John Frylinck: Community-led searches to continue in Mundaring after police suspend search

The community have taken the search for missing man John Frylinck into their own hands after police suspended their efforts almost a week after he went missing.

Mr Frylinck vanished on Thursday evening at the Mundaring Sculpture Park near Jacoby Street while walking his dog with his wife Diana.

With the area in darkness due to the recent power cuts that have beset WA, Mr Frylinck walked away from his wife as she tended to their dog.

She has not seen him since — prompting an intense five-day search with police and SES volunteers, that was suspended on Tuesday.

In a post on the Mundaring Hills community group on Facebook, Denni Lang said that family and friends would continue to search for the 70-year-old on Wednesday night, and encouraged those who own drones and horses to join the effort.

“For anyone who would like to join the search for missing man Jonh, there is a group of family and friends still searching,” she said.

“They will set up a Facebook page soon and will have a meeting in the car park outside the pub opposite Sculpture Park at 5.30pm tonight (Wednesday).

“Anyone with drones or horses who could search areas that are a lot harder on foot would be a huge help.”

The disappearance sparked a massive search effort from WA Police and 70 SES volunteers, who came from as far as Mandurah to help with the hunt.

Mounted police and drones were also deployed.

After police suspended the search, they urged people in the area to stay vigilant and continue to check their gardens and outhouses for any sign of Mr Frylinck.

Local police are also still conducting inquiries regarding his disappearance.

WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch on Wednesday said it was extremely sad the 70-year-old hadn’t been found yet.

“We see a lot of cases where we have elderly people sometimes getting lost, particularly with dementia. My heart goes out to the family because I know that was extremely stressful over the period of the search,” he said.

“It’s a very difficult area to search, a very heavily wooded area, a lot of tree canopies . . . This is devastating news for the family after six days and we do assess how long people can survive in those conditions.

“We’re still looking for any information of any sightings or anything else . . . It’s really about dashcam and people who are around just go back over your CCTV at home. Just really put the effort in to go and have a look.

Mr Frylinck is 180 cm tall, has a slim build, grey hair and a moustache, and wears prescription glasses. He was last seen wearing green boxer shorts with Christmas patterns, a multi-striped shirt and sandals.