Missing Australian woman Yvonne Whear's car found in river

Police divers in northern New South Wales found a car belonging to missing 73-year-old Yvonne Whear in the Rous River at Dulguigan on Saturday, 12 September, following a tip-off. The location is a short distance from her home.

Police said the vehicle has undergone forensic examination, with its mechanical condition also checked. Several personal items believed to belong to Whear were recovered from the car, but she herself was not found, and remains classified as a missing person.

Whear's family thanked the volunteer group Sun State Search, NSW Water Police, the specialist police dive team, Tweed Heads Police and local recovery services for their help in the search.

Last seen in February

Whear was last captured on CCTV on 19 February at a Shell service station in Murwillumbah, buying orange juice and topping up her phone credit, before driving to her small hobby farm in the hamlet of Dungay, where she had lived for 23 years caring for various animals.

Around 8.30pm that evening, a member of the public reported seeing her gold Ford Escape wagon parked with its lights off in the dark, less than a kilometre from her home. Her daughter, Gillian Hallac, said her mother avoided driving at night whenever possible.

Items left behind at her house included the boots and hat she had worn in the CCTV footage, clothes folded and ready for the next day, and food left in a slow cooker. Her family said she would never have left her animals unattended.

Whear's phone last connected to a tower the following morning around 10am, in the vicinity where the car was later found. Her daughter said there had been no signs of trouble — her mother had no history of depression or mental health issues. Detective Acting Inspector Chris Elliott said there was no evidence Whear had disappeared voluntarily, and her family has raised concerns that someone may have been involved in her disappearance.