"He left some of his belongings behind, including the brown safe, but when the women tried to contact him, she got no response.
"The woman, who became a witness, kept the safe stored in the garage until 2019 when she decided to move interstate, and needed to sell the safe, which she advertised on the Albury-Wodonga Buy, Sell, Swap Facebook page.
Michael John Portwood
"On November 30, 2019, a man bought the safe and came over with a friend to pick it up and take it home.
"Once at home the man used an angle grinder to open the safe, revealing a number of hard drives, a yellow envelope containing photo ID and bank cards with Portwood's name on them as well as six USBs.