Rob Burgin

It's completely possible he was going to walk the roughly 5km's along either of those roads back to where his car was parked in Mergen.

But whatever he did, he clearly never made it there.

Although the police say the discovery of Jack's shoes are a hopeful lead to the family, that explanation doesn't make sense and the discovery is an ominous sign.

When his shoes are found, what's your initial reaction?

When Jackstad Ross hears the news, he travels to the place they were found.

To Ross, the whole thing feels off.

For starters, even barefoot, Jack should have been able to make it back into town.

It was only 5Ks.

He'd be known to walk distances much longer than that if he felt like it.

And after all, he was a fitness instructor.

Secondly, if he did get picked up on the highway, why hasn't anyone come forward to say so?

It's been in the news for days.

Why hasn't someone seen him?

The shoes do not feel like a positive clue to the family.

Yeah, it really does because his white trainers, which is weird in itself because they're these $20 generic sort of department store shoes.

And you would think this athletic former personal trainer might have a more elaborate pair on the day he goes missing.

But he leaves these $20 shoes, laces fully tied about 500 to 700 meters north of where he was last seen.

And this is in an area that's fenced off.

He's most likely gone through barbed wire to get there.

There's small ponds that are around.