Woronora Heights Man Falls for ‘Free Mulch’ Advertisement, Now Declared Missing Under It

Harper Vale | Investigative Journalist | Sutherland Shire Gazette

24 March 2025

A Woronora Heights resident has become the latest victim of the classic “free mulch” scam, after an industrial-sized truckload of woodchip mulch buried his front lawn, driveway, and possibly his dignity over the weekend.

Chris Danson, 42, innocently replied to an ad offering “Free Quality Mulch – We Deliver!” expecting a neat, reasonable pile to top up his native flower beds. Instead, what arrived was an unholy dump of shredded trees so large it could be seen from space. The truck driver - believed to be a tree lopper with a deep hatred for paying council tipping fees - was seen cackling as he tipped the full load and sped off up Warrangarree Drive.

By late Sunday, Danson found himself trapped behind a three-metre mulch dune, unable to get to work, locate his front step, or confirm if his car still existed.

Desperate, he began the painstaking process of shoveling it away, one wheelbarrow at a time, calling on his neighbours for help via his neighbourly WhatsApp chat group.

Unfortunately, when the concerned locals arrived, Danson was nowhere to be found. “We could hear him faintly, but there was no sign of him,” said one neighbour, who attempted to scale the mulch pile before losing a shoe to its depths.

After an unsuccessful rescue mission involving rakes, garden forks, and a Golden Retriever named Rusty, the SES was finally called in to locate the missing homeowner.

Rescue efforts were briefly delayed when one volunteer fell waist-deep into the mulch and had to be retrieved by another neighbour with a pool net.

After two hours of intense excavation, Danson was successfully retrieved from what rescuers described as “a mulch cave system.”

Meanwhile, the offending tree lopper has yet to be identified, though it’s suspected he’s somewhere nearby, still cackling and looking for his next victim.