Last Stop Larrimah

What Is the Series About?

Last Stop Larrimah is a Netflix documentary series that investigates the real-life disappearance and suspected murder of Paddy Moriarty, a 70-year-old resident of Larrimah, a remote outback settlement in Australia's Northern Territory. Directed by Thomas Tancred, the two-part series was released on Netflix with a US premiere date of 8 October 2023. It chronicles not only the baffling circumstances of Moriarty's vanishing — he and his dog Kellie disappeared without a trace on the night of 16 December 2017 — but also the extraordinary cast of characters who made up the entire population of the town, most of whom became suspects in the public imagination.

The series became a talking point almost immediately upon release, with viewers and critics drawing comparisons to Tiger King for its eccentric setting, colourful personalities, and deeply unresolved central mystery.

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The Case

On 16 December 2017, Paddy Moriarty was last seen near the Pink Panther Pub in Larrimah, a settlement so small that it counted only around 11 to 12 permanent residents at the time. Moriarty, aged 70, was a familiar fixture of the town. When he and his dog Kellie failed to appear the following morning, concern quickly mounted. An extensive search of the harsh outback terrain found nothing — no body, no dog, no clear evidence of what had happened.

Police treated the case as a likely homicide from a relatively early stage. The isolation of the location and the small, insular community meant that investigators and the public alike quickly began scrutinising Moriarty's neighbours. According to reporting by *Digital Spy* and others, one of the most prominently named persons of interest in both the documentary and the surrounding press coverage is Fran Hodgetts, a local buffalo pie-maker and Moriarty's nearest neighbour, with whom he had an alleged longstanding feud. It is important to note that Hodgetts has never been charged or convicted of any offence in connection with the case.

A coronial inquest examined the disappearance and concluded in early 2022. Former Northern Territory Coroner Greg Cavanagh found that Moriarty had in all likelihood been killed, and that the killing was connected to an ongoing feud with his nearest neighbours. As *The New Daily* reported, the inquest's findings reflected years of accumulated tensions in a town where proximity forced deeply incompatible personalities into close contact.

Despite the coroner's findings, the Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions subsequently determined that there was insufficient evidence to charge any individual, meaning the case remains legally open and unresolved. Reporting by *The Nightly* confirmed this development, noting that police have continued to describe the investigation as ongoing. Moriarty's body has never been recovered.

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Production

The series was directed by Thomas Tancred, who gained access to the surviving residents of Larrimah to construct a portrait of the town and the events of December 2017. Given the tiny size of the community and the fact that virtually every adult resident was at some point discussed as a potential witness or suspect, the production navigated an unusually sensitive environment.

The documentary is listed on IMDb under the title *Last Stop Larrimah* (tt26081866) as a TV series with two episodes. It is available to stream on Netflix internationally. The series draws on police records, the findings of the coronial inquest, and direct interviews with Larrimah residents, presenting a multi-perspective account of a community fractured by suspicion.

The format — two episodes running through both the factual chronology of the disappearance and the broader social dynamics of the town — allows the documentary to function simultaneously as a true-crime investigation and a character study of an almost unimaginably remote community.

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Reception

Audience response to Last Stop Larrimah was strongly positive upon its Netflix release. *The Independent* reported that Netflix users branded the series "wild" and drew direct comparisons to Tiger King, the 2020 Netflix phenomenon that similarly thrust a bizarre, isolated subculture into global public consciousness. The eccentric personalities of Larrimah's residents, the feuds, the outback setting, and the unresolved mystery all contributed to this reception.

*ABC News* described the story of Larrimah becoming a "global true-crime phenomenon", noting the unusual degree of international fascination generated by a case involving such a small and geographically remote community. Rotten Tomatoes frames the central premise around the vanished man and his dog, with the town's internal feuds emerging as the dramatic engine of the narrative.

However, the series has not been without controversy. Critics and observers have raised concerns about the ethics of a documentary that amplifies suspicions within a tiny community — effectively placing individuals under intense global scrutiny — while the legal case remains entirely unresolved and no one has been prosecuted. *Stuff* noted the tension between the documentary's entertainment value and the real-world consequences for named individuals who have not been found guilty of any crime.

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The Case Today

As of the most recent available reporting, the disappearance and suspected murder of Paddy Moriarty remains officially unsolved. The NT DPP's decision not to pursue charges — citing insufficient evidence — effectively closed the prosecutorial chapter of the investigation without resolution. Northern Territory Police have stated that the investigation remains open.

No body has ever been found. Kellie the dog was never located either. The coronial finding that Moriarty was likely murdered in the context of a neighbourhood feud stands as the closest thing to an official conclusion the case has reached, but it carries no criminal weight.

The Netflix documentary has ensured that the case remains in the public consciousness well beyond Australia's borders, and any future development — whether a new witness, forensic evidence, or a charging decision — is likely to attract significant international attention. For now, Larrimah remains a town defined by a mystery that nobody has been held legally accountable for, and Paddy Moriarty remains missing.