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Tasmania specific bushwalking discussion. Please avoid publishing details of access to sensitive areas with no tracks.Coroner Finding on Dan Kokholm who Vanished 45 Years Ago
Fri 06 Nov, 2015 11:51 am
From the Mercury
A CORONER has found a soldier who vanished 45 years ago near Mt Ossa most likely died while attempting to climb Tasmania’s highest peak.
Dan Kokholm, 24, from New South Wales, was last seen near Derwent Bridge on April 22, 1970, and was reported missing by his grandmother the following month.
He was on holidays in Tasmania before departing to fight in Vietnam.
Coroner Simon Cooper said some time after his disappearance, entries by Mr Kokholm were found in the Narcissus, Pine Valley and Kia Ora Hut logbooks.
The final entry, dated April 29, 1970, saying he was “going on to climb Ossa”, was not found until 10 months after Mr Kokholm’s disappearance.
Coroner Cooper said there had been no trace of Mr Kokholm since the logbook entry.
Police had wrongly believed the soldier had disappeared to avoid serving in Vietnam, the coroner said.
“I find it is likely that Mr Kokholm became lost or injured some time on or after 29 April 1970,” he said.
“Despite his apparent experience as a bushwalker, he was unable to survive his injury or get himself back to the Kia Ora hut or any other place of safety.
“Despite searches in the national park months after his disappearance his body was never found.”
Mr Cooper said he was unable to determine a cause of death.
A CORONER has found a soldier who vanished 45 years ago near Mt Ossa most likely died while attempting to climb Tasmania’s highest peak.
Dan Kokholm, 24, from New South Wales, was last seen near Derwent Bridge on April 22, 1970, and was reported missing by his grandmother the following month.
He was on holidays in Tasmania before departing to fight in Vietnam.
Coroner Simon Cooper said some time after his disappearance, entries by Mr Kokholm were found in the Narcissus, Pine Valley and Kia Ora Hut logbooks.
The final entry, dated April 29, 1970, saying he was “going on to climb Ossa”, was not found until 10 months after Mr Kokholm’s disappearance.
Coroner Cooper said there had been no trace of Mr Kokholm since the logbook entry.
Police had wrongly believed the soldier had disappeared to avoid serving in Vietnam, the coroner said.
“I find it is likely that Mr Kokholm became lost or injured some time on or after 29 April 1970,” he said.
“Despite his apparent experience as a bushwalker, he was unable to survive his injury or get himself back to the Kia Ora hut or any other place of safety.
“Despite searches in the national park months after his disappearance his body was never found.”
Mr Cooper said he was unable to determine a cause of death.
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