An inquest into the disappearance of a teenage boy has been shaken by a chilling new theory that bikies may have kidnapped him.
A teen who vanished from a remote Queensland community was seen tied up in an ominous Instagram photo days later, a witness has claimed in an inquest into his suspected death.
Markiah Major, 17, was last seen by his family in Yarrabah on August 15 but was only reported missing on September 2.
He hasn’t been seen since and is presumed dead.
The first witness at a coronial inquest into his death, being held in Cairns this week, said the teen had been “hanging around the wrong people” and started using drugs before he vanished.
The witness, a minor who can’t be identified, alleged Markiah had stolen cars with his new group of friends, The Cairns Post reported.
They further alleged he was involved in the stealing of “a flashy green car” with drugs and cash inside.
The court heard the witness believed the car belonged to bikies.
Days after Markiah’s disappearance, the witness claimed to have seen an “Instagram photo” showing the 17-year-old bleeding from the head while strapped and shackled to a chair.
The witness said there was text under the image, but they did not remember what it said.
“I have trouble remembering things,” they said, according to The Cairns Post.
Coroner Stephanie Williams reportedly told the witness the most important rule was “to tell the truth”.
At the end of her testimony, Ms Williams told the witness again, “ That it would be OK to say if this (what you had told us) was not true. You understand that, don’t you?”
The witness replied responded, “yes”.
Last year, specialist police units conducted a third search of the bushland at the end of Back Beach Rd on November 21 and 22. However, they were unable to find any trace of Markiah.
Speaking to ABC at the time, Detective Acting Inspector Jason Chetham said the area was selected due to the discovery of a stolen Volkswagen Polo.
The car, which was taken from the Tablelands in August, was believed to have been used by Markiah.
“It’s reasonably remote, it’s someplace that only really locals would go to,” he said.
“Unfortunately, at this point in time, we haven’t located any items this week that are of relevance to this investigation.
“The truth is we don’t know what’s happened to Markiah at this point in time.”
He said that if Markiah was with the car when he went missing, the “window of survivability has well and truly passed.”
Inspector Chetham mentioned there had been several challenges in the investigation, including determining the last sighting of Markiah.
“There had been a period of about two weeks before Markiah was reported missing, so from the August 19 to September 2, that period, he was unknown to be missing to us,” he said.
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