You refuse and the man, who has weathered features, thinning hair and a moustache, slows the vehicle he is driving to 20km/h.

Instinct tells you he is contemplating his next move.

You are on a deserted stretch of the Flinders Highway between Cloncurry and Julia Creek.

This sounds like a scene from a horror movie, but it happened to a young man who recounted his terrifying encounter after accepting a ride from a man driving a Kombi on Sunday, June 23, 1991.

Neil Johnson, who was hitchhiking from Darwin to Townsville, was picked up by the man 11 kilometres east of Cloncurry.

He had been waiting for some time for a lift.

``Finally, at around 4.50pm, a yellow Kombi van came along,'' Mr Johnson said.

``As it slowed, the driver started shouting at me and reached over to open the passenger door.

`Get in, get in' he screamed desperately.'' 

Mr Johnson said that as the car accelerated, he noticed another hitchhiker sprinting towards them but the man who had just picked him up said: ``I'm not taking him, I picked him up yesterday, he's half crazy.'' 

He said the two spoke politely for a few minutes and Mr Johnson told him he was from the UK, and he was hitchhiking across Australia on a work visa.

When the man propositioned him, Mr Johnson replied: ``No, I'm not into that at all mate.'' 

Mr Johnson said the man continued to drive at 20km/h in silence.

``The old cliche `you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife' rang true, but this was worse; in this case you could have cut it with a blunt knife, even a spoon,'' he said.

``Waves of fear were pulsing through me.'' 

Mr Johnson said he felt sick with fear.

When the man propositioned him again, he responded with venom: ``Just take me to the caravan park, thanks''.

Mr Johnson said the man's mood changed and he drove on to Julia Creek, calmly discussing attractions in Townsville.

The man dropped him off at a service station in the town.

``Once clear of the service station the shock of what had just happened hit me,'' Mr Johnson said.

He went to a caravan park in Julia Creek and was told he could pitch his tent near the entrance.

However, Mr Johnson said he would not have felt safe because the driver knew where he would be.

``I asked [a man at the caravan park] if there were any other guests,'' he said.

``He replied that there was a small school group staying over by the entrance, otherwise I had the place to myself.

``Wanting to be as close to other people as possible, I asked if I could set up over by the school group.'' 

Mr Johnson said he believes the man got the wrong idea about why he wanted to be near the school group.

This resulted in the man offering to give him a lift elsewhere.

The man dropped him off at a small piece of land near the service station and told him if he slept there he would ``meet people of similar inclination''.

Mr Johnson spent the night at a hotel, barricading the door with a chest of drawers.

The next day he decided to once again try to hitchhike to Townsville.

``I was determined that one bad experience would not put me off,'' Mr Johnson said.

He again saw the man in the Kombi van and the two exchanged glares.

A truck driver later picked up Mr Johnson.

He told Mr Johnson he stopped because he felt sorry for him.

``I've been driving trucks between Townsville and Darwin for 20 years now,'' the truck driver told Mr Johnson.

``If you ever come this way again, make sure you get a lift straight through Mount Isa to the coast.

``Don't get stuck trying to hitchhike through any of these intervening towns.'' 

Mr Johnson said he didn't mention his experience to the truck driver.

``My experience on Flinders Highway traumatised me for about two weeks,'' he said.

``Even now, more than 20 years later, I remember the details - right down to the very words spoken.

``Occasionally I still ponder on what might have occurred if things had gone differently.'' 

Mr Johnson said about 18 months later, he was in Perth and watching Australia's Most Wanted.

``It highlighted the case of a hitchhiker who disappeared in 1982,'' he said.

``It showed an identikit picture of the man he was last seen with.

``The man looked very similar to the one I had met driving the Kombi van in 1991, except that he didn't have the moustache.''

Mr Johnson said he tried to contact police about the case but was not successful.

He remembered the driver as an overweight, stocky man with a yellow Kombi van and a large dog (possibly a Great Dane).

Mr Johnson eventually got into contact with

Mark Jones, the brother of Tony Jones, who disappeared hitchhiking from Townsville to Mount Isa in 1982.

``Neil contacted me in 2011,'' Mr Jones said.

``I was disappointed that he'd had so much trouble contacting police.

``He made a lengthy written statement and I advised the police about it.'' 

Mr Jones said the police never contacted him regarding the statement.

``It's hard to know if and how this fits in to Tony's case but it would have made sense for them to locate the man while they had a team in that area,'' he said.

Mr Jones said his family had concerns the police had ignored warnings from them about witness statements that appear to be in direct conflict with the known facts.

Anyone with information about Mr Jones' disappearance should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au.

You can also get in touch with Mr Jones family on twitter @whokilledtony or send an email to whokilledtony@hotmail.com