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ABC News
ABC News
National

Travis Clare evades police over Noosaville drug, assault charges

A man who was camping with Jeremiah Rivers the morning he disappeared in the Queensland outback has spent the past five months evading police over a series of unrelated criminal matters.

It has been more than a year since Mr Rivers, 27, a Kimberley resident, disappeared in Queensland's remote south west while on a pig hunting trip with six men, including 31-year-old Travis Clare.

Queensland police have since charged Mr Clare with assault offences and possessing dangerous drugs after he was arrested in Noosaville, on the Sunshine Coast, on April 18.

Police allege the Melbourne man assaulted a person multiple times in a domestic violence incident.

Mr Clare was released on bail, but an arrest warrant was issued on June 7 after he did not attend Noosa Magistrates Court.

Queensland police this week told the ABC "investigations continue into his whereabouts".

Mr Clare was camping with 'Jayo' Rivers

There's no link between those criminal matters and the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Kimberley man Jeremiah 'Jayo' Rivers, who was last sighted during a pig hunting trip involving Mr Clare.

Mr Clare and his companions say Mr Rivers walked away from their campsite near Wippo Creek on the morning of October 18, 2021, and never returned.

Mr Rivers' disappearance sparked a week-long search before authorities said they were treating the case as suspicious and homicide detectives were involved.

Mr Clare and the others involved in the pig hunting trip have been interviewed multiple times by detectives who said their stories did not add up.

One of those men, Jojo Kantilla, told the ABC earlier this year he initially told family and police different versions of his last contact with Mr Rivers because he was not thinking straight while coming down from taking the drug ice.

The ABC is not suggesting Mr Clare, Mr Kantilla, or any of the other men are connected in any way with Mr Rivers' disappearance.

No charges have been laid over Mr Rivers' disappearance.

In the past year homicide detectives have remained mostly tight-lipped about the case and are currently handing over their investigative materials to the Queensland Coroner, as distraught family members demand an inquest.

Last month Mr Rivers' family made a fresh appeal for information a year after the popular Warmun man and talented footballer went missing.

Mr Clare has spent recent years living and working in Melbourne as a concreter, according to his Facebook.

Victoria Police declined to comment to the ABC saying the arrest warrant was a matter for their northern counterparts.

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