Police are investigating the sister of a 56-year-old man who weighed less than 30 kilograms when he died in a home in northern Queensland in 2023.
Isaac Oar was found dead at a home in Alice Street, Ayr, south of Townsville, at about 9.18pm on Thursday, August 10, 2023 after his sister called emergency services, police said.
Oar, also known as “Ike”, had Down syndrome and was non-verbal, according to police.
Since his death, police have conducted “extensive and thorough inquires” into Oar’s health, care, and treatment, including a post-mortem that revealed he was seriously malnourished and weighed just 29 kilograms when he died.
“I don’t think people probably realise the extent of the malnourishment,” Detective Inspector Jason Shepherd said.
“When you talk about a 56-year-old male weighing 29 kilograms, that’s pretty extensive.
“That doesn’t happen overnight, so there’s obviously been years of neglect in some format.”
Oar hadn’t received any professional medical treatment in “well over a decade” and was under the care of his older sister, who has been named as a person of interest in the investigation, Shepard said.
Police have also released footage showing officers attending the Ayr home on the evening of Oar’s death to assist in their public appeal. (Queensland Police)
Police said Oar was receiving NDIS support, but could not confirm specific details of his funding or the external care he may have received.
“If there was external care providers coming up to close to the time of his death then you’d expect those people should have raised concerns, so all those sort of avenues have to be investigated,” Shepard said.
Detectives are now appealing to the public, including medical professionals, tradesmen or door knockers who may have accessed the Alice Street home in the last decade, to help establish a timeline of deterioration of Oar’s condition.
“We still have a lot of gaps in relation to his care and his medical treatment,” Shepard said.
“I urge anyone who had contact with Isaac or his family over in the months leading to his death to contact police.
“Any piece of information, no matter how small, can have a significant impact on our investigation.”
Oar was ‘largely housebound’ and “didn’t have a lot of contact with people outside the house”, police said.
Police have also released footage from inside the Ayr home on the evening Oar was found dead, which was described by Shepard as “relatively unkempt” with “a lot of stuff everywhere”.
