Friends and family members of Nathan Booth are calling for community support as they gather at the ACT Magistrate Court this week from May 29-31 for the coronial inquest into his death. An impact statement was read at the opening of the inquest on Wednesday at a location near where Mr Booth's remains were found.

Mr Booth died under what family have always insisted were suspicious circumstances. His remains were located on the 1st December 2019, among uninhabitable terrain, amongst the Murrumbidgee River after being reported missing five months earlier.

Family members grew concerned when Mr Booth failed to visit his aunty on their shared birthday, a catchup he would not usually miss. At the time, his family said the disappearance was unusual and reported this to ACT Police, however they were left feeling helpless when the investigation into his disappearance and subsequent death by misadventure determination, lacked, in their view, vigor and tenacity.

Three years following the discovery of his remains, ACT Police released a statement that: "Police on behalf of the coroner are still investigating how it was that Nathan's body came to be in the river and how he died. The investigation has not determined whether Nathan died as a result of events that occurred before or after he entered the water. Police are investigating the matter without a concluded view as to the possible cause of Nathan's death."

The statement implored anyone who spoke to or saw Nathan, or who knew of his movements or state of mind, between June and December 2019 to come forward and share their knowledge.

They also requested that anyone who visited the Murrumbidgee River between Red Rocks Gorge and Kambah Pool Recreation Area between June and 1 December, 2019 (including bushwalkers, bike riders and kayakers) who may have drone footage to contact police. It is unknown at this stage, whether any drone footage from this period has been presented to the investigation.

For five long years the Booth family have called for justice, alongside Canberra community members and Pastor Priestley Obed of the Gilmore Church who has provided much needed support.

Mr Booth's sister Deanne Booth said justice would mean accountability for those responsible for not investigating the case thoroughly, and a public understanding of what was likely to have happened that fateful day.

The coronial inquest is expected to unfold over three days and will include new evidence along with forensic perspectives, investigating likely scenarios to determine cause of death. Pastor Priestly told National Indigenous Times that while there were issues with the ACT Police initially and many gaps in the original investigation, they feel that the coroners office have now truly "come to the party" and the family are feeling very supported. He said new information is still coming through from community members and stressed that with the inquest happening this week it is not too late to provide information.

Time has played a critical role in hindering a smooth investigation, Pastor Priestley said: "If they had done these things in the first year when they had found Nathan, things could have been different".

Ms Booth said "We have been saying all along, if he was a white man, would you have done the investigation differently and I feel very strongly that this is a yes. I have no doubt about it," she added that the police file the family received was only fourteen pages long, which seemed like the bare minimum.

The Booth family have acknowledged that they may not receive all the answers they are hoping for over the next few days, but at the end of the inquiry they there will be accountability for how the investigation was handled. Referring to the initial investigation Ms Booth said "had it been done properly, he might have been found earlier, we might have found evidence earlier".

"Once he was reported missing and they heard how the rumours were, they should have done a whole different investigation," she said.

"With the evidence we have seen we still wholeheartedly believe he was murdered, it's do we have the evidence to back it."

Pastor Priestley said the information they have received from the community supports the belief that Mr Booth was murdered, "we are finding that it was not misadventure, something happened to him and we all believe that".

A positive legacy to come from Mr Booth's life was through the development of Yeddung Murra - a transitional centre, where Ms Booth is the current Chair and Pastor Priestley supports those transitioning out of incarceration.

Pastor Priestly said Yeddung Murra was inspired by their desire to support Mr Booth, and their experiences with him helped identify a gap in transitional services in the Australian Capital Territory.

"We ended up helping a lot of people and Nathan is a very integral part of what we do here" he said.

Ms Booth said her brother got to see the centre in its early days before he passed away, however did not get to see the success it has now become. "If it wasn't for Nathan, we wouldn't be here.

Pastor Priestley said "Nathan was always bringing someone who was in trouble to me, he would say "you've got to speak to the pastor" and on the day when I last met him in June, he brought in someone who was really in trouble who he only met ten minutes earlier".

Nathan's mum Raylene Booth added: "He always saw the good in people."

When discussing Mr Booth's case, his sister drew comparisons to the recent death of a young First Nations woman with the way their cases were handled.

"You could have been talking about Nathan's case. How it was misadventure because of the terrain... They mirrored each other the way they were talking about it," she said.

An outcome she hopes to have implemented from this process is the creation of "Nathan's Law" -which will see First Nations families receiving the support they need at the onset of any investigation into a missing or murdered First Nations person.

A helpful tip she shares with families is to document every phone call "screen shot it and add it to an email" and keep all the emails together.

The Booth family have been advocating for justice for their beloved family member for five years this June and throughout the battle have experienced additional layers of trauma adding to the grief of losing a loved one. They would like to see other First Nations families protected from this ordeal.

Community members are welcome to attend the inquest in support of Nathan Booth and anyone who has information on what happened can still email [email protected].

The National Indigenous Times will provide updates of the inquest.