The son of an Australian film legend has been reportedly murdered in the Outback, leaving his devastated family desperately begging for help

EXCLUSIVE

The grieving granddaughter of screen legend Bill Hunter fears her father has been murdered in the Australian outback and his body dumped in the desert.

Now, more than four years after James Hunter was last seen alive, his daughter is enlisting detectives across the country to help her sift through thousands of aerial photographs of New South Wales’s barren central northwest in the search for his remains.

“I personally think he’s not alive anymore,” Chloe Maree told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Because I know that if he were alive, he would never have been able to survive without me for so long.

I just know something’s not right [his disappearance]a crime somewhere – I just don’t know where. And I need help finding it.

“It’s really frustrating. Dad is in the back of my mind all the time, and I just want answers so this can be over and I can grieve properly.”

James Hunter, a tireless adventurer, decided to give up his life about five years ago in the seaside suburb of Tighes Hill in Newcastle.

He travelled west to try his luck at opal prospecting in the historic mining town of Lightning Ridge, about eight hours’ drive northwest of Sydney.

James Hunter told his family and friends that he went out west about five years ago to try his luck at opal hunting in Lightning Ridge before suddenly disappearing without a trace

James is the son of Australian film legend Bill Hunter, famous for his roles in Gallipoli, Strictly Ballroom, Muriel’s Wedding and The Advertures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

His daughter, Chloe Maree, fears James was murdered and his body dumped in the Outback

James was always there for his daughter Chloe (aged four and up) throughout her childhood

But within months, Hunter, the only child of the late Australian film star Bill Hunter and his first wife Robbie Anderson, had disappeared without a trace.

According to his daughter, his family and friends last heard from him in January 2020.

She said he was at the time travelling regularly between Lighting Ridge and a property about four hours’ drive south, at Mendooran, on the outskirts of Dubbo.

‘He did farm work on an estate north of Dubbo… t“Every few months he would go back to Lightning Ridge to work in the opal mines,” she said.

Hunter – affectionately known as ‘Crackers’ by his mates – was last seen visiting a chemist in Dubbo on Friday, February 28, 2020, the day he last checked his bank accounts.

According to his daughter, there was a family feud around that time and his relatives did not report his disappearance to the police until July 2021, when they discovered he was missing a year later.

“We weren’t speaking at the time, he and I. We’d had a bit of a falling out, so we hadn’t heard from him. Given the circumstances, we didn’t think that was so unusual,” she said.

Although the memory of their last argument weighs heavily on her, she finds some comfort in the thought that her father knew how much she truly cared for him.

“I remember the last thing I said to him was, ‘I love you and see you next time.’ There was nothing to indicate that there wouldn’t be a next time soon,” she said.

‘I know he knew how I felt about him. And if I needed him, he would always be there for me within hours, no matter what, no matter where he was, even if we had a fight and hadn’t spoken for a while.

‘Even if he was gone for six months or a year, I could still easily contact him. Even if he didn’t have a phone or wasn’t online. There was always a way to contact him through one of his friends.

“That was very normal for us. He is missed every day.”

Detectives discovered James Hunter’s blue Hilux pick-up (above) on a property north of Dubbo

James, who was called ‘Crackers’ by his friends, was remembered as a ‘kind and caring’ father

As concerns grew for Hunter’s welfare, detectives from the Orana Mid-Western Police District established Strike Force Yurinigh in March 2022 to investigate his disappearance.

They discovered his blue 2005 Toyota Hilux at the Mendooran property where he was working and seized the car for forensic examination.

But by then Hunter, now 55, had been missing for more than two years and the trail quickly disappeared.

“I did speak to someone who knew him and had seen him, but they weren’t sure if it was the same day or not,” Chloe said.

“It was very difficult to trace his movements.”

The disappearance had a devastating impact on the entire Hunter family. In 2011, celebrity patriarch Bill, known for his roles in Gallipoli, Strictly Ballroom, Muriel’s Wedding and The Advertures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, died of liver cancer.

Desperate for answers, Hunter’s family and investigators took to the skies to conduct an extensive and thorough aerial search for his remains.

In March this year, they spent two days surveying a remote 1,700-hectare area in New South Wales, northwest of Mendooran, using advanced drones.

Hunter’s daughter is now pleading with the public for help in sifting through the 33,000 high-resolution images captured during the 52 drone flights.

“It is very important because the drone images have been used to search a very large area,” she said.

‘There’s so much land out there that we need everyone’s help and they need to take a look in case they missed something.

‘The footage was captured by Working Drones Australia, who volunteered their time and equipment to assist us.

‘But we don’t have the resources to search all those images independently.

‘It’s also very emotional because when you think you see a bone, you’re not sure if it’s a human bone or an animal bone.

“It’s so important that other people take a look too, just to see if we missed anything.”

NSW Police used drones to search a 1,700-hectare stretch of rural NSW for James

James Hunter’s Daughter Swears She’ll Keep Searching for Her Father No Matter What

She said amateur detectives around the world could help by viewing the footage at airs.workingdrones.com.au or joining the Facebook group dedicated to the search for her father, HelpFindJamesHunter.

“I hope everyone watches and shares the footage and knows that we appreciate them helping us,” she said.

Although Chloe realizes that the search could ultimately end in a horrific discovery, she says she owes it to her father to find out the truth about his fate no matter what.

“My dad was always there for me when I was little. He was kind and caring and he was always there when I needed him the most,” she said.

“So I’ll be there for him now… when he needs me most.”