Two months have passed since young mother-of-three Tayla Spies was last seen in the tiny town of Surat in Queensland‘s Western Downs.
After spending a weekend in Dalby with her partner, Spies was last seen heading west on Sunday February 2, but failed to return to her home in Roma.
In the eight weeks since then, there’s been no sign of her or her white Hilux, she hasn’t made contact with family or friends, and she missed her 29th birthday.
“People don’t just disappear out here,” a family friend, who wished to remain anonymous, told nine.com.au
“I’ve known Tayla and Rebecca (Tayla’s sister) since they were babies and to watch Bec suffering and not knowing where Tayla is, is so heartbreaking,” the friend said.
“Rebecca and her family really need some answers.”
Spies spent the first weekend in February in Dalby with her partner, staying at the Windsor Hotel.
On Sunday, February 2 at 8.08am, Spies was captured on CCTV in the motel’s carpark, carrying a large red bag.
Police say the pair checked out and left in separate cars.
Spies then drove about an hour down the road to Condamine, where she was seen on CCTV at 9.20am, alone, filling up her white 2017 dual-cab Toyota Hilux ute with diesel at a service station on Wambo Street.
This was the last time she was seen on camera.
Police believe she then drove another 90 minutes south-west to Surat.
They say she met with friends just north of the town, and then her partner.
After that, at 11.10am, her Hilux was spotted on CCTV passing the Cobb & Co Changing Station in Surat’s main street.
However, instead of turning right to head north to her home in Roma, the vehicle turned left, headed south to the Carnarvon Highway and the NSW border.
“We have no knowledge if anybody has spoken to her since then, has seen her, and we have no knowledge if she is okay,” Spies’ sister Rebecca said in a video uploaded to social media.
“The worry is consuming us all.”
Spies’ partner reported her missing on the Monday morning when she did not return home.
Her bank accounts and phone have not been touched.
Telecommunications data shows her phone pinged a tower between Roma and Surat at 12.13pm on February 2, but that does not necessarily indicate that she or her phone were in that exact location, as the tower’s range covers a radius of 9000 square kilometres of outback.
The expansive search area, vast and barren hectares of paddocks and unsealed roads, makes it near impossible for investigators to know where to start looking.
However they believe if Spies had come into trouble in her car, they would have been notified by now.
Spies grew up on the Western Downs, is familiar with local roads and travelled frequently between her home in Roma and Dalby.
Investigators have urged anyone who was driving in the area on February 2 to check their vehicles’ dash camera footage, and have asked property owners to check their properties.
Family and friends have also taken the search online, through a Facebook page.
A $5000 reward has been offered by a family friend for information about Spies’ whereabouts.
The reward is not connected to the official police investigation.
“It’s been eight weeks since she disappeared and no updates at all,” the friend said.
“The reward is still valid if anyone can give any information that can help us bring Tayla home.”
