Rivers have been drained, bushland scoured and hundreds of people interviewed… still, police can find no sign of missing woman Helen Munnings.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ms Munnings was 20 years old when she was last seen walking along the Bass Highway outside the Burnie paper mill.
Since that day in 2008, Tasmania Police officers have conducted air, land and sea searches to find clues revealing what may have happened to the young mother.
Aside from a cement-filled bucket found at the bottom of the Blythe River at Heybridge, the search has produced little evidence.
Last week, Detective Inspector Robert Gunton told Fairfax Media he knew what evidence he needed to progress the case, but he could only investigate “within the law”.
“It may well appear that in 10 years nothing much has changed but appearance and reality are two different things,” Detective Inspector Gunton said.
“We can only investigate matters within the law, it’s about what we can prove.”
There are few proven facts in the case of Ms Munnings’ disappearance.
In 2012, Coroner Robert Pearce said the evidence presented at the coronial inquest did not justify finding any person had contributed to Ms Munnings’ death.
Mr Pearce said there was also no evidence to support a theory Ms Munnings had planned to leave the state, or change her identity.
He made no formal recommendations aside from suggesting a police investigation remain open.
“No finding can be made about how or why [Ms Munnings] died or whether any person contributed to the cause of her death,” Mr Pearce said in his findings.
“The evidence I have referred to in this decision does not permit any finding other than that Helen Munnings died on or about 23 July, in or near Burnie.”
During the inquest Ms Munnings’ mother, Karel Black, admitted she once directly asked Ms Munnings’ former boyfriend, Adam Taylor, where he had hidden Ms Munnings’ body.
According to the coroner, Mr Taylor was the last person to see Ms Munnings alive when she got out of his car on the side of the Bass Highway.
When interviewed by police Mr Taylor said Ms Munnings had appeared depressed on that day, but her attitude hadn’t been out of character.
Mr Taylor became a person of interest in the case in its early stages, but the now father of three was never charged.
“Given the high degree of ill feeling and suspicion Mrs Black and Mrs [Julie Payne] hold towards Mr Taylor I have considerable reservations about their evidence about the statements they suggested were admissions,” Mr Pearce said.
Mr Taylor had been 30 years old when he commenced a romantic relationship with Ms Munnings, who had been 16 years old.
In 2008 Mr Taylor had commenced a relationship with Karalina Garwood, however, the coroner said Mr Taylor continued to correspond with Ms Munnings via text.
Mr Pearce said it was “more likely than not” Ms Munnings had been pregnant with her second child at the time she disappeared. He said he believed Mr Taylor would have been the father.
“[Ms Munnings] did not tell her mother that she was pregnant but given Mrs Black’s antagonism to Mr Taylor that is not surprising,” he said.
Mr Pearce said on Wednesday, July 23, Ms Munnings walked into the Burnie CBD after spending time at her mother’s house.
“She left the keys to her flat on the table and in her mother’s flat, with a letter that she had brought earlier to show her mother,” he said.
“She was wearing her hair tied up in a ponytail at the back...she was not carrying a bag.”
Mr Pearce said “it may be” that a combination of factors prevailing at the time had led to a personal crisis for Ms Munnings.
“The evidence does not justify a finding that she took her own life,” he said.
“However, in the absence of another explanation it remains a possible reason for her disappearance.”
July 23, 2008: Helen Munnings goes missing
Helen was last seen on the side of the Bass Highway, on July 23, 2008.
She had been dropped off there by Adam Taylor, the man who fathered her son, Donovan.
The coronial inquest found Mr Taylor had picked up Ms Munnings in a white Holden Rodeo Ute near Burnie’s Centrelink building about 4.20pm.
CCTV footage showed a person with a similar appearance to Ms Munnings walk past the Centrelink building on Marine Terrace.
The footage also showed a white utility vehicle drive past the area about the same time.
Mr Pearce said the pair drove until, according to Mr Taylor, he dropped Ms Munnings off near the Burnie paper mill on the Bass Highway about 6pm.
Helen had left her handbag at home, and her mother later noted her absence and reported to police on July 24.
MUNNINGS INVESTIGATION TIMELINE:
July 24, 2008: Helen Munnings is reported missing.
July 30: Tasmania Police set-up mobile station on Burnie foreshore.
August 5: Police release photograph of a white Holden Rodeo they believe Ms Munnings was seen travelling in before she went missing.
August 14: Police divers search waters off Emu Bay, Burnie.
August 26: Police halve the number of officers working on the case.
January 20, 2009: Munnings family launch a website to appeal for information.
May 29: DPP approves $50,000 reward for information that leads to prosecution.
June 2: Police search Lake Kara, near Hampshire.
Detective Inspector Richard Chugg reveals there are suspects in the case.
June 3: Police start search at Blythe Heads, Blythe River.
The operation is suspended due to poor weather conditions.
June 16: Police resume search at Blythe River.
June 17: Police drain Fern Glade reserve in search for evidence.
January, 2011: Coroner announces inquest will take place.
November, 2011: Inquest starts
June 2012: Coroner says the evidence does not support finding another person contributed to the death of Helen.
WHAT NEXT
Detective Inspector Gunton said Tasmania Police remained in regular contact with Ms Munnings’ family.
He said police would not file the case until a “successful resolution” had been reached.
“I’ve personally had contact with Karel [Black] about three months ago, I think,” Detective Inspector Gunton said.
“I try to keep them informed about what’s occurring.”
If you have any information for police, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.