In a singlet and thongs, Jayden Penno-Tompsett looks like any other early morning traveller passing through the far north Queensland town of Charters Towers.
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After 1800km on the road with a bunch of mates from Newcastle, the 22-year-old briefly wanders into the Flinders Highway roadhouse before dawn when he is captured on closed circuit television footage. But the grainy footage from the small service station has now become the centre of a significant police investigation as detectives attempt to locate Mr Penno-Tompsett.
It was taken in the early hours of New Year’s Eve and is the last known sighting of Mr Penno-Tompsett before he vanishes into the night.
Moments after he walks out, Mr Penno-Tompsett has an argument with a friend, possibly over money. His friend has told police Mr Penno-Tompsett became enraged, got out of the car and walked off.
Friends in another car helped search for their mate before continuing on their journey to Cairns, some 500km away, in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations. They did not report Mr Penno-Tompsett missing until Wednesday – four days after he was last seen. A land and air search on Thursday in the semi-rural area of Charters Towers wherehe was last seen found no trace of him.
The town's officer-in-charge, acting Senior Sergeant Dean Cavanagh, said the search had ended and investigators were looking into other lines of enquiry.
Those lines included whether Mr Penno-Tompsett, who was described by his father Brendan Tompsett as "just a wild Newy boy", had made his own way north and was still partying, unaware that people were looking for him.
Senior Sergeant Cavanagh said it appeared Mr Penno-Tompsett left without his mobile phone, although other friends have reported receiving a Snapchat message from his account hours after he was last seen telling them he was nearing Cairns.
Bartenders as far north as Port Douglas have called in reporting they served a young man that looked like Mr Penno-Tompsett, who is also not believed to be in possession of much cash.
None of the eyewitness accounts have been verified as police watch CCTV of well-known watering holes.
Brendan Tompsett said his family was still attempting to stay positive. He thanked the community and authorities for their help.
"I cannot fault (the police), they have been absolutely first class," he said. "There's a lot of people out doing everything they possibly can and I'm blown away by the kindness of people in this scenario."
Mr Penno-Tompsett is described as Caucasian in appearance, 175cm tall and with mousy-brown hair.
He was last seen wearing a black singlet, navy blue board shorts, and black and red thongs.
