Jeremiah Rivers ‘scared for his life’ hours before disappearing from Wippo Creek, Queensland, in 2021

The cousin of a missing Indigenous man claims he called him 'scared for his life' just hours before he disappeared more than two years ago.

Jeremiah 'Jayo' Rivers, 27, was last seen at a remote campsite on Wippo Creek, near Noccundra in south-west Queensland, on October 18, 2021.

During a five-day inquest at Brisbane Coroners Court on Thursday, Mr River's cousin Matthew Perris received a phone call from him 'begging for rescue'.

Perris claims Rivers called him via Facebook Messenger from his brother Joe Joe Kantilla-Gaden's phone.

The 27-year-old said he was 'afraid for his life' and 'outnumbered' in the early hours of October 18.

The group – which said they hunt pigs in the remote area – claims Mr Rivers went swimming alone in Wippo Creek (photo: an officer searching the creek)

Mr Perris claims his cousin had an argument with Mr Kantilla-Gaden, who then turned other members of their camping group against him.

Mr Rivers then 'begged' Mr Perris to come from the Northern Territory to pick him up.

“The situation was he wanted to get out of there, he was outnumbered,” Perris said.

Mr Kantilla-Gaden denied the claims on Monday and his phone records show no history of the call. It is not known if a Facebook Messenger call would show up in the phone log.

Mr Perris has also been unable to show any history of the conversation as he has since created a new Facebook profile and cannot remember the password to his old account.

Mr Kantilla-Gaden had arranged for him, Mr Rivers and five other men to illegally drive 1,000km to a camp in Queensland during the Covid border closure.

The rest of the group consisted of the brothers' friend Matthew Moore and four Victorians: Travis Clare, Dylan Thomas, Joel McMaster and Kane Toohey.

The group claims they traveled to Wippo Creek to hunt pigs and arrived between 7am and 8am on October 18.

Once they arrived at the campsite, they claim Mr. Rivers went to the creek to swim and cool off.

However, he did not return and was reported missing the next day around 3 p.m.

A massive eight-day search on land and water, including ATVs, planes with monitors to track heat patterns, a gyrocopter diver and local police officers found no trace of the 27-year-old.

Queensland Police had also released CCTV footage showing Mr Rivers outside a petrol station the day before he disappeared.

Mr Rivers' family were immediately suspicious of his disappearance as he was a well-known bushman from the Gija tribe who had known better than to swim alone in a creek.

Mr Rivers' cousin (above) claims he called him 'scared for his life' and 'outnumbered' just hours before he disappeared

Acting Chief Inspector Timothy Mowle told the inquest in Brisbane that the group's story did not fit Mr Rivers' character.

“He didn't want to run away from camp, he didn't want to go swimming alone and he didn't even go swimming in the water in Darwin, he was good in the bush and had done a ranger course or something similar,” he said, Courier mail reported.

“From the outset, I have instructed all search personnel to be alert for signs of suspicious activity, including disturbed ground, signs of a struggle, blood, torn clothing and ammunition casings.

“No such evidence was found in that search area.”

During initial interviews with police, a member of the group claimed they last saw Mr Rivers when he left to chase their hunting dogs.

However, they later changed their answer by last seeing Mr. Rivers when he went swimming.

One man in the group (pictured at the Wippo Creek campsite) initially claimed Mr Rivers had disappeared while chasing hunting dogs, but later said he was last seen swimming.

Detective Senior Constable Christopher Brooks said on Thursday that Mr Rivers' case was being treated as a 'suspicious disappearance'.

“Primarily it appeared the group was traveling illegally through Queensland due to the border restrictions in place at the time,” he said.

“Their multiple initial versions to police were inconsistent with some of the information we had collected.

'Jayo was known as a very skilled bushman and had survival skills. His skills were inconsistent and he became lost based on the (nearby) creek line and roadway.”

Mr. Kantilla-Gaden's story also changed during the investigation, with him admitting to agents that the pig hunt was actually a cover to smuggle drugs across the border.

He claimed the group planned to transport three pounds of cannabis to communities around Darwin, worth an estimated $72,000.

Other members of the group denied the claim during the inquest.

Detective Senior Constable Brooks said police have at least one source outside the group who can corroborate the drug theory.

Coroner Donald MacKenzie has remained adamant the other group members played a role in Mr Rivers' disappearance.

Mr Kantilla-Gaden told the inquest that Mr Rivers (pictured the day before he disappeared) and the group planned to smuggle cannabis into the Northern Territory

'The brief evidence shows that there are clear criticisms of the QPS investigation; whether it was incompetent is an entirely different matter,” he said.

'But it wasn't the perfect investigation, and there are reasons for that. The main reason was that the information they had to act on in the beginning was a moving feast of lies.”

The investigation will be completed on Friday afternoon.