Appeal for help to identify person as search continues for missing Canberra man

Detective Acting Inspector Emma Quade said the image bears "some resemblance" to Mr Lyons and was obtained in the Gordon region where he lives and was last seen.

"We would like to stress that we do not believe this man has had any involvement in the disappearance of Tim, but rather that we are just hoping to confirm his identity," she said.

"If somebody recognises himself in that image, or Tim sees that image, if you can please come forward and speak to police. That will enable us to close off that line of inquiry and focus investigations elsewhere.

"We are really just hoping to check Tim's safety and make sure that he's well."

The 38-year-old was last heard from on December 19 at around 4pm.

ACT police and AFP Search and Rescue have been scouring the Tuggeranong region, and urge anyone in the area to keep an eye out for Mr Lyons, who is known to frequent the south.

"There is quite an extensive scrub and greenbelt all through there so it's taking a lot of time, so just really hoping to reach out to the community for some assistance," Detective Quade said

Police do not believe Mr Lyons has access to a car and is likely to be travelling by foot or on public transport.

"We don't have information at this point in time that has indicated that Tim was able to move a great distance, which is predominantly why we're focusing our search and rescue efforts in south Canberra," she said.

"Unfortunately with Tim, he didn't have a significant digital footprint which has really made it quite difficult for police to locate him and we've had to rely heavily on information from the public and CCTV footage."

Mr Lyons is described as Caucasian in appearance, about 175cm tall, with a slim build, fair complexion, closely cropped hair, full black beard, and green eyes with a scar on his right eyebrow and a piercing at the top of his left ear.

He usually wears a black T-shirt, black jeans, a black hooded jumper, and black boots and may have been carrying a leopard print faux mink blanket and potentially a blue or green wool blanket, as well as a pillow and sheets.

Detective Quade said said the disappearance was out of character for Mr Lyons, whose family were "understandably distressed" from not knowing his whereabouts.

She said police were working closely with the family to help locate the missing man.

Anyone who has seen Mr Lyons recently, or who may have any information regarding his whereabouts is urged to contact ACT Policing on 131 444, quoting reference 7627182.

Information can be provided anonymously.