Inquest rules Peter Claux died in South Coast bush, even though he was never found

While an inquest has found an elderly man died while walking his dog in the NSW South Coast bush, what exactly happened to him remains a mystery.

Peter Dorian Claux disappeared after walking in the Bournda National Park, which is near the town of Merimbula, in 2022. His dog, a golden Labrador called Buddy, emerged alive from the bush several months later, but his body was never found.

This is part of the reason why the coroner overseeing the inquest was unable to determine what exactly happened to the 86-year-old.

“There are no clear answers,” the coronial advocate assisting, Sergeant Sam Charouk, told the inquest last week.

Mr Claux often walked Buddy around the streets and bushland of his home at Tura Beach and the pair were last seen in the suburb on the afternoon of 24 May 2022.

His maroon Subaru Liberty was spotted at the North Tura Road carpark in Bournda National Park the next day, and a National Parks and Wildlife Service officer called police on 2 June 2022 after noticing the car had been in the same spot over a few days.

Police searched his home and found nothing out of the ordinary. When they opened his locked car, they found he had left his wallet inside it.

The car was found near the start of the Sandy Creek Loop Track – a 6-km loop through the national park with rough and steep sections, surrounded by dense bushland.

Emergency services conducted two large-scale searches in the area in June 2022, including with a cadaver dog, but nothing of interest was found.

Then almost three months later, on 10 August 2022, Buddy emerged from bushland on Widgeram Road, about 700 metres away from where Mr Claux’s car had been parked.

He was taken to his vet, who found he had lost 8 kgs since his last visit in March 2022, had numerous ticks and burst cysts on his feet.

Two more searches were conducted in the area that month, including by walking Buddy through the bush, but again, nothing was found.

A survivability expert said he thought it was most likely Mr Claux died on the first day he went missing, based on the weather conditions, dense vegetation, his health and age.

The expert also thought his body was probably within a short distance of the road or track.

Police conducted signs of life checks for Mr Claux, but no signs of activity have been detected since the day of his disappearance.

Deputy State Coroner David O’Neil said he was satisfied Mr Claux died between 24 May and 2 June 2022.

“There is nothing at all in the evidence to suggest that Mr Claux had any intent of ending his own life,” he said.

“Indeed, the evidence is completely against any such suggestion.”

Coroner O’Neil said there was no evidence that his death was suspicious, but it was not possible to conclude whether he had died from natural causes or misadventure.

Mr Claux lived in the USA for several decades where he worked as a lifeguard and married a woman who already had two daughters from a previous relationship. Their marriage ended amicably three years later, but she and her daughters stayed in contact with him.

He moved to Australia in 2000 and never left. He only had one living sibling when he died, a brother in Western Australia who he spoke to every month.

Coroner O’Neil said while Mr Claux was relatively healthy for his age, his physical condition was deteriorating and he suffered from a high risk of falls.

His physiotherapist thought he wouldn’t have been able to walk for more than 2 kms, while his niece thought he had been suffering a steep cognitive decline.

The coroner said there was no need to make any recommendations.

“This was a death through tragic circumstances of a man undertaking pleasurable exercise in the company of his companion dog,” he said.

“As I have already indicated, all steps that could have been taken to try to locate his body have been taken.”