Home
About MAKO
Services
Contact
Prevention
MAKO/Files
Community Notification
Report
Referral
Profile's
Facts/ Stats
Online Dangers
Child Safety
MAKO Petitions
Research/ Resources
Books
DNA Info
Safety For Women
News/ Articles
Your Comments
Australian Politicians/ Contacts
Join
Sponsors
Donations
Links
|
FOR Christine Gordon, the memory of her daughter's abduction 31 years ago is as vivid as the day it happened. As is the pain. "It's like living with an open grave," Mrs Gordon said, recalling August 25, 1973, when four-year-old Kirste and Joanne Ratcliffe, 11, were snatched from Adelaide Oval, never to be seen again. Their disappearance remains one of the nation's most baffling crimes. It also is among 34 crimes in South Australia - including murders and disappearances - for which there are rewards totalling more than $2.47 million. Like others who have lost loved ones in such circumstances, Mrs Gordon and husband Greg live in hope some day someone will provide information to give them closure to their grief. "I honestly do not believe that two children could just go missing, or that any person could just go missing without somebody being aware," she said. "And I don't understand the whole concept of people saying that they don't want to get involved. "I think when a crime is committed, especially against children, whether we like it or not, the community is involved." It is a sentiment shared by Pat Sheppard, the mother of teenager Daniel, who went missing on New Year's Day in 1995. "(The reward) hasn't pricked anyone's memory so far, but we are hopeful," she said. Detectives say the rewards ultimately will yield results - and convictions - in some of the cases. To further stimulate Interest, police are reviewing a number of crimes and will consider asking the State Government for more money to increase rewards for some of them - especially where the amounts offered decades ago now seem small. An example is the disappearance of the Beaumont children - Jane, Arnna and Grant - from Glenelg beach on Australia Day, 1966. The reward is just $1000. Just $4000 more is offered for information which might lead to a breakthrough in the disappearances of Kirste and Joanne. Police Minister Kevin Foley has promised to look into the matter if it is presented to him, saying: "If the State Government was approached by the Police Commissioner, we would consider it." Victim Support Service's Michael Dawson said using rewards as a means of getting information to help solve a case would help provide much-needed closure for victims' families. "Anything which helps solve a crime does assist in the victim's family being able to deal with reality and move on," he said. "So from that perspective, if the rewards are successful in bringing about information, that seems to be OK." Police say every major crime is continually investigated. "We have in place a dedicated review team of six investigators who look at the old cases, ensuring we don't allow any stones to go unturned," Detective Superintendent Peter Woite, of the Major Crime Investigation Branch, said. Yet, in each of these cases, dating from 1966 to 1998, there has come a point in the investigation where police have exhausted lines of inquiry. It is then, often as a last resort, they consider offering reward money in return for information. "It's really another avenue of seeking assistance from the public, with the hope that someone will come forward as a result of the rewards being posted," Supt Woite said. Yet, in respect of some of the State's more mystifying crimes, rewards were being posted early in the police investigation. Just 48 hours after the Beaumonts vanished, a reward of £850 was offered for information leading to their whereabouts. Today that reward is $1000. A week after 10-year-old Louise Bell was snatched from her Hackham West home on January 3, 1983, by an intruder who is believed to have cut through a window flyscreen, $5000 was put up for information. A week later, the state government increased that by $10,000. About the same time, a group of Adelaide business leaders put forward up to $15,000 of their own money as added incentive. More than 21 years later, the case remains open. It's a similar story with the October 7, 1992, disappearance of Rhianna Barreau. The 12-year-old left her Morphett Vale home and walked to the nearby Reynella shopping centre and was seen later that day near the David Tee and Acre Ave intersection at Morphett Vale. Police believe she was abducted and murdered, although her body has never been found. It was a month later that a $l00,000 reward was posted and today it still remains unclaimed. Supt Woite says no reward - which is posted at the discretion of the Police Commissioner with funds allocated from the SA Police budget - is ever withdrawn, unless the case is solved. "And as far as we're concerned, all cases are of equal importance," he said. "However, we are reviewing several historical cases ... to request those reward amounts are increased to reflect the current situation." But even the offer of $500,000 has not given police information to enable them to record a conviction for the 1994 National Crime Authority bombing which killed Detective Sergeant Geoffrey Bowen and seriously injured lawyer Peter Wallis. Det-Sgt Bowen was killed when he opened a parcel bomb sent directly to him. The $500,000 reward was posted two days after the March 2 blast in Waymouth St, Adelaide. It remains the highest reward offered in South Australia and the second highest in the nation. In Victoria, rewards of $1 million are on offer for the separate murders of two mothers - Vicki Jacobs in 1999 and Jane Thurgood-Dove in 1997. "(The NCA bombing) was an exceptional case, where a law enforcement officer was killed and another seriously injured. It was really an attach on law enforcement in this country," Supt Woite said. Even though hundreds of thousands of dollars in reward payments have been made in the past, Supt Woite says police realise "rewards dont necessarily solve crimes". "Not a lot of people take up the option of providing information for a reward," he said. "No doubt a lot of people have information which could be useful to us, but for various reasons are not prepared to provide it." In recent years, a reward of $100,000 was paid to a police informant in relation to the 1993 murder of German nurse Anne Neumann at Coober Pedy. Also on the public record is a payment of reward money after a 17-year-old missing person/ murder case was solved. On March 17, 1980, Whyalla mother-of- two Renee Frodsham disappeared from a shopping centre car park and a $10,000 reward was posted. It was not until March, 1997, that a woman came forward with information about her business partner's involvement in Frodsham's disappearance, which led to him being arrested by police. "We can't really say how many rewards have been paid out for confidentiality reasons, but in some cases rewards have assisted in solving the crime," Supt Woite said. AMONG crimes for which $100,000 rewards have been posted are the January 6, 1991, murders of Meredith Pearce and her children Adam, 11, Travis, 9, and Kerry, 2. Their bodies were found in their Parafield Gardens home after it was set on fire. Husband and father Stuart was considered a suspect after his apparent disappearance the same day. In 1996, the money was put up as a reward for information leading to his arrest. Supt Woite said where police were still actively investigating lines of inquiry in relation to other major crimes, rewards had not been posted. An example is the October, 2002, murder of 46-year-old Bernadette Listen in her Victor Harbor home. "There are still lines of inquiry being undertaken in relation to that matter," Supt Woite said. However, he urged anyone with information on any of the unsolved cases to contact, police. "I think that any way we can highlight these cases, which then might jog someone's memory or encourage someone to come forward with further information, is very worthwhile," he said. "And if we do gather any further information in relation to any of those cases, we certainly ensure that the victims' families or friends are kept informed about the progress of the investigation." Calls can be made to the confidential BankSA Crime Stoppers hotline. Sunday Mail (24-10-2005) Anna Merola |
Meredith Pearce and three children. Stuart Pearce wanted over their murders. 
Susana Bobridge- Murdered 
Phyllis Harrison- Murdered 
Corinna Marr- Murdered 
Rhianna Barreau- Missing 
Yasmin Sinodinos- Murdered 
Anna Rosa Liva- Missing 
Karen Williams- Missing |
|
Two major leads have emerged for police investigating the 1997 murder of Corinna Marr. SA police's new "cold case" review team, which is reviewing unsolved major crimes, received four responses to last week's report in the Sunday Mail revealing Major Crime Detectives were "refocusing on a particular area" of the murder. "Two (responses) were associated with the car parked outside the (Ms Marr's) unit which were followed up and discounted," Major Crime acting Superintendent John Venditto said yesterday. "Two other leads have proved very useful and we are looking very closely at them. "The exposure to the case and the quality of information in terms of public response was very pleasing." Sunday Mail (23-11-2003) |
MAKO/Files Online.. Listing Australian Convicted Paedophiles/ Sex Offenders.. FREE Public Service..
Australian News
About Child Pornography
Sex Offenders- Electronic Tagging
Chemical Castration
Community Notification
| Search on: Google - Google USENET - Yahoo - AltaVista - All the Web - Gigablast - HotBot - Lycos - Teoma - WiseNut |
2008. All Rights Reserved.
Legal/Disclaimer/
Privacy/
Terms Of Use.