On the 10th anniversary of his disappearance, detectives from the Missing Persons Squad are appealing for public assistance as part of their investigation into missing Dandenong man Jake Lyons.
The 20-year-old was last seen at his Dandenong home on Scullin Street about 9am on 25 August, 2014.
Jake lived at the house with his father Rick, who told police that Jake had been at home when he left for work in the city early that morning.
On the afternoon of 25 August, a friend of Jake’s came around to the house to collect him as they planned to go looking at rental properties.
The friend found the front door open and no one appeared to be home.
When Jake’s dad returned from work about 7pm that night, he found his silver 2006 Holden Astra station wagon missing and Jake wasn’t at home.
Rick made several attempts that night to contact Jake, believing that he was simply out and using the car as he did on a number of previous occasions.
Jake’s dad made a number of further attempts to contact his son over the next couple of days, before reporting him missing to police on 28 August.
Police made a number of enquiries but were unable to locate Jake.
On 31 August, the Holden Astra was located at Warner Reserve in Springvale near the soccer club rooms.
An extensive search of the area was subsequently undertaken, however no further trace of Jake was located.
Police were also unable to establish if Jake had driven himself to the reserve.
Since then, there have been no further sightings of Jake and his phone and bank accounts have not been accessed.
Jake’s disappearance is considered to be extremely out of character.
Over the past decade, a significant investigation by the Missing Persons Squad has been conducted however police have never been able to definitively establish if his disappearance is suspicious.
Detectives are keen to speak to anyone who may have knowledge of Jake’s disappearance and the circumstances surrounding it.
They are also keen to establish if there have been any unreported sightings of Jake over the past 10 years.
Police are also re-releasing images of Jake in the hope that they will assist people to come forward with information about his disappearance or current whereabouts.
Anyone with any information regarding Jake’s disappearance is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
Quotes from Detective Acting Inspector Anthony Combridge, Missing Persons Squad:
“Jake’s disappearance remains a mystery to investigators and his family, even 10 years on from when he was last seen.
Sadly, there have been no sightings of Jake during the last decade and we know he hasn’t accessed his phone or bank accounts.
His disappearance is still considered to be extremely out of character and we remain open to all possibilities, including that Jake may have met with foul play.
A number of public appeals were conducted back in 2014 when Jake first went missing, however all avenues of enquiry in relation to his whereabouts were exhausted.
We’re hopeful that with the passage of time, someone is able to now come forward and provide information about what happened to Jake – this could be observations from the time or information they have heard over the last decade.
Even the smallest new detail could lead to a breakthrough and provide Jake’s family with some answers.
The anniversary of Jake’s disappearance gives us an opportunity to remind people that we are still investigating and we are still fighting for answers for Jake’s family, no matter how hard those answers might be.
If you do know anything, then I urge you to come forward and speak to police or Crime Stoppers.”
