He is one of thousands of people who go missing each year and police have appealed to the community during Missing Persons Week (August 4-10) to come forward with any information they may have to help bring some answers to the affected families.
Then aged 25, Mr Crean was with family and friends at his home in Auburn on January 6, 1980, before suddenly leaving with an unknown man, without his shoes, wallet, keys or cigarettes, and didn’t tell anyone where he was going.
An inquest in 2015 into his death found that at the time of his disappearance, the father of two was on bail in relation to “public mischief” and various drug matters, and the day prior to his disappearance a number of people noticed he was “agitated or frightened of something or someone”.
The Coroner found Mr Crean, who was well liked and a loving parent, was likely to have died on or shortly after the day of his disappearance.
“I am unable to make any clear findings as to the manner or cause of John’s death, beyond finding his death suspicious,” the Coroner said.
While the Counsel appearing for the NSW Police Force at the Inquest conceded that the original investigation was deficient, there had been “a number of recent changes to police systems and procedures that would guard against an investigation of this sort falling so far below acceptable standards now or in the future”.
Mr Crean was described as 172cm tall, slender build, with black hair, blue eyes, and several tattoos on his arm and legs.
