Worried about a COVID border breach fine, a pig hunting group did not report Jeremiah Harold Rivers missing until the day after he disappeared in Queensland's remote southwest, a court has heard.
After arriving at Wippo Creek, near Noccundra, 27-year-old Indigenous man Mr Rivers - known as Jayo - walked away from the campsite, saying he wanted to have a swim.
"This is the last known time anyone saw Jayo," counsel assisting Sarah Lio-Willie told a pre-inquest conference on Tuesday.
Since his October 18, 2021, disappearance there have been sightings reported across Queensland and even international scammers claiming to have kidnapped Mr Rivers, she said.
However, his family still do not know what happened to Mr Rivers despite police searches, a public appeal and information provided by a psychic medium.
A five-day inquest set for November aimed to finally provide answers, Ms Lio-Willie said.
Mr Rivers went missing while on a pig hunting trip from Balranald, NSW to Darwin with six others.
Mr Rivers and his "kinship brother" Joe Joe Kantilla-Gaden were drinking beer and smoking methamphetamine throughout the drive, the court heard.
Despite COVID border restrictions into Queensland, the group arrived at Wippo Creek in the early hours of October 18.
"Mr Kantilla-Gaden described Jayo as being loud, drunk and hallucinating by this time," Ms Lio-Willie said.
When Mr Rivers failed to return after leaving the campsite for a swim, Mr Kantilla-Gaden unsuccessfully searched for his friend.
However, he told the group not to call police and report Mr Rivers missing because they were illegally in Queensland and may potentially each cop a $66,000 fine, the court heard.
The next day some group members were intercepted by police driving through Noccundra.
They did not say they were camped at Wippo Creek, instead telling police they were trying to get back to NSW.
"It was then that they informed police they had not seen Jayo since the morning before," Ms Lio-Willie said.
They were escorted to the border and told to call police when they got back into mobile phone reception if they had not heard from Mr Rivers.
That afternoon they rang police and reported him missing.
A ground search was launched and the rest of the group was intercepted that night.
During an eight-day search Mr Rivers' family arrived and identified a "spiritual calling" towards Wilson River, Noccundra, believing he was in the area.
Despite the extensive search, a forensic examination, police investigation, a missing persons campaign, use of cadaver dogs and at one stage information provided from a psychic medium, no sign of Mr Rivers or potential foul play was identified.
"It is suspected Jayo has passed," Ms Lio-Willie said.
There had been sightings of Mr Rivers at Logan, Charleville, Tweed Heads, Cairns and Ravenshoe but were "either mistaken, untrue or incapable of being verified", the court heard.
Scammers also claimed they had kidnapped Mr Rivers and were holding him for ransom.
"The police investigation into this identified the sender of the messages was from overseas and was an attempt to exploit the family for money," Ms Lio-Willie said.
The inquest will be held in Brisbane before coroner Donald MacKenzie.
"The fundamental task ... is to identify, if possible, what happened to Jayo," Ms Lio-Willie said.
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