, his phone stopped sending a signal, meaning either the battery had gone or Mr Tweddle had dropped it.
Assistant Commissioner Denis Clifford said on Friday that the investigation would remain ongoing but the temporary command post in the Fairmont car park was dismantled on Saturday.
This weekend, Gary Tweddle was due to walk his mother down the aisle to give her away at her remarriage. The ceremony will still go ahead.
As Ms Johnson wrote to her son on Facebook: “We will go ahead with wedding plans no matter what as we know that’s what you would of wanted. Staying very positive for you. We love you so very much.”
