This is the comment that intrigued me on Missing & Murdered.
"I was picked up by a yellow panel van hitchhiking just outside of Mandurah on 5 October 1980. I was 19 at the time. The guy called himself 'Dave'. It was an horrific trip and I never hitchhiked again. He drove me around and made extremely disturbing threats. I eventually got away by tricking him and hailed down a car on Rockingham Rd, just south of Naval Base. The concerned Scottish male driving a dark coloured Citroen, drove me to my mother's house in Claremont, where she talked me out of reporting it (if that driver ever reads this, please come forward and give evidence to police).
Less than a month on 30 October 1980 Lisa Mott went missing. I contacted Police immediately, but they said 'Mandurah's a long way from Collie!' and weren't interested. I did not have a registration number and no crime had been committed (only threats).
Years later I recognised the 'Dave' who picked me up as David Birnie after his arrest and photos in the news. I have also informed the police of this.
I'm only bothering to write all this because of the comment above regarding Wittnoom St, Bunbury. I always thought that the key to this is locating the owner of that yellow panel van. Maybe there is a link there because 'Dave' told me back in 1980 that the yellow panelvan he was driving BELONGED TO A MATE IN BUNBURY, who let him use it.
I recall the van distinctly. The yellow paint was a bit faded and discoloured. It had two doors on the back that opened out and an L-shaped handle. No windows in the sides. The interior was filthy dirty with bench seat in front (torn black upholstery), curtain separating front and rear, even a bong and a hunting knife in ornate leather sleeve in glovebox. In back was a mattress, tool boxes, a shovel and heavy metal chains. I think I read somewhere David Birnie worked as a crane driver in Collie, so this would fit, but it looks like it might have been his mate's yellow panelvan that he drove to work and used to run up and down to Perth.
At the time he picked me up, he was actually heading back down to Bunbury from Perth. I later realised, he'd made a U-turn after he passed me and came back to pick me up (I was headed to Perth). He said he'd come up to watch 'Bathhurst' (Bathurst 1000 car race) at another mate's place in, wait for it, Willagee. Of course, Birnie is dead now, but based on what I know, I would certainly be looking at him as a suspect in Lisa Mott's disappearance. My heart goes out to her mother whom I'm sure would give anything to know what happened to her daughter. How can anyone ever be 100% certain, but I strongly suspect Birnie did take her.
People might be interested to also know that another teenager went missing shortly before all of this - Annette Deveral aged 16 (although elsewhere its reported Annette Deverell aged 19) who disappeared from the Mandurah Post Office on 13 September 1980, and whose body was found in bushland east of Pinjarra less than 2 years later. I read about the case in 2012 when it was reopened by police after they learned she had been seen in a panel van on the night she vanished. Its a shame they didn't put more stock in my 1980 report of a close shave with a guy in a panel van just outside of Mandurah. I can only think they had a hunch Annette was a runaway. I do wish the police would not run on hunches but remain strictly evidence based and do the groundwork. Of course that demands funding and education, and that's another discussion in itself.
Any else got any more info on Wittnoom St, Witnoom St or could it be Wittenoom St, Bunbury? I doubt the police will set aside resources to look into this further, as their suspect is deceased (though Catherine is still alive, this was many years before he got together with her and they together committed the horrific crimes leading to their arrest and imprisonment.) But if David Birnie WAS renovating a house for a mate in Bunbury back in 1980, did this guy own a yellow panelvan, and if he did, did he let David Birnie drive it? Anyone?"
There is also another comment further up that mentions David Birnie and a house in Witenoom St.
http://missingandmurderedaustralia.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/lisa-marie-mott.html?m=1
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