Celine Cremer search in Tasmanian bushland uncovers water bottle, garbage bag

Searchers have found a water bottle and a garbage bag that may have been used as a poncho in the Tasmanian bushland where Belgian tourist Celine Cremer went missing more than two years ago.

Ms Cremer disappeared during a bushwalk at Philosopher Falls near Waratah in June 2023, and until last weekend, no sign of her was found other than her car parked near the track.

An independent search party, including a private investigator and some of her friends from Belgium, is re-searching the bushland near Philosopher Falls.

A volunteer found her mobile phone on Saturday, about 300 metres off the track, leading Tasmania Police to join the renewed search effort.

Private investigator Ken Gamble, who is leading the search, told ABC Northern Tasmania Breakfast the search party has now found more items of interest.

"So that's a new area of interest for us today."

Mr Gamble said it was unclear if the items belonged to Ms Cremer, but Tasmania Police will test them and search for a trace of DNA on the water bottle.

"It could be just someone's discarded it, so we don't want to get overly excited about whether it may be hers, but we have handed it to police, and it will be tested in case it was hers — it is possible," he said.

"Celine's the sort of person who would never leave rubbish behind. She did carry garbage bags.

Police believe Ms Cremer may have walked off the track when the sun was setting, potentially using her phone to navigate, then dropped her phone and could not find it in the dark.

Experienced bushwalker and searcher Rob Parsons posted the discovery on Facebook and said the "potential shelter" containing the water bottle and garbage bag was about 300m from where the mobile phone was found.

The water bottle is a Tasmanian brand and has an expiry date of April 2024, indicating it may not have been recently left there.

"Back into it today to continue the mission. Let's go!" Mr Parsons wrote.

Mr Parsons told ABC Mornings there were about 30 people in the search line today, with about 12 police officers in the mix.

He said conditions were favourable and the discovery of more items of interest — and an area that could have been used as a shelter — had buoyed their spirits.

"We have high hopes that it could have been hers and certainly fits the narrative in the direction that she was heading before she lost her phone," he said.

Mr Parsons is optimistic more evidence will be found today.

"I mean, obviously, after two years all we can hope for is some remains," he said.

"If that's possible, that would be an amazing outcome. It would mean we have closure, we know exactly what happened, Celine can be returned and we can solve the case."

Search to pause while items tested

Mr Gamble said 30 people joined the search yesterday, including volunteers, police officers and State Emergency Service members.

"The area around where she got lost stretches out into quite a vast area, so had she gone in the wrong direction, she may have walked a long way."

The search area is dense bushland with large fallen trees, making it difficult for the team to cover ground quickly.

Mr Gamble said the plan was to pause the search after today while police examined the phone and other items.

"We've done four full days of searching, so my team is pretty exhausted," he said.

"It makes sense that we might postpone it until better weather."

Tasmania police have confirmed the items will be forensically tested.

Catering team supports volunteers

A team of six people has been providing breakfast, lunch and dinner for the search team.

"We've provided quite an array of comfort food," Waratah resident Judi Hunter said.

"Last night I had to quickly cook up another dish because the food was just flying out the door."

The catering team starts at 5:30am, then returns in the evening to prepare dinner.

"They come in, they have their breakfast, we've got all their sandwiches ready — muesli bars, fruits, cakes, there's cordials — and they can grab whatever they want," she said.

Ms Hunter moved to Waratah just weeks before Ms Cremer disappeared, and painted a memorial in her honour, which was installed at the trail head.

She said there was a sense of camaraderie amongst the volunteers.

"Everybody is here for a common purpose," she said.

"They're not here because the job tells them to be here, they're here because they want to be here — they want to find Celine."