Will, then death

Press, 28 April 1981, Page 6

Will, then death

NZPA Perth Gordon Brailey, a ; New< Zealander whose body was. found in a dry creek bed in Western Australia's northwest, had made a will probably in his final hours, the police said yesterday. Mr Brailey’s body was found on Monday near Paraburdoo, 1000 km north of Perth, during a wide search that included helicopters and trackers; . ' ..

The police said Mr Brailey, aged 26, ahd been without water. and was possibly disorientated. He had given up hope .and had made a will, possibly in his final hours, which was found iri his kit bag. The contents of the will were not revealed but the police said it was legible and coherent. Senior Constable Chris Kingston said it consisted of . “a few .dozen words" and was written with a felt pen on several paper bags. .

The will would be sent to! the Coroner.; ' >•<_,.

The search for Mr Brailey began after he failed to meet a workmate on "Wednesday

afternoon.- Both men wen working from a base camj on Ashburton Downs station about 60km from Parabur doo. Constable . Kingston said trackers following the missing man found that he had done a lot of “back-track-ing." Several times he, bad trekked along dry creeks in the area for some distance and' then, inexplicably, had walked back over his own tracks.

e He had also lit about a P dozen fires on hill tops in n » unsuccessful bids to attract r " attention. d Constable Kingston, who co-ordinated the search, said d helicopters could have flown :- over Mr Brailey without seeing him because of the rugd ged country. g Mr Brailey had worked in j the Pilbara for about a year. n and was believed to be-an . experienced bushman.