Police investigating the mysterious disappearance of Queensland man Samuel Thompson are hopeful the discovery of a grave site in bushland north of Brisbane will conclude their investigation.
Mr Thompson, 22, has been missing for four weeks and two men have been charged with his murder.
Detective Inspector Tim Trezise said dog squad officers came across a grave site at Pine Forest in Caboolture on Monday morning after spending three days scouring the area.
"Whilst it's too early to say whether this is connected to Sam's disappearance, we're optimistic that it may in fact be Sam's body that we've located here today," he said.
"Hopefully this may bring a conclusion to this investigation, by finding this grave site today."
He said Mr Thompson's family had been contacted about the development and believed it gave them "some small comfort" to learn his body may have been located.
Scientific officers would spend the remainder of Monday exhuming the site and Det Insp Trezise said a post-mortem would be conducted "in due course" if human remains were unearthed.
The uncharacteristic disappearance of Mr Thompson triggered a large-scale investigation involving homicide detectives and police divers.
His distinctive orange 2016 Ford Mustang was spotted in the car park of Deep Water Bend Reserve at Bald Hills in the early hours of March 8 before being found abandoned in northern NSW bushland the next day.
The desperate search for Mr Thompson led police to scour bushland at both sites, and police divers and sniffer dogs have also carried out searches at North Pine River and Murrumba Downs.
Mr Thompson's family made a tearful plea to the public for information, saying "someone knows where Sam is ... please help us find our boy".
Police have charged former anti-Islamic State fighter Ashley Dyball, 25, and 23-year-old Roberto Vincenzo Boscaino with Mr Thompson's murder.
