Police have launched a land and air search in a bid to find a Canadian fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker missing in Western Australia's remote Pilbara for nearly two days.
Key points:
- Ambrose Walton, from Canada, had been staying at the Marandoo Mine Camp near Tom Price
- He is believed to be driving a white Toyota Hilux with Schlam Engineering written on the side
- A search has been underway for two days and air operations are set to begin today
Ambrose Walton, 33, had been staying at Marandoo Mine Camp near Tom Price, 1,450 kilometres north east of Perth, before he went missing on Tuesday, January 23.
Police said Mr Walton was planning to travel to the Brockman Four camp on Tuesday, and also had plans to meet a friend in Karratha at 2pm that same day.
He did not arrive at either location.
Tom Price Police officer in charge Sergeant Chris Clelland said local officers had been attempting to track Mr Walton's location.
"With investigations, we've tracked him heading north on the Hamersley Road and onto the Roebourne Wittenoom Road, where he has made the sealed section at the Tom Price rail access road," Sergeant Clelland said.
"We haven't been able to track him any further, but we believe he's headed north-west on the sealed Roebourne Wittenoom Road up towards Karratha."
A diesel mechanic, Mr Walton originally hails from Canada, but currently resides in Perth and travels to the Pilbara region for work.
He is described as having a strong Canadian accent.
Rio Tinto, which operates Marandoo and Brockman mines, said it was assisting police with their inquiries.
Sergeant Clelland said police had significant concerns for his safety.
"The fact that he hasn't contacted anyone and his phone has been out of range, or out of charge, is a concern," he said.
Mr Ambrose was driving a white Toyota Hilux with Schlam – a contracting service – written on the side, registration 1GYE661.
Unlike some other mine-site vehicles, police say the Schlam vehicle is not equipped with a GPS tracking system, but police say the vehicle does have a water supply.
Schlam declined to comment at this time.
An air search is set to begin today.
"We've been conducting a land search over the last couple of days since we were made aware of him being overdue," Sergeant Clelland said.
"We have an air asset that will be going up shortly to check that road.
"We've had a couple reported sightings south of the Pilbara, which we've eliminated, but please keep that information coming in."
Anyone with information regarding Mr Ambrose's whereabouts or condition are being urged to contact police on 131 444.