Outside the Coroner’s Court of Victoria, Slater and Gordon Lawyer Phillipa Bezas, who represents the Manirakiza family, provided the following statement on their behalf ahead of the Coronial Inquest:
“Eimable was a beloved son, brother, community member, and friend, and a gifted soul singer who always had music in his heart.
He was the eldest of seven, and his good nature extended well beyond our family. His passing has left a hole in our family and the wider community that can never be filled.
For 72 agonising days, our family lived with uncertainty as we searched for Eimable and prayed for answers.
Thanks to community assistance we were able to locate his phone and backpack, which ultimately led us to a river in Melbourne’s west, where our worst fears were realised.
Not a day passes where we don’t think about that day, about what Eimable must have been thinking and feeling. It’s a scar we have to carry for the rest of our lives.
While this inquest brings back so many painful memories, it’s a necessary process to get to the bottom of what happened to our son and brother so that no other family has to experience what we did.
If there was an opportunity for his disappearance to have been acted on more urgently, we want to know.
If Victoria Police failed to access Eimable’s phone location data in the days after he went missing, we want to know.
And if there was any systemic failure that could have led to our son being found earlier, we want to know.
We thank the Coroner and everyone who is supporting this process as we await the findings.”
