After 10 years of searching, Matthew Leveson’s parents are finally able to bury their son after police confirmed the remains found Wednesday afternoon are his.
His family took to Facebook to confirm the news and post a heartfelt thank you for the unwavering support from family, friends and those across Australia that helped them continue their search.
“It has now been CONFIRMED by DNA testing that the remains found WERE OF OUR BELOVED MATTY,” they wrote.
On Twitter, Mark Leveson “raised a glass” to those involved in “bringing Matty home” and revealed their sweet tribute to Matthew.
Mark and Faye Leveson took the palm tree the 20-year-old’s remains were buried beneath home to plant in their backyard – “It’s in a spot where we think it should be OK,” Mr Leveson said.
Mr Leveson also revealed how close the police came to not moving the vital palm tree in their search on Wednesday afternoon.
“[They were] probably about 45 minutes from finishing and walking away, again without finding Matt, when the police officer in charge of the area that was being investigated asked the backhoe driver to remove a small palm,” he said.
“They did that and I actually remarked to my wife ‘that’d be a nice palm for home’ just jokingly and within moments they put the palm down and that detective called over [Detective] Gary Jubelin.
“Then Gary came across to us and said ‘we’ve got him, we’ve found Matt’ and it was just because they had moved that palm.
“We’d literally had walked past this palm many times, literally one metre from Matt.”
Despite finally discovering the remains after ten long years, Mr Leveson said it had not brought closure for the family.
“We’re looking for justice, for resolution but not closure,” he said.
And for the jury who acquitted the man that led the police to Matthew’s bones, Mr Leveson had just one question.
“What the hell are you thinking?”
