Rodney Stevens

Police, family, and friends are desperate for any information from the community that may help locate missing Maclean man Daniel Copeland who hasn’t been seen for more than three weeks.

Daniel aged 40, was last seen on River Street, Maclean, about 4.30pm on Sunday September 3, 2023, when he was on his way to a friend’s house, less than 1 kilometre away.

He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 165cm tall, of stocky build, with a blond mohawk, and a full right-arm sleeve tattoo.

Daniel was last seen wearing Cowboys NRL shorts and a green long sleeve shirt with black hoodie.

Family have told the CV Independent, Daniel was last seen getting into a silver sedan, believed to be a Mitsubishi Lancer, on River Street at Maclean, about 4.30pm, after he was captured on Mitre 10 CCTV footage.

“It is known that the person that is confirmed to have been with Daniel last, owns a silver Lancer,” family said.

“The person who is confirmed to have seen him last stated that she dropped Daniel off in an industrial area near Universal Cranes on Big River Way and Coldstream Road.”

Coffs Clarence Police District officers were joined by detectives, SES volunteers, police rescue operators and a drone on Friday September 15, in an extensive search of the Tyndale and Wooli areas which failed to locate Daniel.

Now the family have told the CV Independent they are looking to conduct their own search for Daniel and have set up a Facebook page locals interested in the search can follow, plus a Go Fund Me page to raise money to help find Daniel.

“Despite any obstacles we are determined to have a physical search underway in the near future,” Daniel’s niece Mischa said.

Family said since Daniel went missing, he hasn’t accessed his bank accounts, hasn’t turned on his mobile phone and hasn’t returned home.

A search organised for last Sunday, September 24, of the areas between Tyndale and Wooli saw seven locals volunteer their time to help locate Daniel, a disappointing turnout for family and friends.

“Unfortunately, the search did not yield any new evidence although we now know where Daniel is not, as well as being able to have spoken to some kind locals that had information that we would not have had otherwise,” organisers posted on the Finding Daniel Copeland Facebook page.

“We will be returning soon, with the help of search dogs, and we will not stop looking for Daniel until he we bring him home.”

Coffs Clarence Police District Crime Manager acting Inspector Aaron Van Schaik said police were still working hard and following all avenues to locate Daniel and believe he may be at Minnie Water.

“We are still seeking to locate Daniel Copeland, we believe he was in the area of Diggers Camp between Minnie Water and Wooli,” he said.

Det Insp Van Schaik said he couldn’t disclose whether Daniel had used his bank accounts or if his mobile phone had been tracked.

“With all ongoing missing person enquiries, we do standard checks to trace a person’s movements and to try to locate them, so we are doing all the checks that are required for a missing persons investigation,” he said.

“This will include looking at banking records, doing CCTV canvassing to try and confirm last known movements and any potential to identify locations he has been to while missing.”

Det Insp Van Schaik said some of the information received from the public had been helpful and police were following up leads from the information received, but family and his partner remain very concerned for Daniel’s welfare.

“His family are quite concerned, and we have been liaising with his family and friends and we will continue to search for Daniel,” he said.

Anyone with any information that might help locate Daniel Copeland is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

To access the Facebook group Finding Daniel Copeland visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/612095941075906/?ref=share&m.&paipv=0&eav=AfbVUGcWPI9IRXrC-j7TjBgsXDF3NgNshyYc9EpQsGwzFow2eUOGENCjewfZTGIl6gk&_rdr

To contribute to the Go Fund Me account to help fund the search for Daniel visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/find-daniel-copeland?member=29441451&sharetype=teams&utm_campaign=p_na+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer