Minh Phuoc (Paul) Nguyen (pictured) was last seen at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney on the night of May 1, 2014 at about 10pm
Skeletal remains have been discovered in an area of remote bushland during a coordinated police search for a man who went missing from Sydney’s CBD four years ago.
Minh Phuoc (Paul) Nguyen – who was 50 at the time of his disappearance – was last seen at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney about 10pm on May 1, 2014.
On Tuesday, New South Wales police detectives conducted a search of the Illawarra escarpment – a forested mountain range west of Wollongong – in an attempt to locate the missing man’s body.
With the aid of the dog squad and bomb unit, detectives uncovered scattered remains in the bushland, Nine News reports.
They are now in the process of determining if the remains belong to a human and, more specifically, whether they are connected to Nguyen.
It is alleged that Paul Nguyen was murdered by two men – 23-year-old Zulfukar Aljubouri and another 22-year-old man who was 17 at the time of the incident – in a Bankstown unit in 2014.
Paul Nguyen (centre) was allegedly murdered by two men in a Bankstown unit in 2014
NSW police detectives conducted a search of the Illawarra escarpment – a forested mountain range west of Wollongong – on Tuesday in an attempt to locate the missing man’s body
Detectives uncovered scattered remains in the bushland with the aid of the dog squad and bomb unit
Nguyen, a former Bakers Delight franchisee, is believed to have made phone calls to his family on the day of his disappearance, telling them he had a business ‘complication’ that he needed to sort out.
Police have previously investigated whether the 50-year-old had any links to the same underworld figures involved in the death of Jaime Gao: a 20-year-old Sydney drug dealer whose body was found floating in waters off Cronulla in 2014.
‘We believe they may have been associating with the same people and we are exploring the links,’ a NSW Police spokesman has said.
‘We have strong reason to be concerned that he has met with foul play.’
Police are now in the process of determining if the remains belong to a human and, more specifically, whether they are connected to Nguyen
Police have previously investigated whether the 50-year-old had any links to the same underworld figures involved in the death of Jaime Gao: a 20-year-old Sydney drug dealer whose body was found in 2014
The two men allegedly involved in Nguyen’s disappearance were arrested in police raids in Liverpool, Casula and Smithfield in 2015.
Traces of Nguyen’s blood were also previously found on the carpet of the Dudley Street, Bankstown unit where he is thought to have been murdered.
Recent searches for Nguyen’s remains were prompted by extensive investigations and new information.
Recent searches for Nguyen’s remains at the Illawarra escarpment – west of Wollongong – were prompted by extensive investigations and new information