The official search party for Trent Riley that started 13 days ago was called off on Sunday, April 25. After his family, friends and hundreds of volunteers, dubbed ‘Trent’s Army’, scoured every section surrounding the waters and muddy plains of Moreton Bay where he went missing, the family decided to call their official search off.
Trent was fishing alone in his tinnie ‘Lydia’, which was found at 3.30pm on Wednesday, April 14, driving uncontrolled near Mud Island in Moreton Bay.
Trent’s brother, Shannon, showed unyielding strength as the face of the search party, and now he and his family can take time to be together and heal. “It’s been the most difficult time of our lives,” said Shannon on Triple M radio this morning. “Losing a brother, no one wants to do that, but in saying that, we’re just looking at the positive side; he was the most unique person you’d ever meet. Pure unconditional love to all. And that is why we achieved the biggest community search in history. I didn’t want to accept [calling off the search], my parents told me, and I was in denial at first, like we’ve got to keep going. But they were right. We’ve had so many people cover those islands multiple times. We covered the whole of Moreton Bay.”
Shannon went on to say that if everything didn’t play out the way it has, Trent’s kindness wouldn’t have affected so many people the way it did.
When asked what Trent was like as a person, Shannon spoke about his brother with nothing but love and gratitude for the inspiring person that he was. “I’ve never even seen the guy get angry in my life. I’ve seen him get sad a couple of times, but that’s about it. He really had his shit together.”
Our love and healing vibes are with Trent’s family, girlfriend, close friends, and the entire community of people who came together during the search. Trent’s spirit will live on. A tribute to him will be held in the coming weeks, and we will celebrate his incredible life in our next edition.
Crooks pop over. Photography by Wade McLaughlin.
