Remains of young father Samuel Segal found three years after vanishing during Blue Mountains hike

The remains of a young father who vanished three years ago have been found.

Arborist and keen outdoorsman Samuel Segal, 29, was last seen on January 15, 2022, when CCTV captured him at Glenbrook National Park in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

Hikers found human remains in the park two weeks ago, on August 16.

Within days, Segal’s family received confirmation they belonged to him, his sister Ashlea said.

“We have finally received the answers we have been searching for during three-and-a-half painful years — we have found Sam,” she wrote on a social media post on Tuesday.

Ashlea said the cause of her brother’s death may never be known due to the time that has passed.

“But now, at least, we can say goodbye,” she wrote.

“Sam will be forever missed. Our hearts will forever be broken. My world will forever remain grey.”

According to the “Have You Seen Sam?” website, Segal went for a bushwalk and never returned.

His disappearance prompted a major search after his sister reported him missing on January 23, 2022.

His grey Toyota Hilux was found in a car park inside the national park two days later.

Neither his bank accounts nor mobile phone were ever accessed, and police have not treated the case as suspicious.

Ashlea recalled texting her brother shortly before he went missing.

She had asked if he was free for a call while she was driving.

He replied just over an hour later, asking if she was still free, but she was with friends.

She called him that night, but he never answered, and he never came back.

Ashlea described her brother as a “nature nerd”.

“If he wasn’t out exploring native birds and trees in the bush, he was at home reading about them,” she said.

“I would say it was pretty normal for him to be exploring different parts of the Blue Mountains National Park, but he wasn’t super familiar with Glenbrook itself.”

Ashlea has been posting about her brother’s disappearance for the past three years, describing the period as “the hardest” of her life.

She also expressed sympathy for families still searching for their loved ones.

“I remember feeling a complicated mix of grief, longing, and even envy whenever another missing person was found, or when a family was able to say goodbye to their loved one,” she said.

“For those still searching, my heart aches for you. I cannot promise that you will find answers, but you are in my thoughts, and I send you so much love.”