It has now been two weeks since 36-year-old Lee Eastham disappeared from Pioneer Bay here in the Whitsundays on his three-metre tinny with his little white Jack Russel dog named Axel.
The alarm was raised on Friday, April 8 but it was too late to start the search that day, so rescue teams jumped to action the following morning.
Despite consistent efforts to find Lee or any debris that might be from his vessel, nothing has yet been found.
The RACQ CQ Rescue Helicopter, VMR Whitsunday, Water Police and countless boating locals have all been looking for any sign of him.
A Facebook group called the Lee Eastham Official Community Search has been established and is now being managed by an Australian Missing Persons Advocate.
Any locals cruising our waterways are encouraged to go onto this page and confirm where they have been so that a map of all the search areas can be collated.
“The map gets updated all the time, so people aren’t going to the same place,” said Tammy Leech who is a spokesperson for the family.
Lee’s parents, Gail and Michael Eastham drove through the night from their hometown of Hervey Bay as soon as they heard the news and have been holding a daily vigil at the Pioneer Bay Boat Ramp in Cannonvale ever since.
They were joined by Lee’s best friend Craig Jackson who has since driven Lee’s car back down to Hervey Bay.
The Eastham’s are no strangers to tragedy which makes this experience even more horrendous for the family.
They lost their other son to suicide in 2016 and three years later their family house burnt down.
Speculation has mounted that perhaps Lee suffered the same fate as his brother but spokesperson, Tammy Leech, said this would be impossible.
“It’s not suicide – he would not do that to his parents,” she said.
“He only went out to get a feed of prawns for his neighbours and there is no way he would have taken his dog.”
Lee is known to be a survivalist having been lost in the jungle in Thailand for some weeks a few years ago, so his family are confident he would know how to fend for himself.
“It has been some time now,” said Tammy.
“He must be very weak, so it is more important now than ever before that we all do as much as we can to find him.”
The official search has been scaled back so Lee’s family is relying on local boaties to continue looking in an area that could extend north as far as Ayr, if the tide were to have taken him there.
The family would like to thank everyone who has helped them so far and taken the time to look as well as offer support, including local businesses who have provided food.
There is also a GoFundMe page if you would like to donate to help with living expenses for the family while they are here.
The search continues and Lee and his loved ones are in all our hearts.
Information in this article was up to date as of 2pm Wednesday, April 20.
Lee Eastham has been missing for two weeks
