Belgian tourist Celine Cremer, pictured here in June 2023. (Supplied: Tasmania Police)

For more than two-and-a-half years, the disappearance of Belgian tourist Celine Cremer has left searchers and her family desperate for answers.

After human remains were found in the Philosophers Falls area today, members of an independent search group hope they have finally managed to solve the mystery.

But how did Celine Cremer go missing?

Belgian tourist Celine Cremer pictured during her Australian adventure, prior to her going missing in Tasmania. (Facebook)

The disappearance

Celine Cremer disappeared in June 2023, during a bushwalk at Philosopher Falls, near Waratah on Tasmania’s west coast.

The 31-year-old was last seen in Waratah on June 17 and was reported missing by her family in Belgium nine days later.

Police officers quickly found her car at the Philosopher Falls car park.

They said they believed it had been there since at least June 20, 2023, the same day Ms Cremer’s mobile phone gave out its last signal.

The initial police search

The search began soon after the concern for welfare notice was lodged by Ms Cremer’s family.

Police officers searched the track and its surrounding area on foot, using all-terrain vehicles, a helicopter and a drone.

The dense forest and difficult terrain were challenging for the search teams. (Supplied: Tasmania Police)

Attached to ropes, they rappelled down from the waterfall’s viewing platform into the surrounding bushland.

A cadaver dog was even brought in from New South Wales to try to locate Ms Cremer’s body.

SES personnel have faced difficult conditions during the search for Celine Cremer at Philosopher Falls. (Supplied: Tasmania Police)

In early July, officers also conducted swift-water searches in the Philosopher Falls area, which included search and rescue staff entering the rapids.

Aerial vision of the area where searchers were looking for Celine Cremer. (Video: Tasmania Police)

Those swift water searches were described as a last-ditch effort to give Ms Cremer’s family some answers before the search for her was scaled back.

Fast-moving water at Philosopher Falls in Tasmania. (Video: Tasmania Police)

But when those efforts did not turn up any answer, Tasmania Police scaled back its search about two weeks after it began.

“While every effort was made during this latest search, sadly, Celine remains missing,” Commander Stuart Wilkinson said at the time.

“The searchers faced extremely poor weather conditions, and every effort was made to try and locate her.”

Police said they had received expert medical advice that Ms Cremer was unlikely to have survived her time in the wilderness, because of freezing temperatures, rain, snow and wind, and the understanding she was only prepared for a short walk.

Searchers believed Celine Cremer became lost in the dense bush near Philosopher Falls. (Supplied: Rob Parsons)

At the time, Commander Wilkinson said police made the decision to call off the search and had spoken to Ms Cremer’s family.

“We’ve found no sign of Celine other than her vehicle,” he said.

“But we accept that the Tasmanian wilderness is such that it’s very, very difficult to search. If you get off a track and get into some of that wilderness, there’s a lot of it, it’s very thick, it’s very difficult to search.

“We just don’t know what’s caused her to go off that path.”

Crews descended into thick terrain next to Philosopher Falls during the search. (Supplied: Tasmania Police)

Commander Wilkinson said it had been frustrating for everyone involved in the search.

“We would’ve loved to find her alive. And if we could’ve brought some closure to her family, that would’ve been ideal as well.”

YouTube filmmaker Rob Parsons (left) and other searchers looking for Celine Cremer in bushland in Tasmania’s north-west on December 17, 2025. (Supplied: Rob Parsons)

The private search

Ms Cremer’s family had been talking to a private investigator, Ken Gamble, about Ms Cremer’s disappearance after the police search was called off.

He analysed her phone location data and conducted numerous searches, including an area of unsearched bushland he had identified.

Private investigator Ken Gamble led a second search effort for Celine. (Supplied: Ken Gamble)

In December 2025, an independent search group made their way to Philosophers Falls to help him.

The group included four of Ms Cremer’s friends from Belgium, YouTube filmmaker Rob Parsons and volunteers eager to take part.

Some had come from other countries after hearing about the revived search effort on Mr Parsons’s YouTube channel.

Rachil Disbechle, friend of missing Belgian tourist Celine Cremer, pictured during a renewed search for Celine in December 2025. (Australian Story: Morgan Timms)

Speaking from the search area last December, Ms Cremer’s friend Rachel Disbechl remembered her as a woman with a strong and sunny personality.

She said the group was desperate to find answers about what had happened to their friend.

The group, led by Mr Gamble with police assistance, set out on a five-day search on December 13.

The first breakthrough

The same day the search began, searchers found something big: Ms Cremer’s mobile phone, about 300 metres from the walking track.

The phone was found on the first day of the search. (Australian Story: Morgan Timms)

Speaking in December, volunteer Tony Hage said he was at the rear of the search line when he spotted a mauve-coloured Samsung device.

“I just melted,” he said.

“I couldn’t talk. I just could not talk.”

A water bottle and a garbage bag with a hole in it were also found next to a tree.

The water bottle and garbage bag were found next to a fallen tree, which searchers say could have been used as a makeshift shelter. (Supplied: Rob Parsons)

Mr Gamble told ABC Northern Tasmania that they could have been used as a raincoat to shelter from the rain.

The water bottle and garbage bag were found about 300 metres from the mobile phone.

The group then paused their search while forensic testing of the items was conducted.

But some volunteers did not stop looking.

Jarrod Boys (fourth from left), pictured with others during the ongoing search efforts for missing tourist Celine Cremer. (Instagram: Jarrod Boys)

Bones found

On Wednesday, search team member Jarrod Boys stumbled across human remains about two-and-a-half hours into another day of searching.

Remains found during search for missing tourist Celine Cremer

Tasmania Police say a bushwalker has located human remains near the Philosopher Falls area in Waratah on Tasmania’s west coast, where tourist Celine Cremer went missing in 2023.

The body parts were found about three kilometres north-east of the Philosopher Falls car park, alongside the Arthur River.

“The bones that I saw were just lying on top of a pile of soil and stones,” Mr Boys said.

He told the ABC he quickly notified police officers, who confirmed with a pathologist that the remains were human.

Police officers have notified Ms Cremer’s family of the discovery.

“We understand how distressing this development may be for her loved ones,” Inspector Andrew Hanson said in a statement on Wednesday.

“While everyone involved hopes it will help to provide answers, formal forensic analysis is required before we can determine whether the remains belong to Celine.”

Upon news of the discovery, Rob Parsons says his “thoughts are first and foremost with Céline’s family and loved ones … I can only imagine how difficult this update will be for them”. (YouTube: Rob Parsons)

Tasmania Police will hold a press conference on Thursday afternoon, where it is expected to provide more details about how long the forensic testing will take.

But in the meantime, the anxious wait for Ms Cremer’s family continues.

In a post to social media, Celine’s mother Ariane wrote: “We have been contacted tonight by Tasmanian Police to inform us of the discovery of human bones along the river.

“Various tests still have to be carried out to confirm that this is Celine … with answers in three weeks max.

“Whatever these answers are, we thank all the people who invested in supporting us and allowing us to try to find Celine.”

Celine Cremer. (Facebook)