Father's emotional appeal 20 years after son Simon Knight vanished from Sydney's Surry Hills

7NEWS

21-07-2025

The family of a man who went missing without a trace 20 years ago say they have been left with a profound void in their lives.
Solving the cold case of his disappearance could finally give them closure.
Concerns were raised for the whereabouts of Simon Knight when he did not turn up to a chef shift at a cafe in Newtown in Sydney's inner west.
The 32-year-old was last seen at a hotel on bustling Crown Street in Surry Hills on the morning of July 21, 2005.
His father Bob Knight choked back tears as he recounted memories of his outgoing and talented son, who was an avid photographer and passionate gardener.
He said their last contact was a week before Knight's disappearance, when he had just begun a new horticulture course and was pursuing a career change.
'We have been waiting for 20 years to find out what's happened to Simon,' he told reporters on Monday.
'We're hoping one day we will get the answers and closure.'
His father said the 'loss of communication and loss of having watched him grow up for years' weighed heavily on him.
On the day Knight went missing, his camera and mountain bike were also gone.
Police hope a $250,000 reward can prompt someone to come forward with information to solve the case.
At the time of his disappearance, Knight was described as Caucasian, 183cm tall, with blue eyes, a fair complexion, red hair, and facial hair.
He was last seen wearing a dark green T-shirt and blue jeans.
Knight's sister Francis fondly described her brother as simply being fun and spending many late nights in the kitchen baking and laughing together.
'The loss of him has had a massive impact, so many lost opportunities,' she said.
'I'd love to fight with him again ... a little bit of the fun went with him as well.'
A coronial inquest in 2008 found it was unlikely Knight had died, but he has not been seen since.
A second coronial inquest in 2015 concluded it was likely Knight had died, although his body has never been located.
NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley gave an impassioned plea to assist officers in their attempts to search for the missing man.
'Losing a loved one is devastating, but the not knowing makes the loss so much harder,' she said.
Knight's case was referenced in a 2021 parliamentary report that led to a landmark Special Commission on gay hate crimes in NSW where police were accused of not taking his disappearance seriously.
But his father acknowledged officers had helped support the family since early missteps.
Superintendent Christopher Hill said police were keen to speak with anyone who lived on or frequented Crown and Oxford streets at the time, particularly if they knew Knight and had not been in touch with police.
'Any piece of new information — no matter how seemingly insignificant — could be the key to solve this case and help provide much-needed answers to Simon's family about what happened to him,' Supt Hill said.
'We need to hold that hope and that vigour for the family so they can have that resolution to these matters, regardless of what the outcome is.'