Detective Sergeant Felicity Boyd can't wait to make a very special phone call.
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More specifically, she can't wait to ring up a family whose mother disappeared 43 years ago, and tell them what really happened to her.
"It would be an amazing call to make," she said.
"As a police officer, it's something I've always wanted to do."
The detective sergeant has been heading up an eight-year investigation into the disappearance of Devonport's Darlene Geertsema, who was last seen on Monday night, October 23, 1978.
And she's "very very confident" that she will find the truth, despite the case remaining unsolved all this time.
Ms Geertsema was last seen leaving her family home on Devonport's Best Street about 10 pm, driving off in her 1977 red Holden Sunbird, registration AS 4119.
Her body has never been found.
Her then partner, Westbury's John Shepherd, is now a person of interest in the investigation.
Detective Sergeant Boyd took the case in 2013, after "new information" from the family triggered a review into the initial investigation back in the 1970s.
The case was officially reopened in 2015.
"As a result of detectives re-interviewing witnesses and obtaining fresh information, new evidence established that Darlene's relationship with her then de facto partner was characterised by family violence, and in particular, that a verbal and physical altercation took place the night she disappeared," she said.
"As part of the review that we commenced in 2013 ... it has become apparent that Darlene is, in fact, deceased, and that she died in very suspicious circumstances."
The Detective Sergeant was hesitant to point out holes in the initial investigation, but admitted there were "perhaps some opportunities that were missed" by police 43 years ago.
"It is apparent to us that her disappearance was treated primarily as a disappearance with minimal consideration that something untoward may have happened to her," she explained.
"I wouldn't say it was flawed, I think there were perhaps some opportunities that were missed. What's important now is that thanks to the evolution of technology, forensic science, legislative reform, police numbers and also the training of our police members ... we are confident that Darlene was a victim of crime."
An inquest into the circumstances surrounding her disappearance will start in the Launceston Magistrates Court on December 13.
Sergeant Boyd said police had proposed a number of alternate disappearance theories, all of which would be presented among police evidence at the inquest.
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Detective Sergeant Boyd normally works for the family violence unit down in Hobart - an area of increasing focus for police in recent years - but said she had first come across the case while stationed at the Devonport CIB back in 2013.
"We know the truth is out there, somebody knows exactly what happened to Darlene," she said.
The detective said police did not have sufficient evidence to lay charges on an individual at this point in time.
She further explained that an arrest and charges could be made in missing persons cases where there was suspicious circumstances and sufficient evidence, even if the body was never found.
Anyone with credible information about this case is urged to come forward.
You can provide your information anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or by reporting it online at crimestopperstas.com.au.
Tasmania Police have offered a $500,000 reward for anyone with credible information that can help investigators find Darlene Avis Geertsema and uncover the truth about what happened to her.
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