Sean Walsh - Irishman missing in Australia since 10 May 09

[Olivia]

I am not sure if this is the right myspace - the pics look kinda similar and the hometown is his in Ireland

http://www.myspace.com/seaniewalsh

The sister of Irishman Sean Walsh says it is "completely out of character" for her younger brother to go missing.

The 26-year-old traveller, who arrived in Sydney last November on a year-long world trip, was last seen by his housemates at his home in Howard Street, Randwick, on Sunday at 3am, Brid Walsh said.

"He has a very close relationship with my mother and the rest of us, and is in regular contact. For him to go missing like that is completely out of character," said Ms Walsh, who arrived in Sydney from Waterford, Ireland, yesterday with her sister Mairead after hearing of her brother's disappearance.

"It doesn't make any sense to any of us. We have no explanation at all. We have nothing to follow through as to why this has happened.

"This is the first time [in his trip] that we haven't been able to contact him. He's usually in contact once or twice a week - email, Facebook, everything."


She said Mr Walsh had not taken his mobile phone or any of his belongings with him.

Mr Walsh had previously travelled in Japan and New Zealand, but was considering staying in Sydney if he was successful in his application for a job as a biomedical engineer, Ms Walsh said. He was also about to go home to Ireland for a holiday on May 26, she said.

"His parents are absolutely worried, but they have a lot of support from home."

Mr Walsh was an avid sportsman who played Gaelic football and hurling at Michael Cusacks GAA Club in Sydney and had a lot of friends, she said.

"He was a very easygoing, laid-back person, and very friendly. He had a lot of friends ... always surrounded by people, always interacting, always socialising with people," Ms Walsh said.

Michael Cahalane of Cusacks said Mr Walsh had been playing for the club for six months, but had not played since early April.

"He was a very dedicated member of the team and a valued member of the club," Mr Cahalane said.


Mr Walsh is described as being of white or European appearance, 175 centimetres tall with a thin build, shaved brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was last seen wearing khaki boardshorts, khaki-hooded jumper and thongs, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to phone Maroubra police on 9349 9299 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/completely-out-of-character-for-sean-to-go-missing-20090514-b3n9.html

[Olivia]

Another article and dedicated missing person site

http://www.seanwalshmissing.com/

THE international effort to track down a missing Irishman in Sydney has stepped up a gear due to a huge internet and email campaign.

A special website has been set up by friends and family of 26-year-old Sean Walsh, who was last seen at his house in the Sydney suburb of Randwick on Sunday morning.

Users of social networking website Twitter have begun distributing a photo of Mr Walsh, while others have also launched a chain email campaign in a bid to find the traveller.

Mr Walsh has been in regular close contact with his mother in Ireland and was planning to fly back to Ireland on May 26.

A Walsh family friend said in an email that it was strange for him not to contact his mother and sisters for so long.

Two of his sisters have flown to Sydney from the family’s hometown in Waterford, in Ireland's south.

"They have had no contact with him since before the weekend and they are now extremely anxious as it is totally out of character for him," the family friend said.

"He is 26 years old and is extremely good natured and a fun loving person."

NSW Police launched an unsuccessful helicopter search of Randwick and surrounding suburbs soon after Mr Walsh was reported missing.

"Police hold serious concerns for the welfare of Mr Walsh," a police spokesperson said in a statement.

Users of popular travel forums such as the ones on the Lonely Planet website have also appealed for any information about his whereabouts and the Irish media have picked up the story.

Mr Walsh is described as being 175cm tall with a thin build, shaved brown hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion.

He was last seen at 3am (AEST) in Randwick. He was wearing khaki boardshorts, a khaki hooded jumper and thongs at the time.

Anyone with information should call Maroubra police on 02 9349 9299 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

[Olivia]

The disappearance of Sean Walsh has dumbfounded everyone. He may have taken the only clue with him. Tim Elliott investigates.

AIDAN FRENCH woke late in his Randwick flat, made breakfast and waited for his flatmate, Sean Walsh, to emerge from his room. Walsh, a fellow Irishman, never surfaced that Sunday, May 10. "I didn't think anything of it because his door was closed," French says.

Only when another friend dropped by did the two men look in Walsh's room. "It was pretty normal," French says. "There were some clothes, his mobile was there, plus some books by the bed. But there was no Sean."

Three months later and there is still no Sean, his disappearance baffling family, friends and police, who say his bank account is untouched. There has not been so much as a false sighting, despite an extensive public awareness campaign led by Walsh's sisters.

"Usually you'll get at least one person saying they saw someone who looked like the missing person in Byron Bay or wherever,'' says Paul Pisanos, a detective inspector. ''In this case we have nothing … It's as if he has literally fallen off the map."

Trim, with short brown hair and an easy smile, Walsh, 26, was by all accounts engaging and intelligent. He was was not a gambler, did not take drugs and had no history of mental illness.

"He was handsome and popular, particularly with the ladies,'' said Siobhan NiFhaolain, of Canberra, Walsh's godmother. "He's the last person you'd expect to disappear. But we do know now that something happened to him in those last few days that troubled him greatly.''

A biomedical engineer by training, Walsh left his home town of Dungarvan, Ireland, in 2007 on a round-the-world ticket. A keen skier, he worked in ski resorts in New Zealand and Japan, then backpacked in South-East Asia. He arrived in Sydney in June last year, and promptly visited NiFhaolain in Canberra. "We talked about the family and his sisters and his skiing. He was perfectly laid back and happy."

Walsh returned to New Zealand but was back in Sydney in October, quickly settling into the life of an expat Irishman, playing Gaelic football and hurling, surfing on Sundays and drinking at Bondi Junction pubs like The Cock and Bull and Tea Gardens. By December he had a job with the carpet cleaner Absolute Services in Randwick.

"Sean was very dependable," says Craig Whelan, its owner. "He could be a little shy, but he was always very reliable." Whelan trusted Walsh, and often lent him a company van at weekends.

Walsh told Whelan he planned to return to Ireland briefly in late May. He had been planning the trip with his younger sister Aine as a surprise for their mother. On Wednesday, May 6, he went for a job interview with Advanced Surgical Design and Manufacture, a company in St Leonards that specialises in prosthetic implants and surgical tools. "Sean came back saying the interview had gone well," Whelan says.

But on Thursday Walsh came to work "acting a little odd". Later that day Whelan started fielding calls from clients asking why Walsh had not turned up. "And so I called Sean and asked him what was going on. And he said that he was going home to Ireland early, that something very bad had come up. I said to him, 'What, like a death in the family?' And he said, 'No, it's worse than that.'''

On Friday a still agitated Walsh told Whelan he would book his air ticket that day. "I said, 'OK, take the van for the weekend and I'll see you on Monday and we can sort out your pay and everything then.'"

On Sunday morning Whelan found the van in his driveway. "There had been no phone call from Sean to say he was going to do that. The van's door was shut but unlocked, and the key was in the ignition, with all his stuff in it: his surfboard, wetsuit, rash vest, some paperwork of his, a T-shirt.''

Police say there is no evidence of foul play, but can offer little more to Walsh's family.

"The destroying effect of this is unimaginable," Aine says.

"I am not sure how my family still get up in the morning or go to sleep at night.''
http://www.smh.com.au/national/vanished-without-a-trace-20090821-ett1.html

[Hayalet]

Wow i wonder what shook him up so badly that he had to go home asap?

[trepid]

This one is totally bizarre.  :?  Crazy backpackers.

I wonder if he himself has done something or gotten himself in too deep with someone? Seems to me like he has either bailed out and doesn't want to be found or Whelan and his friends have sanitized the story just a tad.

I got a feeling it might be drug related. But apparently he doesn't do drugs. His myspace (if that is indeed his myspace) sort of implies differently. hmm. strangeness.

Convenient that he just happened to be driving a carpet cleaning van. Pretty suss. 

[blighted star]

Absolutely no news, just bumping for the 6th anniversary & to add some pix