Inquest finds Jayden Penno-Tompsett died of exposure to elements in bush at Breddan

Northern coroner Nerida Wilson ruled out foul play in the disappearance of Mr Penno-Tompsett on December 31, 2017.

The court had heard Mr Penno-Tompsett had been travelling to Cairns with a friend, Lucas Tattersall, for New Year celebrations when he went missing.

The pair had been carrying quantities of the illicit drugs methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA, ice and ecstasy.

Based on the evidence of Mr Tattersall, Mr Penno-Tompsett consumed about 3.6 grams of ice during the trip and had not slept for four days.

He reportedly became erratic and unpredictable after a stopover for fuel at 3am on December 31 when soon thereafter he could not locate his stash of ice.

According to Mr Tattersall, Mr Penno-Tompsett drove around Charters Towers and outskirts in a frenzy for about five or six hours before parking the car on the side of a dirt road at Breddan and walking off towards a fenced paddock, smashing his mobile phone, and taking with him a quantity of MDMA and his wallet.

Mr Tattersall, after searching for a few hours, then drove on to Cairns as prearranged to meet up with friends.

The group did not report him missing until January 3, sparking a large-scale search effort.

Ms Wilson said Mr Penno-Tompsett disappeared without a trace.

"Jayden had little or no prospect of surviving the combination of 40 degree temperatures, the isolated and unfamiliar location, his drug affected state, dehydration and the associated physiological changes," she said.

"Police consider that more likely than not Jayden was deceased before the official search commenced and that the delay in reporting his disappearance significantly prejudiced their investigation and search."

Ms Wilson said the overwhelming and only reasonable inference she could draw from the evidence was that Mr Penno-Tompsett was deceased.

However the police investigation remains open with the opportunity to reopen the inquest if new evidence comes to light.

In her findings, Ms Wilson mentioned investigating police had to deal with social media being used to spread false leads and inaccuracies that took unnecessary time to investigate.

"A number of unrelated persons became involved in unhelpful interactions and exchanges including clairvoyants, a private detective, false 'go fund me page' and people involved in Facebook groups not connected with the police investigation," she said.

"I had the sense that this misinformation has at times also unfortunately influenced Jayden's family who, as one would expect when hope is all they have, the inaccuracies loomed larger and for longer than they should have or ever need be.

"The myths that developed around Jayden's death are unhelpful and have caused a great deal of distress to his family."