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National

WA police launch fresh search for missing man Corey O'Connell, last seen near Nannup

Corey O'Connell was last seen walking along a regional highway in 2021. (Supplied)

WA police are scouring bushland in the state's south-west to find any sign of missing man Corey O'Connell, who was last seen walking along a regional highway almost two years ago.

Mr O'Connell, then 26, was spotted walking along Brockman Highway near Jalbarragup, south-east of Nannup, on June 24, 2021.

He left his vehicle on foot after his car ran out of fuel.

A witness saw Mr O'Connell walking along the highway and offered to help him.

Police from WA's Missing Person's Unit, specialist units and local detectives will search bushland along Brockman Highway on Thursday and Friday, near the area where Mr O'Connell was last seen.

Sister Haylee O'Connell has welcomed the search for her brother. (Supplied: Haylee O'Connell)

It has been a painful couple of years for his family, including his sister Haylee O'Connell, who welcomed the two-day search to find her brother.

"When you're missing someone you're grateful for any sort of progress," she said.

"It's just been a horrendous year and a half for me and my family.

"I hope that they do find something because then I don't have to be the one that finds him … even if we just find something to know that we're in the right area – that he was seen there and that he is there somewhere.

"Not knowing if he's there or not kind of beats me up … how long is this going to go on for?"

Community searches over the past two years have failed to find any trace of Mr O'Connell. (ABC South West WA: Rosemary Murphy)

Community searches find no trace

Ms O'Connell has coordinated community searches to look for her brother since his disappearance and had a search planned for later this month.

She said she wanted answers.

"We miss our boy," she said

"We just want to know where he is, we just want to know if he's safe and happy.

"It has been nearly two years and the feelings have not changed.

"With having a missing loved one there's no 'sorry for your loss' ... there's nothing like that. There's not much moving on you can do from it."

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

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