Missing Wangoom man Chris Jarvis' family 'frustrated' after murder charge dropped

Steven Johnson, 71, a former manager of the Wangoom tip, had the murder charge struck out in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Tuesday, August 8.

Mr Jarvis, 38, was last seen leaving his family home on the morning of June 13, 2006.

His silver 1991 Ford station wagon was later found in bushland at Warrnambool's Thunder Point.

Mr Jarvis' body has never been found.

His son Cale and daughter Nicole told The Standard they were devastated and frustrated with this week's development.

"We were just starting to make some headway and now it feels like we are taking a backward step," Cale said.

"It's very disheartening."

Cale, who was about 12 at the time of his father's disappearance, said for 17 years he had held onto hope his father was alive.

He said it was difficult to process the missing person case had turned into a murder investigation, and even harder to learn one of the charges was dropped.

Police had alleged Mr Johnson and co-accused Glenn Fenwick, 59, killed Mr Jarvis and disposed of his body in the Framlingham Forest.

It was alleged Mr Johnson and Mr Jarvis had an unresolved rent dispute that was soon to go before the Victorian Civil Administration Tribunal in 2006.

Mr Johnson spent 190 days in custody on remand before he was bailed from the Supreme Court in June.

During that hearing the court was told Mr Fenwick divulged to police where Mr Jarvis' body was buried in the Framlingham Forest.

Mr Fenwick was taken to the scene in an effort to find the body in the 1100-hectare forest but it has not been located.

Lawyers for Mr Johnson told Justice John Champion their client was innocent and rejected Mr Fenwick's claims he was involved in Mr Jarvis' death.

Cale said his family "just want whoever did it to be held responsible".

"And at the end of the day, all we want is our dad's remains back," Cale said. "That will be the end of it for us, it will put a full stop on this whole chapter of our lives."

After Mr Jarvis' disappearance his daughter Nicole spent days walking "as far as I could" from Thunder Point, where his car was located.

"I spent every moment from the minute the sun went up in the morning to the minute it went down at night... we walked for days on end," she said.

"Everyday we have lived with a lot of trauma and heartbreak."

Nicole, who was 22 when she last saw her dad, said he was a fun and devoted father and husband, who would have given anyone the shirt off his own back.

"We've had to go through so many moments in our lives where our dad hasn't been by our side - having children, getting married and achieving things he would have been really proud of," she said.

"All of those missed moments, we can never get back."

She urged anyone with information about her father's remains to come forward.

"After 17 years of not knowing, we just want a little bit of closure, and to lay him to rest as a family," she said.

Mr Fenwick will next appear in court on August 18 for a committal mention.

The Standard contacted Warrnambool's Gallant Law, the legal firm representing Mr Johnson, and offered him an opportunity to comment but the firm did not respond.