The deceased failed to return from a muster from the head station. Later, Aboriginals found his swag, saddle and bridle and the matter was followed up by Mounted Constables - but there was no trace of his horse and no body was ever found.. It was assumed that he had become lost and perished from lack of water.

According to the Police Mortuary Report in the Government Gazetted, page 849, dated 4 September 1879, Hamilton left Tinga Tingana for Coongie Stn, seeking work, as none was available. He travelled on to The Bluff. He never made it. In December that year, his bones were found along with his horse nearby. The nearest water was 27 miles one way and 97 miles the other. Police from Beltana conducted searches in March 1879, and again in early 1880. His actual date of death is not known nor is his exact burial location. The unregistered notice of his death puts the location as the Sturt Stony Desert.