Scott Maitland, 35, and his partner Cindy Masonwells, 33, were last seen in Cairns on Thursday, July 5, when they picked up their newly restored Holden panel van from a Bungalow, Cairns, workshop.
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Over the weekend a 40-year-old Bungalow man was charged with two counts of murder and will appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court.
The couple had met in Cairns seven years ago when Ms Masonwells had been touring Australia in the panel van, a 1975 V8 Sandman.
They had been living and working in Mount Isa for the past few years.
Mr Maitland was a welder with Xstrata, and Ms Masonwells was a truck driver in the mines.
Friends’ comments on a special Facebook page: Justice for Scott Maitland and Cindy Masonwells - related their disappearance to the car.
One message posted on Saturday night said: “Everything about the disappearance seems to be coming back to the car. If this was not an accident and there are fowl (sic) play involved, I am sure it will be “because of” the van. Follow the vehicle since it was stolen and you will find the cause of all this.”
The van had been stolen from the panel beaters shed before it was registered in April, according to Mr Maitland’s father, Wayne Maitland.
Scott Maitland went to Cairns to find the car, and his father reported it “magically turned up”.
He said the couple allegedly spent more than $28,000 on the panel van, restoring the engine and repainting it in the “new Holden green”.
Mr Maitland and Ms Masonwells flew to Cairns early in July to pick up their restored car and have not been seen since.
Detective Senior Sergeant Ed Kinbacher said the couple was last seen leaving a workshop in their green Holden Sandman panel van.
Sen Sgt Kinbacher said the vehicle was recently stolen and police believed there may be a link between the theft and the pair’s disappearance.
“Scott made investigations and enquiries himself and subsequently, as a result of those enquiries the vehicle effectively reappeared.”
Sen Sgt Kinbacher said there had been five officers dealing with the case.
Mr Wayne Maitland, Scott’s father, choked back tears as he described his son.
“A good worker, a good family man, he’s got a daughter living in Wodonga and is in the process of the company he works for arranging to get a transfer down south so he could be closer to her,” he said.
“How can two people just disappear?”
Donna Astill, Scotts former partner, thanked friends for their support on a Facebook page created on Thursday to help police with the search.
“All this support is amazing. You never expect to go through things like this, other people and families do, but not you.”
Police did not say if their bodies were found.
