1.50PM WEDNESDAY: Bindi Cheers, who was last seen on Sunday, has been found near Beresfield’s John Renshaw Drive.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Police said the 44-year-old was found about 1.20pm.
She was talking when found, only about 100 metres from where the search was suspended, and although appeared dehydrated was otherwise relatively fine.
She was taken to hospital for treatment and psychiatric assessment and authorities have thanked the community for their assistance.
UPDATE, 1.30pm:
A WORRIED Peter Cheers says he remains positive that his missing wife will be found safe following the confirmed sighting of the horse trainer not far from where she left her horse float on Sunday.
Mr Cheers, who has travelled from Taree to the search area at Beresfield each day for the air and land search, also suspects his wife may be too embarrassed to return home.
“That’s my thoughts,’’ Mr Cheers told Fairfax Media.
“After getting that sighting yesterday, that was a major thing for us, knowing that she hasn’t hurt herself and hopefully she is thinking of her kids.
“I’m hoping she might just be a little worried about everything, of all the fuss, of putting people out to look for her.
“She is a very strong woman and that would be playing on her.’’
Bindi, 44, has not been seen since leaving Hawkesbury races on Sunday after a run-in with stewards over two of her runners.
She had gone missing last year but not for this long, Peter Cheers said.
He told Fairfax Media that a ban from being allowed to train horses on her local track at Taree following a run-in with officials has sparked increased stress on the well-known trainer.
She had been forced to travel to Port Macquarie to train.
“There are a lot of issues to do with it,’’ Peter Cheers said.
He said he had yet to tell five-year-old daughter Nicky that her mum was missing and was hoping Bindi was thinking of them.
“Just come home please, the kids are missing you,’’ he pleaded.
“Forget everything about racing and just come home to the kids and the family.’’
Police had decided to stop the search on Wednesday with the theory that Bindi may walk out of the bush on her own.
“We hoped today was going to be a really, really good day but we haven’t found her yet,’’ Peter Cheers said.
“They are going to call it off and hopefully without the police, SES and media she might come back.
“Everyone has been great, the police have been terrific and I can’t thank the searchers enough.’’
UPDATE, 10.13am, Wednesday:
Searchers were narrowing in on a stretch of bushland at Beresfield on Wednesday where a credible sighting of missing horse trainer Bindi Cheers was made the previous afternoon.
A man has given a detailed description of a woman he had seen walking back into bush near where Cheers’ horse float was discovered at a service station on Sunday.
The accuracy of the detail has police confident the sighting was credible.
Cheers has not been seen since leaving Hawkersbury races in a distressed state on Sunday afternoon after having run ins with stewards over the performance of one of her runners and the scratching of a second.
She had made phone calls to a friend and is believed to have text messaged her husband before her horse float was found at the Beresfield service station on Sunday afternoon.
Closed circuit television footage shows Cheers walking away from the truck.
Police were also reviewing CCTV from a nearby industrial estate although they have not confirmed any sightings.
UPDATE, 6.15pm Tuesday:
HOPE remains that searchers can find Bindi Cheers safe after a witness reported seeing a woman matching the horse trainer’s description walking into bushland on Tuesday afternoon not far from where she left her horse float.
The focus of a two-day air and land search quickly moved to the patch of scrub near Enterprise Drive after the man told police he had seen the woman enter the bush at Beresfield.
Cheers has not been seen since leaving Hawkesbury races on Sunday in a distressed state after a run-in with stewards over the performance of one runner and the scratching of a second.
Her horse float was discovered abandoned at a Beresfield service station.
The search will continue on Wednesday.
UPDATE, 12.55pm:
THE search for missing horse trainer Bindi Cheers has expanding on Tuesday amid unconfirmed sightings of the 44-year-old.
Mounted police have joined officers on trail bikes, State Emergency Service crews and a police helicopter to comb an area near where her horse trailer was discovered at Beresfield on Sunday.
Cheers was last seen at Hawkesbury races on Sunday afternoon as she left in a distressed state following a run-in with stewards over two of her runners.
The Taree trainer’s horse float, along with four horses, was discovered at a Beresfield service station on Sunday.
Police have expanded the search area on Tuesday from bushland adjacent to the service-station to include the industrial estates at the end of the M1 motorway and further areas of bushland.
Inspector Glenn Blain told Fairfax Media police had followed up tip-offs that suggested women matching Cheers' description had been sighted in numerous locations.
But nothing had been found to confirm those sightings.
He urged anyone who sees Cheers to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
EARLIER:
WELL-known horse trainer Bindi Cheers had already had a heated discussion with stewards at Hawkesbury races about the failure of one of her runners when another thoroughbred was scratched at the barriers after it injured itself before a race on Sunday.
Police are now investigating whether the 44-year-old, who was in a distressed state as she left the race track at 2pm with her four horses, just walked away from her truck after parking it at a Beresfield service station on her way home to Taree.
A search is expected to resume on Tuesday morning for Cheers after a large air and land search in bushland surrounding the Enterprise Drive service station failed to find any trace of popular trainer.
Cheers, who for years successfully managed a small team with a unique training method of backing horses up on short breaks, is believed to have returned after a similar disappearance on the mid-north coast in 2015.
However, this time police have serious concerns for her welfare.
NSW chief steward Mark Van Gestel confirmed to Fairfax Media that Cheers had been spoken to about the failure of her runner Gumball in the first race at Hawkesbury, where it ran a 26-length last and Cheers was notified a warning would be placed on the horse.
Then, before the start of the third race, her runner Dolphin Tale was scratched after it struck its head on the barriers.
Mr Van Gestel said Cheers had appeared distressed as she argued why the horse was scratched.
“That’s when she became upset and packed up the horses and left the course,’’ he said.
“We tried to work with her and assist her and offered the appropriate help but it wasn’t accepted.’’
Cheers was last seen leaving the course at 2pm and her truck was later found at the service station with the four horses still inside
Close friend and former Taree trainer Beatrice Osborne told racing website g1x.com.au that Cheers had rung her at 2.05pm but didn’t speak.
“Apparently on Friday afternoon after the races her attitude changed. She then went to Newcastle races on Saturday and her two horses finished last, which probably just added to the state of mind. And then everything happened at Hawkesbury on Sunday,’’ Osborne said.
Cheers had threatened to hand her training licence back to Racing NSW stewards in protest last year after a spat with officials from Taree and stipes regarding the track.
She was last seen on Sunday wearing grey cargo pants, running shoes, and may be wearing a maroon jacket.