Hugo Palmer missing: Search for British tourist in Australia after items found on beach
AUTHORITIES are searching for missing British tourist Hugo Palmer who was last seen on a popular beach in Australia.
Australia: Police begin search for missing Brit Hugo Palmer
Police have launched the search for Mr Palmer, 20, and his French companion Erwan Ferrieux, after items belonging to the pair were discovered at Shelly Beach, on the New South Wales coast north of Sydney. Walkers found their belongings at about 6.30am on Monday (7.30pm GMT Sunday), and police later discovered their rental car in the beach's car park with a number of personal items, including travel documents, inside. New South Wales Police said a water and ground search had begun, but that there had been no sightings of the pair.
Police have not disclosed how long Mr Palmer and Mr Ferrieux had been in Australia.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "Our staff are in contact with police in Australia and the UK following reports of a missing British man at Shelly beach, New South Wales."
According to News.com.au, Mr Palmer is described as being of caucasian appearance, with fair hair 180cm tall and of athletic build.
Mr Ferrieux has dark hair, brown eyes, a tanned complexion and is between 175 and 180cm tall.
In a Facebook post, the New South Wales Police said: “Inquiries identified their rental car, a silver Commodore Station wagon, QLD registration plates 141-YML, in the Shelley Beach car park.
“A search of the wagon found a number of other personal items, including travel documents.”
The police said that they were appealing to anyone who might have seen the men of their Commodore vehicle near the beach car park or the surrounding streets to contact them.
They added: “Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
“Information is treated in strict confidence.
“The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.”
Shelly Beach is a western facing beach on the eastern coast of Australia.
The beach has around 160 species of marine fish recorded within the reserve such as the weedy or common sea dragon and the threatened black cod.