Where is Zac Barnes?
It is a question that, for the better part of the last seven years, has tormented his family and become one of the Hunter's enduring mysteries.
The apprentice bricklayer was last seen getting out of a friend's car near the intersection of Haussman Drive and Tripp Close at Thornton about 8pm on November 13, 2016.
On Monday, his family and friends take a step closer to hopefully finding out why he disappeared and what happened next.
A three-day coronial inquest into the "disappearance and suspected death of Zac Barnes" is expected to focus on those crucial hours before the Metford man got out of his mate's car and "disappeared".
And it's expected to explore what steps emergency services, family and friends did to find any trace of him, as well as whether there had been any sightings or signs that he is still alive.
Mr Barnes, who was 18 at the time of his disappearance and would now be 25, had appeared fine earlier in the day of his disappearance but something triggered him to leave a friend's house to get a train from Thornton railway station.
On the way, he asked his friend to stop the car and ran off with no wallet or phone and wearing just boardshorts and a singlet.
Despite social media appeals and repeated searches of bushland, he has never been heard from since.
Mr Barnes' social media accounts and phone have remained inactive since the day he disappeared.
Mr Barnes' mother Karen Gudelj has made repeated pleas for information since he went missing, including an emotional open letter to her son in 2016.
"I know how much you love your family,'' Ms Gudelj says in the letter. "If you can't come home please, please, please just let us know somehow. "Reach out to someone. There are lots of people you can trust.''
Ms Gudelj appealed for information from the public during Missing Person's Week 2018 and in a message of support to Mr Barnes' friends.
The family, who have spent years calling for a coronial inquest, are believed to have legal representation to ask questions at the hearing and say all they want is answers.
The inquest, before Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes, will run from Monday to Wednesday in the NSW State Coroner's Court at Lidcombe. Findings are likely to be delivered at a later date.
The purpose of a coronial inquest is not adversarial, but inquisitorial and the focus is to determine what happened without attributing blame, guilt or making findings of liability.
The role of the Coroner in a case such as Zac's is to make findings firstly as to whether the missing person is actually dead and only if that can be established, to make further findings as to the date and place of death and the manner and cause of death.
As well as answering these questions at the conclusion of proceedings, the Coroner may, if appropriate, make recommendations in relation to matters arising directly from the evidence if they have the capacity to improve public health and safety in the future.
