Australia’s fear of serial killers: 60 women murdered or disappeared

There are 60 women and no one knows who murdered them. 60 lives that were probably taken violently. 60 times families, partners and friends who don’t know who did this to their loved ones. And somewhere out there, there’s probably a serial killer still on the loose.

Between 1977 and 2009, dozens of women were murdered in Australia between the coastal cities of Newcastle and Byron Bay (New South Wales state) – or have disappeared to this day. As the Australian Daily Telegraph reports, police suspect a serial killer is on the loose.

Mysterious cases, sloppy investigations

“Any connections between the cases may have been overlooked,” said former New South Wales Deputy Police Commissioner Mick Willing: “Many of these cases are simply in the database and have never been looked at again.” There are also allegations of sloppy investigations .

“The number of women who have been killed or disappeared is extremely disturbing,” says criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro: “When people disappear in the same place at the same time, that is a massive warning signal.”

Young, female, often alone

The victims are often young women who were traveling alone or in pairs at most: they hitchhiked, went for walks, walked home alone at night – and were never seen again and were found dead a short time later in remote areas. Just a few examples:

In July 1978, teenagers Anni Tominac (17) and Joy Hodgins (18) disappeared after a club night in Newcastle. Her disappearance was only discovered three weeks later: Hodgins was an orphan and lived alone, and Tominiac also no longer lived with her parents.

Just a few months later – in December 1978, Leanne Goodall (20) disappeared. Her brother had dropped her off at a train station in Newcastle – after which she was lost.

Then in April 1979, 18-year-old Robyn Hickie disappeared. She was last seen at a bus stop on a highway in Newcastle. Two weeks later, 14-year-old Amanda Robinson disappeared just 30 kilometers away. She was on her way home after a school party and never arrived. At times, two million Australian dollars (1.2 million euros) were offered for the decisive clue.

Pushed off a cliff, burned in the car

These missing person cases have one thing in common: there are no traces, no bodies, no suspect. When the victims were found, it became clear what horror they had to experience: In August 2003, rescue workers found a burning car off a road in bushland near Bonny Hills (also Newcastle).

In it: Harmony Bryant (26). 60 percent of her skin was burned and her bones were broken. Police suspect she fell from a short distance off a cliff and was returned to her car with serious injuries. One or more perpetrators then set this on fire.

The previous evening she had booked an overnight stay in a motel for herself and another person. Who this person was is still unclear today. Harmony Bryant was no longer able to testify and died in the hospital.

As if swallowed by the earth

There are many other unsolved cases, all in the state of New South Wales: 17-year-old Anneke Adriansen disappeared in Kempsey in January 1979. Allison Newstead’s naked body was found in an old colliery in Pelton in 1993. She was only 17 years old. Melissa Astill was found murdered on a road in New South Wales in 1994 when she was just 14 years old.

Australian politician Jeremy Buckingham told reporters on Tuesday: “Some of the murders were among the most brutal and gruesome imaginable. Some women were dismembered and others were abused.” He also assumes one – or even several Serial murdersrn – from, calls for a special commission.

Because even if no comparable, unsolved crimes have occurred for many years, it cannot be ruled out that the perpetrator is not planning his next crime at this very moment.