Normanton is a long way from Brisbane but that is one of the angles police are investigating in a missing person's cold case.
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Englishman Steve Goldsmith was just 28 when he went missing after withdrawing cash from an ATM near his New Farm unit in July 2000.
Mr Goldsmith was an arborist subcontracted to Toowoomba City Council and other tree-lopping operators and returned to Brisbane on weekends.
He was last seen by a friend in Toowoomba on July 6, 2000, and CCTV footage captured him withdrawing cash from an ATM at New Farm's Merthyr Village Shopping Centre four days later on July 10.
None of his personal items or clothes were missing and his car was still in the garage.
There have been extensive investigations into possible sightings.
Among the anonymous tips to police were that he had been put into a shopping trolley and pushed into the Brisbane River and that he had been seen in Normanton,2500km away.
The Toowoomba Chronicle uncovered the Normanton link in 2010.
A Toowoomba health worker made an anonymous phone call to the paper claiming to know the whereabouts of then 38-year-old.
She told The Chronicle she had met Mr Goldsmith in Normanton, where he was homeless.
Toowoomba CIB forwarded the information to Normanton district police but nothing came of it.
"This information was fully investigated by the Normanton police. Extensive inquiries were conducted with locals, government agencies and businesses in the Normanton and Karumba areas with negative results," a police spokesman said.
The coroner pronounced him dead in 2007.
Now police are offering a $250,000 reward for information about the Englishman.
Police Minister Mark Ryan told the Brisbane Times detectives believed Mr Goldsmith "met with foul play".
At the time of his disappearance, Mr Goldsmith was about 175 centimetres tall, with red hair, freckles and a fair complexion.
He had several tattoos, including an eagle on his shoulder blade, and walked with a slight limp as the result of a 1997 work accident which injured his left leg.
Anyone with information on Mr Goldsmith's disappearance was asked to contact Crime Stoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
