American Tourist Found In Australia Years Later: Man Caught By Police After Faking His Own Disappearance

An American tourist who was reported missing during a visit to Australia five years ago has been found. Kenneth Rodman disappeared without a trace after a kayak trip in Australia. That was in 2010 and now he has resurfaced — involuntarily.

It appears that the American tourist probably wanted to go into hiding forever. According to the Guardian, the man tried to fake his own disappearance. His plan was going smoothly until he was found by chance on Saturday night while police were investigating an unrelated burglary.

Regarding this unusual case, Queensland state police released the following statement on Monday.

“Friends, family and police were unable to make contact with him since 2010. On Saturday night, officers investigating a matter stumbled across the now 60-year-old man where he allegedly confessed to police that he had been listed as a missing person.”

The last time the now-60-year-old American tourist had been seen was when he was heading to Queensland beach with a kayak. Since then, neither his family nor his friends had any idea of his whereabouts until this past weekend when police officers recognized him during a routine operation. According to Brisbane Times, Rodman will soon be deported back to American soil.

The missing American tourist was initially chased by a police dog, but the dog had chased the wrong guy — Rodman had nothing to do with the burglary. He introduced himself to police, assuming they were looking for him. During his interrogation, he admitted that he was the American tourist who had been reported missing back in 2010.

Yahoo! News reports that Australian authorities believe Rodman had been hiding out mostly in tropical far north Queensland. It is still unclear as to why he staged his disappearance and police aren’t sure if he had help doing it. Authorities suspect that Rodman may have wanted to make it seem like he had drowned because his kayak was discovered a few weeks later submerged in waters a few miles from where he launched it.

“The matter was never closed as a missing person case but inquiries led police to believe he was avoiding contact with authorities to stay in Australia, despite his visa expiring,” Inspector Glenn Horan said during a press conference.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection have arrested the American tourist and he will soon be deported from Australia.

[Image via YouTube screenshot]