Family of missing NSW man Gordon Copeland accuses police of withholding information
A young Aboriginal man missing for 11 days was last seen by police entering a river in north-western New South Wales, with his family now accusing the force of withholding information about his disappearance.
Gordon Copeland, 22, has been missing since the early hours of Saturday 10 July.
Police issued a statement on Tuesday 13 July saying officers had seen a black hatchback speeding on the Newell Highway in Moree about 2.30am that Saturday and later found the car bogged near a bridge on the Carnarvon Highway.
“Officers attempted to speak with a man at the scene, however, he allegedly ran from police and was seen entering the Gwydir River,” a NSW police spokesperson said at the time.
A search by emergency services including the Rural Fire Service and SES failed to locate Copeland. A further search involving police divers and additional volunteers was also unsuccessful, police said.
Police later said the search had been “scaled down” while the matter was being investigated. A critical incident team was to investigate “all circumstances surrounding the incident”, overseen by the professional standards command.
On Wednesday morning, police issued a statement saying: “the matter is subject of a critical incident investigation and there will be no further comment.”
Copeland’s grandmother, Stella Fernando, said family members continued to search the river bank and were very distressed at not knowing what happened to the 22-year-old.
“We’re still looking for him. We don’t know where he is, but we haven’t got any assistance from the police,” Fernando said.
“They’re not even coming out now, looking for us and letting us know anything. It’s terrible.”
The family said some of Copeland’s possessions were found near the river, including his phone.
“He wasn’t perfect, but he’s our baby, and the police were always on his back, you know, and he was terrified of them,” Fernando said.
“Now he’s missing and they were the last people to see him. We want answers and we want our boy back, that’s all we want.”
She said the family was going to “fight for justice”.
“We’ve got that feeling in our heart that he is no longer with us, and we might never find him, so we’ve just got to keep fighting for him,” the grandmother said.