Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Katie Woolf spoke with NT Police Sergeant Daniel Sheen and missing Daymon Ness's Dad William Ness

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Katie Woolf spoke with NT Police Sergeant Daniel Sheen and missing Daymon Ness's Dad William Ness · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Anti Police Superintendent Daniel Sheen. Good morning Daniel, Good morning Kaddy.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Now we know the Northern Territory Police are appealing for
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: any information that may assist in locating a Victorian tourists
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: believed to be missing in nit Maluk National Park.
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: Can you talk us through the current situation.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: Sure. So we know that mister ness has visited visit
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: Lordon Territory from Victoria. He's done his time in quarantine,
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: came out. He's keen to look around the Northern Territory.
• 0:31
  Speaker 3: So we know that on the weekend he was down
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: to the Litchwood National Park where he's been busying some
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: of the fools down there, and we know that on
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: Monday he came in to Catherine. On Tuesday, we know
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: that he did some things around town here and he
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: had a conversation with friends on Tuesday and said that
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: he was going out to nip Look Gorge. He was
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: going to go canoeing on Wednesday and he booked his
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: tours on Tuesday afternoon. We know that he came for
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: a drive out to nip Look, parked at the car
• 1:01
  Speaker 3: park of the Visitor Information Center and unfortunately that's the
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: last time that anyone's known of mister Ness's whereabouts?
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: Can you talk us through the search that is now
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: underway and how many police and emergency services crew you've
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: got out there looking for him?
• 1:18
  Speaker 4: Sure?
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: So, upon becoming aware of this on Wednesday afternoon, they
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: immediately launched a search and rescue operation in the Netlook Gorge. Worked.
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: We are working very closely with the Territory Parks and
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Wildlife Commission in that space, and so we tried to
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: do so. We did do some helicopter searching on Wednesday
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: afternoon of local tracks around the Netlook Information Center. We
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: flew the helicopter for as long as we could that afternoon.
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: We reconvened at six o'clock the next morning and that's
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: when we went into a full search phase. So the
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: first thing we did was did a look on the
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: trail which goes from Nipmlook through to Edith Fools and
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: back to confirm that no one was out there. We've
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  Speaker 3: had two helicopters in the air all day Wednesday sorry Thursday,
• 2:12
  Speaker 3: doing all searching of all walking trails around the Netlook
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  Speaker 3: National Park. And then we've done grid searching with the
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: helicopters as well. So the two helicopters and the police
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: and Parks and Model I their commissioner have been working
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  Speaker 3: together to do that under the direction of our Search
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  Speaker 3: and Rescue mission coordinator at the which is a police
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  Speaker 3: officer here at the Nipmook Range of Station, which is
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: where our incident control post is. On what we started
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: doing this morning on account of here search not being
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: able to identify anyone. And mind you, we've stopped and
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: spoken to a number of people that are walking on
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  Speaker 3: all of those tracks around the Nitok National Park. At
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: the moment, no one has seen mister ness unfortunately, so
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  Speaker 3: this morning at six o'clock this morning, we started doing
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: some foot Sorry last night we started doing foot searching
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: and again we've continued that on at six o'clock this
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  Speaker 3: morning the trails up to perhaps Lookout jet As Rock,
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: Butterfly Gorge, Lily Pond's and the Dunlop Swamp at the moment.
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: Now, Daniel, obviously we've had some pretty hot conditions out
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: that way over the last few days. Do you know
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: what kind of provisions he has with him?
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  Speaker 3: Unfortunately, that's one of the unknown factors. We're not really sure.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: We do know that he went to ull West on
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: Tuesday before he came out to the gorge. What he
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: actually purchased is not known at this stage. How much
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: what he had on him at this stage is not
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  Speaker 3: known either. So you're right, it is hot. It's been
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: very hot every day that we've been out. Here's a
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  Speaker 3: little bit humny creeping into that equation as well, so
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  Speaker 3: it's very difficult to know how long in the conditions
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: he will last or survive out there. Yeah, there's one
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: of those unknowns of the stage.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Okay, So obviously police out and like you said, the
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: Agency services rangers out today. What is the plan for
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: the rest of the day of full scale search.
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: Yes, so that's correct. So we still have air assets
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: doing searching from the sky. There's some particular points that
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: we want to have a little bit more closer look at.
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: We have Parks of Wildlife commissioned staff assisting the tactical
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: response grouper down here at the moment, assisting with the
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  Speaker 3: searching by foot, and they've been given specific areas to
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: concentrate on. So as you know, Katie that the train
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  Speaker 3: out here can be quite harsh. It's a lot of
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  Speaker 3: rock and our concern is, yes, it's hot coming from
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  Speaker 3: the sun, but it's also hot coming from the rock
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  Speaker 3: up as well, so hence the reason that we've gone
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: into the full scale search to try to find this
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  Speaker 3: the neces as soon as we can.
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: Absolutely now we are still obviously calling for anybody out
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  Speaker 1: there who's got any information to getting take with the
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: police on one three to one triple four.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: We really appreciate your time this morning, and no doubt
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: we are going to be making sure that we keep
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: in contact with you to find out exactly how that
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: search and rescue is going over well over the next
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: twenty four hours and beyond. Thank you so very much
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: for taking the time to have a chat with us
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  Speaker 1: this morning.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: That's Northern Territory Police Superintendent there, Daniel Sheen. Now joining
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  Speaker 1: me on the line is Damon's father, William Ness.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Good morning to you.
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  Speaker 1: William, Hi, Katie, William your son.
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  Speaker 2: Obviously there is this full full scale.
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Search underway at the moment for him. Can you talk
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  Speaker 1: us through how these events have unfolded over the last
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: couple of days.
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: Well, he came up to the Northern Territory to be
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: able to have a bit of a whole day because
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: he's planned for the year of falling falling over because
• 6:04
  Speaker 4: of the pandemic. And we spoke to him on Saturday
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: and he was going to be making his way to
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  Speaker 4: Alice Springs to catch up with friends who are in
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  Speaker 4: the air services industry, and he said he was going
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: to stop at Catherine and a couple of other places
• 6:23
  Speaker 4: on the way. He spoke to my wife on Sunday
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: and said that he had a car and they had
• 6:31
  Speaker 4: a sleeping bag and a yoga mat if it broke down.
• 6:36
  Speaker 4: And then all we know after that is that he
• 6:41
  Speaker 4: missed a zoom call on Tuesday night with a friend
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  Speaker 4: and he had said to the friend that if he
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: didn't make that zoom call, they should make contact with
• 6:50
  Speaker 4: the police. And we've then got a call to let
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: us to let us know that they've done that, and
• 6:57
  Speaker 4: was then trying to assist him anyway we can.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: William.
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  Speaker 1: Is it out of character for you know, for for
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: you to not hear from Damon and and you know,
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  Speaker 1: for for him.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: To be in a situation like this, Yeah, very much
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: out of character.
• 7:17
  Speaker 4: He h He does, he does enjoy the outdoors and
• 7:23
  Speaker 4: go for hikes, but you know it's they're never an
• 7:26
  Speaker 4: overnight hike. And he's he's always always been in contact
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  Speaker 4: with us.
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: How are you and your wife feeling at this point awhere?
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: We're extremely worried, obviously with we're at Melbourne Airport at
• 7:43
  Speaker 4: the moment, waiting to catch a plane to Darwin, and
• 7:48
  Speaker 4: we've applied for an exemption to be able to come
• 7:51
  Speaker 4: from quarantine, to be able to come down to Catherine,
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: but at this stage that's been rejected and we have
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: to go into the Howard Springs for ability. But I've
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: called again this morning and I'm just hoping that they'll
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: let us get down to Catherine.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: I bet mate, what a bloody tough situation that you
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: guys are in. I think any parent would certainly be
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: feeling for you at this point in time. Can you
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: can you tell us a little bit about Damon? Obviously
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: we've got a description of him for anybody out there
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: who may be listening who has some information, but as
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: a dad, can you tell us a little bit about
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: your son.
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: Yeah, he's a really cheerful, positive person who who is
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: always willing to help people. He's he's, as I said,
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: he's not a risk taker, but he you know, he
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: does like doing the outdoor activities. He is a wonderful
• 8:59
  Speaker 4: uncle to his two nephews. And he's got a wonderful
• 9:09
  Speaker 4: relationship with his oldest cousin who's in Germany, and they
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: communicate all the time, and he's paid for her to
• 9:20
  Speaker 4: have holidays with him when he's been to Europe. So
• 9:24
  Speaker 4: he's you know, he's a very generous person. And yeah, yeah,
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: this is just as I said, it's out of character.
• 9:33
  Speaker 4: And yeah, it's just a wonderful, wonderful son, you know,
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: someone that we've been really really proud of.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: William. My heart goes out to you and your wife. Damon.
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: Sounds like a really lovely young man and and you know,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: incredibly loved and important to your family and friends. I
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  Speaker 1: know that the police have obviously got full scale search
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: underway today.
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: Mate, what would you.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: Say to anybody out there who you know who may
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: have some information which could assist them this morning?
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, just if anyone has seen him at all or
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: thinks they might have seen him, if they can please
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: call the police, because you know, just a small you know,
• 10:24
  Speaker 4: I think it's insignificant that it could be really really
• 10:26
  Speaker 4: helpful for the for the police. Yeah, and you know,
• 10:33
  Speaker 4: because he's now been out there since Tuesday, and like
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: I heard you talking to the police to Daniel before,
• 10:40
  Speaker 4: it's been very hot. So if anyone's seen any sign,
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: please just call the police.
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Absolutely well, William, so much love to you and your
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: wife and your family at this point in time, I
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: must I know it must be such a difficult situation
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: for you boys. We will keep in contact with you,
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: and may I think that it goes without saying that
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: everybody is hoping that the police are able to locate
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Damon today.
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: Thank you, Katie, thank you very much.
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: We will keep in contact with you. William, thanks so
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: much for your time this morning.
• 11:17
  Speaker 4: You're welcome to thank you for everything.
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: I tell you what. Our hearts really go out to
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: William and his family. As you've just heard there from
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: Damon's dab William, he is incredibly important to their family.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: He's incredibly important.
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  Speaker 1: If you've got any information at all which could assist
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: the police, please get in contact with them.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: One three, one triple four.
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: As William had said, it may seem like something small
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: and insignificant to you, but it may be the clue
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: that the Territory Police require.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: One three, one triple four is the number