A grandmother whose body was discovered in a remote cattle dip had appealed to strangers for help in the months before her disappearance, saying she was being forced out of her home and that her beloved pets had been taken from her.
Yvonne Whear, 73, vanished from her property at Dungay, near Murwillumbah in northern NSW, in February.
Eight months later, her decomposing remains were found inside a disused cattle dip trough on an isolated farm roughly 30km away.
Detectives are investigating her death as murder and believe someone in the local community knows how she came to be there.
The Daily Mail can now reveal that Ms Whear had been embroiled in a bitter dispute over her right to remain at the rural property she considered home. A tribunal hearing was scheduled for the week after she disappeared.
In a series of social media posts, the grandmother repeatedly reached out to strangers for assistance.
‘I have been illegally evicted by a nasty man, please help find suitable accommodation for me and my pets,’ she wrote on January 1, 2025.
She posted about her situation around 11 times in an online group focused on spirituality and guidance, saying the looming eviction and uncertainty had left her unwell.
Yvonne Whear, 73, disappeared from her home near Murwillumbah in February. Her remains were found eight months later in a disused cattle dip
Ms Whear made around 11 posts about her troubles in an online group dedicated to spirituality and guidance
Ms Whear had lived at the property for several years under an arrangement with its owner, her close friend Bill Campbell.
Concerns emerged in September 2024, when she said she was worried about Mr Campbell’s welfare.
‘I wish to some [sic] assistance with what to do about Bill and my thoughts and concerns around his welfare,’ she wrote.
‘He was supposed to be home but he is not in his home and his nephew refuses to allow me to see him where ever he is.
‘I just do not know how to deal with this.’
Mr Campbell died later that year. His great-nephew Allan Campbell inherited the property, after which Ms Whear was issued with a termination notice.
She maintained that she had a long-term agreement with the Campbell family that allowed her to remain there.
The dispute continued for more than a year and was scheduled to be heard by the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal in the week after her disappearance.
Allan Campbell told the Daily Mail that he had followed the proper legal process.
Ms Whear’s gold Ford Escape wagon was recovered from the Rous River on Dulguigan Road
Ms Whear, who had been fighting eviction, was last seen at a petrol station not far from her home
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Asked about her posts calling him a ‘nasty man’, he said: ‘Whatever she has done, she has done.
‘My lawyers have advised me not to get involved in any of that with all of this is going on.’
He said he had remained civil towards Ms Whear throughout and had no idea what had happened to her.
Allan Campbell has not been accused of any wrongdoing or involvement in Ms Whear’s disappearance or death, and the Daily Mail is not suggesting otherwise.
Around the time her tenancy troubles began, Ms Whear also turned to a local Facebook group, claiming her pets had been stolen and begging for help to find them.
Ms Whear was last seen at a petrol station not far from her home.
In September, her gold Ford Escape wagon was found submerged in the Rous River at Dulguigan.
It was only a short drive from where a wanted fugitive had been fatally injured months earlier.
Vaughn Scott Cummings was the subject of a months-long police manhunt when he was spotted at a property south-east of Murwillumbah
The investigation into Ms Whear’s death remains ongoing, with her grieving family desperate for answers
Vaughn Scott Cummings, 34, was the subject of a months-long police manhunt when he was spotted at a property in Upper Main Arm, south-east of Murwillumbah, in February.
The sighting came within days of Ms Whear vanishing about an hour away.
Police have not linked Cummings to Ms Whear’s death, but by April, he was wanted on 12 warrants, and police had warned the public not to approach him.
On April 8, Cummings was allegedly confronted by two residents at Bray Park, near Murwillumbah.
Police allege the men tried to carry out a citizen’s arrest, during which Cummings suffered critical injuries.
He died in Gold Coast University Hospital two days later.
Michael Harding and Luke Manning have been charged with manslaughter over his death. A third person, Sandi Williams, has been charged with hindering the discovery of evidence.
Ms Whear’s family are desperate for answers.
‘Our hearts and our spirits are broken,’ one of her children wrote on a Facebook group dedicated to her case.
‘They have found our mum Yvonne, and for that, we are deeply grateful. But there is no such thing as closure until we find who did this.’
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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