Aug 11, 2026 · 24 min · 13 segments
We have had many emails with theories about what happened to my Uncle Des. Some of them have been wild and would never make the podcast, some we followed up but went nowhere and then others we believe…
[dramatic music] We were contacted via our website with a story about a man's body that was found in 1988 in Newman, WA.
It's rugged countryside, in fact, very similar to the whole of the area, which is known as the Pilbara region: red dirt, small shrubs, and the occasional trees scattered around.
To bury a body in this type of area would be hard work, with heavy excavation machinery needed.
The dirt is so hard it's almost like concrete.
But someone did try to conceal a body, and in 1988, that body was found.
It was just bones and a skull, no flesh, and some other artifacts.
In 2015, a newspaper wrote about bodies that have been identified and crimes that have never been solved in WA.
[static] The last thing a workman expected to find while cutting a section of the Newman-Nullagine Road in Western Australia was a human skull and the personal belongings of a murdered man.
The road grader operator noticed the skull two meters off the road, about 64 kilometers north of Newman at 4:30 PM on Saturday, February 27, 1988.
It's not lost on me that the person who stumbled across this mystery body was working on a road roller, much like my uncle was when he went missing.
He stopped his grader and upon closer inspection, found a shallow grave containing human bones, as well as a pocket knife and a sharpening stone, a Toyota ignition key, a fob watch holder, a comb, sunglasses, two belts, and a black felt hat.
[dramatic music] The victim was estimated to be 30 to 40 years old at the time of death.
He appeared to be wearing a maroon T-shirt, underwear, shorts, and Grosby brown suede elastic side boots.
This body was about 175 centimeters tall with a moderate build and light brown hair.
The fact the deceased was located in a shallow grave and the grave had apparently been concealed leads investigators to believe this person was a victim of homicide.
To this day, the murder victim or his killer or killers have not been identified.
Once I got this information and I read the description of this man, it really made my heart sink.
My Uncle Des was 32 when he went missing.
He was 183 centimeters tall and had brown hair and a moderate build.
You may not remember the description of what Des was wearing back in 1979, so let me take you back to episode two, where I describe for the first time what he was wearing on the day he went missing.
[gentle music] With him on that day, he had his lunch packed and a blue water bottle, the kind that was made of foam.
He was wearing black shorts, a red shirt, and brown boots with a bucket hat.
The body closely matched my uncle's physical description and also what he was wearing at the time.
It also seemed very similar to what was on police record.
[dramatic music] We were contacted via our website with a story about a man's body that was found in 1988 in Newman, WA.
It's rugged countryside, in fact, very similar to the whole of the area, which is known as the Pilbara region: red dirt, small shrubs, and the occasional trees scattered around.
To bury a body in this type of area would be hard work, with heavy excavation machinery needed.
The dirt is so hard it's almost like concrete.
But someone did try to conceal a body, and in 1988, that body was found.
It was just bones and a skull, no flesh, and some other artifacts.
In 2015, a newspaper wrote about bodies that have been identified and crimes that have never been solved in WA.
[static] The last thing a workman expected to find while cutting a section of the Newman-Nullagine Road in Western Australia was a human skull and the personal belongings of a murdered man.
The road grader operator noticed the skull two meters off the road, about 64 kilometers north of Newman at 4:30 PM on Saturday, February 27, 1988.
It's not lost on me that the person who stumbled across this mystery body was working on a road roller, much like my uncle was when he went missing.
He stopped his grader and upon closer inspection, found a shallow grave containing human bones, as well as a pocket knife and a sharpening stone, a Toyota ignition key, a fob watch holder, a comb, sunglasses, two belts, and a black felt hat.
[dramatic music] The victim was estimated to be 30 to 40 years old at the time of death.
He appeared to be wearing a maroon T-shirt, underwear, shorts, and Grosby brown suede elastic side boots.
This body was about 175 centimeters tall with a moderate build and light brown hair.
The fact the deceased was located in a shallow grave and the grave had apparently been concealed leads investigators to believe this person was a victim of homicide.
To this day, the murder victim or his killer or killers have not been identified.
Once I got this information and I read the description of this man, it really made my heart sink.
My Uncle Des was 32 when he went missing.
He was 183 centimeters tall and had brown hair and a moderate build.
You may not remember the description of what Des was wearing back in 1979, so let me take you back to episode two, where I describe for the first time what he was wearing on the day he went missing.
[gentle music] With him on that day, he had his lunch packed and a blue water bottle, the kind that was made of foam.
He was wearing black shorts, a red shirt, and brown boots with a bucket hat.
The body closely matched my uncle's physical description and also what he was wearing at the time.
It also seemed very similar to what was on police record.
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