Police are renewing their appeal to locate 81-year-old David Johnston, last seen over 550kms away from his home in Sydney's north-west, as part of this year's 'Forever Loved' Missing Persons Week 2025.
David Johnston, aged 81, resides in North Rocks and was last spoken to by a family member on the phone at about 4pm on Sunday 16 March 2025.
On Wednesday 19 March 2025, family contacted officers attached to Parramatta Police Area Command, who commenced inquiries to locate him under Strike Force Allans.
David has limited mobility and would usually only drive as far as his local shops in his grey Nissan Qashqai with NSW registration plates DVX 78M.
However, CCTV obtained by police shows David at a service station in Halfway Creek – about 550km away from home – at 3.39am on Tuesday 18 March 2025.
He was last seen that same morning driving west on Kungala Road, Kungala.
Despite extensive inquiries to locate David and his car, and three public appeals for assistance, David has not yet been located.
David is described as being of Caucasian in appearance, with white hair, no facial hair and blue/grey eyes.
In a statement, David's family said, "David is a beloved family member, who's disappearance is completely out of character. He is not the type of man who would leave without saying goodbye."
"Due to his age and medical conditions, we do understand he may no longer be with us. The hardest part is not knowing what has happened and going each day with no closure.
"Any information would be appreciated to provide our family the ability to grieve and say goodbye by bringing him home.
"As a family, we are deeply concerned and are appealing to the wider community to provide any information that may held us find closure in this heartbreaking ordeal."
Missing Persons Week is an annual national campaign to raise awareness of the issues and impacts surrounding missing persons and runs between Sunday 3 August and Saturday 9 August 2025.
This year's 'Forever Loved' campaign focuses on acknowledging the experiences of families of missing persons and the impact it can have on their lives.
For more information on the campaign visit www.missingpersons.gov.au
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is managed on a confidential basis. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.
