Niels Becker: Melbourne hiker missing in notorious High Country region died in ‘extreme conditions’, coroner finds

A physically fit hiker who vanished while on a seven-day trip for his birthday has been declared dead following a coroner’s review. Melbourne man Niels Gunther Becker disappeared three days into a hike in the Victorian High Country, near Mount Buller, in October 2019. Despite an extensive search by Victoria Police’s search and rescue squad over nine days and spanning an area covering 1600sq km, no trace of Mr Becker was found. There has been a string of disappearances in the alpine region over the past 20 years, including Warren Meyer in 2008, David Prideaux in 2011 and Conrad Whitlock just months after Mr Becker vanished. In March 2020, Russell Hill and Carol Clay vanished while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley before bone fragments linked to the slain pair were discovered 20 months later. More recently, two women, aged 24 and 30, were found dead in freezing conditions at Lendenfeld Point on October 3. Six years later after Mr Becker disappeared, Coroner David Ryan handed down a finding that he was deceased, having become lost or injured on his hike and dying from exposure to the elements. “There is no evidence to support a finding that any third party was involved in Niels’s death or that he may have taken his own life,” he said. Mr Becker, then 38 years old, left his parents’ Hampton home in a hired car on October 24 for a hiking trip in the remote High Country to coincide with his birthday on the 25th. Later the same day, he stopped at the Mansfield Police Station to fill out a Trip Intentions Form, indicating to officers he planned to return home on October 30 and had appropriate gear, including seven days of food and water. At about 9.32pm, Mr Becker sent his father, Peer Becker, a message confirming he’d arrived at Upper Jamieson Hut and planned to stay the night there. The following day, an architect who had been camping in the region later reported to police that he saw a hiker “rugged up” walking the ridge towards Macalister Hut. A day later, in the morning of October 26, Mr Becker messaged his father to say he was at Macalister Hut. The final known contact with Mr Becker came at 11.54am when he sent his father a message saying “Day three begins”. Mr Becker had planned to return to the Upper Jamison Hut on October 29 and drive home the following day. A search for Mr Becker was launched on November 1 after his father raised the alarm but was called off on November 9 following expert advice. It was noted the missing man’s timeframe for survival had expired and the weather in the Mount Buller area deteriorated significantly on October 26. In his findings, the coroner said he was satisfied at some stage on October 26, after departing Macalister Hut, Mr Becker had left the track and died. “Given the extreme weather conditions, it is likely that Niels would have been deceased by October 31, 2019,” he wrote. “It is acknowledged that the fact that Niels has not been found is very distressing for his family and they have not had an opportunity to have greater clarity in relation to the exact circumstances of his passing.” Mr Ryan said Victoria Police’s handling of the search had been independently reviewed by Senior Sergeant Jim Whitehead of the Queensland Police Service with no deficiencies identified. Described by his family as an “intelligent and creative man”, Mr Becker was an experienced hiker having completed an overnight walk in the same national park the year prior.