The Mysterious Disappearance Of Jayden Penno

A lovable larrikin who loves to muck around, passionate about riding motorbikes and 4WD driving, a great mate, a mother’s Lil best mate, and a much-loved son… Dearly loved, deeply missed, this is Jayden Penno-Tompsett and he is missing….

A mother’s heart left broken, a father wanting his son back home, a family left mystified “What happened to Jayden?”

148 days - That’s how long this nightmare has lasted… 148 days of heartache not knowing if their beloved son is ok if he is safe if he is injured if he is happy if he is…. So many questions but NOT enough answers…

Every knock at the door and every ring of the telephone brings hope for answers, but hopes are dashed when it is not what they have been waiting for.

Jayden is loved, Jayden is missed and his family appeals to anyone with information to PLEASE contact Crime Stoppers today if you have the answers they need…

22-year-old Jayden Penno-Tompsett was last seen near Charters Towers QLD on New Year’s Eve 2017 (31st December).

Jayden and his friend were traveling from Newcastle NSW to Cairns on a boy’s trip away to celebrate New Year when Jayden disappeared. 

They stopped at a roadhouse near Charters Towers in the early hours of December 31st. This sighting has been verified with CCTV footage taken from the roadhouse.

Upon leaving the roadhouse, it is thought Jayden and his friend got into an argument. It has been alleged Jayden, who was driving at the time, pulled the car over and left the vehicle, his friend then drove off leaving Jayden on the side of the road. 

Upon returning to the location sometime later, where he believed he left him, Jayden was nowhere to be seen. The area his friend believes Jayden vanished from was near a rural property on an unsealed road with a red steel fence - there was a skull of a bull on a post near a set of yards with silver-colored fencing.

Jayden has not been seen or heard from since this date, nor has he accessed any of his bank accounts. Jayden left behind all of his belongings in the vehicle, including his mobile phone and wallet.

His friend allegedly spent 7 hours searching for him before continuing to Cairns as originally planned, contacting Jayden’s best mate to notify him of his disappearance, who then contacted Jayden’s family…. Jayden was not officially reported missing to police until the 3rd of January.

Extensive searches conducted by police, SES, and Jayden’s family of an area approximately 85 kilometers in distance on the north-west outskirts of Charters Towers, near Stockroute Drive, (where police were told Jayden may have left the car) failed to locate Jayden or any evidence of what happened to him.  

The timeline of events and circumstances surrounding Jayden’s disappearance has come under scrutiny, with conflicting accounts from the start. Police investigations continue surrounding his disappearance. There are serious concerns for Jayden’s safety and welfare as it is completely uncharacteristic for him not to keep in contact with his family. 

The following was quoted by Senior Sergeant Graham Lohman, who is the officer in charge of Charters Towers police, who told A Current Affair that Jayden’s disappearance had baffled everyone involved in the search. “It's a very unusual matter that we are investigating and it's made worse by the fact that Mr. Tattersall can't remember the exact location where he dropped Jayden off,” he said. “There is no evidence to suggest that anything untoward has happened to (Jayden). “We remain open to all possible scenarios and we are treating him still as a missing person.”

Jayden is dearly loved by his family, desperate to have him home, they appeal to ANYONE with information to PLEASE contact the police.

At the time of his disappearance, Jayden was described as standing 175cm tall with brown hair and several tattoos including a tombstone and angel wings with the inscription “RIP MITCH” on his right forearm and another tattoo on his upper right arm. Jayden was last seen wearing a black singlet, navy blue board shorts, and black and red thongs.

Someone, somewhere, knows something to help Jayden’s family with the answers they need…. Is that person you? If you have any information to assist police to locate Jayden PLEASE make that call today to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

**Please remember you can remain anonymous if you wish – please find it within yourself to help this family put an end to their pain…