Jeremiah Harold Rivers - Findings

Contributing factors

• Intoxication from alcohol and methylamphetamine use
• Unfamiliar remote terrain with extreme heat and limited water
• Disorientation and possible hallucinations
• Delayed reporting of missing person (24+ hours)
• Multiple inconsistent accounts by travelling companions hampered search
• Poor inter-agency communication between SAR and investigation teams

Coroner's recommendations

1. Queensland Police Service review training on the history of First Nations Peoples, including colonisation and ongoing impacts, with engagement of Aboriginal Liaison officers in delivering training
2. Queensland Police Service provide officers with trauma-informed communication training for families, particularly First Nations families, when concerned about a missing person
3. Missing person risk assessment undertaken by QPS case officers record the status of a missing person as 'First Nations' and take this into consideration in the risk assessment
4. Aboriginal Liaison Officers employed by Queensland Police Service be engaged to advise and involve families of First Nations missing persons in areas such as cultural beliefs, cultural skills, family connections, potential police avoidance, or delay in reporting; to allow culturally safe communication and ensure appropriate risk assessment
5. Queensland Police Service facilitate changes to Search and Rescue systems to enhance contemporaneous updating and access by all investigating QPS officers to all relevant and disclosable incoming information in relation to the missing person search
6. Queensland Police Service examine inter-agency communication protocols to ensure SAR and criminal investigation teams have concurrent access to centralised information databases