Found Deceased Australia - Dianne Barrett, 59, Medina/Perth WA, May 2019 *arrest*

[TheSecondLaw]

Dianne Barrett was last seen on May 11, and reported missing by a neighbour on May 24. Her car was found in her driveway, her pet dog still inside the house and the TV and heater still on.

Dianne's disappearance is described by friends and family as out of character, according to a report by 9 News Perth.

https://www.watoday.com.au/national...-disappearance-of-sister-20190725-p52awd.html

Search continues for missing woman.

https://thewest.com.au/news/wa/have-you-seen-medina-woman-dianne-barrett-ng-b881217477z

Missing Perth woman's brother fears 'foul play'

 

[Darling136]

I have added the place in the title

This one has quite some details
Search continues for missing woman.

Concerns for Dianne Barrett’s welfare were first raised by a neighbour on May 24 after he had not seen Dianne for some time.

Police found her dog distressed and unfed, but the home’s heater, lights and TV were still on.

Police inquiries established that Dianne visited Bunnings in Rockingham about 7pm on May 11 – the last day her bank accounts and phone were used.

The Bunnings visit is the last confirmed sighting of the woman, where CCTV showed she spent several hours shopping for home improvement supplies.

 

[indicolite22]

Was the house left locked or unlocked? According to her brother, a set of house keys was found inside, but they don't know if she had another set.

According to the same article, her cell phone is also missing. No word of the time/location of the last phone pings, which leads me to speculate that the last ping location is probably at home.

In what scenario would she leave the house on foot, taking only her phone (what about her wallet?) and leaving her dog inside with the TV and the lights on? Did she normally take the dog everywhere? Did she go for a short walk? Are there any shops nearby? If her phone was on and with her during an outing, this would have been established by LE already.

Was she lured out of the house by someone pretending they needed help and then abducted? Would she have the phone on her? Did she let someone she trusted in the house? There's no mention of any signs of struggle or anything missing from the house.

Did LE try to use tracking dogs to find her? I would guess they probably did that before they went to look for her in the bushland.

https://www.watoday.com.au/national...-disappearance-of-sister-20190725-p52awd.html

 

[TheSecondLaw]

Was the house left locked or unlocked? According to her brother, a set of house keys was found inside, but they don't know if she had another set.

According to the same article, her cell phone is also missing. No word of the time/location of the last phone pings, which leads me to speculate that the last ping location is probably at home.

In what scenario would she leave the house on foot, taking only her phone (what about her wallet?) and leaving her dog inside with the TV and the lights on? Did she normally take the dog everywhere? Did she go for a short walk? Are there any shops nearby? If her phone was on and with her during an outing, this would have been established by LE already.

Was she lured out of the house by someone pretending they needed help and then abducted? Would she have the phone on her? Did she let someone she trusted in the house? There's no mention of any signs of struggle or anything missing from the house.

Did LE try to use tracking dogs to find her? I would guess they probably did that before they went to look for her in the bushland.

https://www.watoday.com.au/national...-disappearance-of-sister-20190725-p52awd.html

According to the Nine News report on the msn.com link, the front door was locked, despite the front door keys being left inside.

I couldn't yet find any confirmation on whether the Bunning supplies that Diane had bought were located inside her house or otherwise, nor whether her car keys were located, but Police have confirmed that Diane did indeed return home after the shopping trip.

It's possible that she went for an evening walk - However the time of sunset in Perth was approx 5:30pm on May 11, and by the time she was at Bunnings at 7:00pm, twilight would have diminished. The bush trail nearby where she was known to have liked walking has no lights as far as I am aware. If Diane did decide to go for a stroll after visiting Bunnings, I suspect that she would have walked somewhere better lit e.g. Along the streets. IMO it is unlikely that she would have gone to the effort of going for a bush walk at this time of evening, in which case she would have almost certainly needed a torch.

 

[indicolite22]

According to the Nine News report on the msn.com link, the front door was locked, despite the front door keys being left inside.

I couldn't yet find any confirmation on whether the Bunning supplies that Diane had bought were located inside her house or otherwise, nor whether her car keys were located, but Police have confirmed that Diane did indeed return home after the shopping trip.

It's possible that she went for an evening walk - However the time of sunset in Perth was approx 5:30pm on May 11, and by the time she was at Bunnings at 7:00pm, twilight would have diminished. The bush trail nearby where she was known to have liked walking has no lights as far as I am aware. If Diane did decide to go for a stroll after visiting Bunnings, I suspect that she would have walked somewhere better lit e.g. Along the streets. IMO it is unlikely that she would have gone to the effort of going for a bush walk at this time of evening, in which case she would have almost certainly needed a torch.

Is there evidence indicating that she went missing on May 11 and not a day or two later? How often would the neighbor normally see her? Did she have a prefered/regular time of day to go for walks?

May 12 was a Sunday. Did she normally use her bank cards on Sundays? Would LE know if her car never traveled outside of the area since May 11?

If she went for a walk and took her functioning phone with her, wouldn't her movements be traceable? If anything happened, at least there would be a location to check and time associated with it.

 

[indicolite22]

Her fb account - not much there: Dianne Barrett

 

[Darling136]

@indicolite22

We do not really know a date, but the 11th max be assumed as of her non interaction the day after

From the one i linked previously

Speaking to media on June 4, her brother Dave said Dianne also failed to call her 87-year-old mother on Mother’s Day, May 12.

 

[TheSecondLaw]

Is there evidence indicating that she went missing on May 11 and not a day or two later? How often would the neighbor normally see her? Did she have a prefered/regular time of day to go for walks?

May 12 was a Sunday. Did she normally use her bank cards on Sundays? Would LE know if her car never traveled outside of the area since May 11?

If she went for a walk and took her functioning phone with her, wouldn't her movements be traceable? If anything happened, at least there would be a location to check and time associated with it.

Apparently Diane's last bank transactions were during her Bunnings purchases on May 11th. Diane's brother also stated to the media that she failed to make a phone call to their mother on Mother's Day the following day (May 12th), which is evidently also out of character for her.

 

[indicolite22]

Thank you both for the additional info that I missed. One of the articles states that she would go for walks in the evenings. Apparently she had only been living in the house for about a year.

I checked the location on Google Maps and noticed that all houses on the street are facing a park.

Search continues for missing woman.

 

[Darling136]

The thing about walks is, i wonder if she went for one, why would she not take the dog with her?

 

[indicolite22]

The thing about walks is, i wonder if she went for one, why would she not take the dog with her?

There is a slim chance that the dog was elderly or a particular breed and not able to walk far? I can see a scenario where she would leave everything on in the house so the dog would think that she was still home, but I can't explain the absence of phone data.

The fact that the lights were left on could speak in favor of something happening when it was dark outside.

 

[TheSecondLaw]

There is a slim chance that the dog was elderly or a particular breed and not able to walk far? I can see a scenario where she would leave everything on in the house so the dog would think that she was still home, but I can't explain the absence of phone data.

The fact that the lights were left on could speak in favor of something happening when it was dark outside.

Speaking of dogs, one of the articles state that Police sniffer dogs and drones were used in the aerial and ground search of the nearby bush land.

Unfortunately, in Perth it is increasingly common for people of all demographics to be the victims of seemingly random violent attacks, including in their own yards or inside their homes during a home invasion. IMO If Diane has been the victim of some sort of attack / foul play, what is unusual is the circumstances of her seemingly vanishing without a trace, with all evidence suggesting her last known movements to be inside of her home. No signs of forced entry to the house have been reported.

 

[TheSecondLaw]

A report on the case of Diane Barrett featured in this evening's Perth edition of Today Tonight on channel 7. The following details were revealed :

Edit : This evening's report on Diane is available for free viewing at the Today Tonight website for the next few days (Expires in 6 days) : Today Tonight (Perth)

• A bag of rotting fruit was found outside of Diane's front door by a neighbour, upon the time of noticing her absence and reporting her disappearance. This fruit had been dropped off by a friend of Diane on the same day that she was last seen (May 11th).

• The items that Diane had bought from Bunnings (Rockingham branch)on May 11th (consisting of unspecified home improvement / renovating items) were found inside of her house.

• Diane had bought flowers during her shopping trip at Bunnings on the evening of May 11th. CCTV footage shows Diane with the flower bunch in hand whilst shopping inside of Bunnings. The flowers were presumably bought with the intent of being a gift for her mother for Mothers Day, which fell on the following day, Sunday May 12th. (I did not hear mention of whether or not the flowers were also located at Diane's property).

• Diane's pet dog, appearing to be a Staffordshire (possible cross) and seeming relatively young and in good health, was found alive but distressed inside of the house, upon the time Diane was reported missing almost 2 weeks after her last sighting / known movements. WAPOL are uncertain at this stage how much water was already available in the house for the dog to drink in between Diane's disappearance and being reported missing. Diane's sister takes the dog back to the house on occasions, the dog appears to be pining for its owner.

• Diane's sister (who was interviewed for the report) has considered many possible scenarios that may explain Diane's disappearance, though she further expressed suspicion in particular that someone else is involved.

• Diane is a former music teacher with a passion for music and singing. A piano and guitar could be seen in shots filmed from within her home, which is as of present in the same state as it was that Diane had left it before her disappearance.

 

[TheSecondLaw]

This is going to sound completely counter-intuitive considering the circumstances, and has crossed my mind but have mostly dismissed it as unlikely - What if Diane's disappearance was an attempted dog theft gone wrong?

Similar to violent crimes, dog thefts are also on the increase in Perth, and across Australia in general.

Pet investigator claims dogs are stolen from homes and sold on the black market ‘all the time’

This theory is probably way off the bat, but a possible scenario goes along the lines of : A failed dog theft attempt, resulting one way or another with the dog ending up inside of the house, and Diane locked outside of her house with a would-be robber.

The obvious rationale behind the dog not being a motive of course is that it remained in the house for many days until Diane was reported missing, and is currently in the care of Diane's sister. A dogknapper is unlikely to take a person instead of a dog. Just a thought and speculation.

MOO

 

[Darling136]

This is now some time passed, any news?

 

[indicolite22]

No new information. The last police appeal is from August 5: Western Australia Police Force. It says that "she left her home at an unknown time over the next week", so it's not certain that she went missing on Sunday 12th, even though it was reported earlier that she hadn't called her mother for her birthday that day.

 

[TheSecondLaw]

There is a new development in regards to Dianne, she may have been found, deceased :

Remains are likely missing Perth woman

Human remains found in bushland

 

[TootsieFootsie]

A man in his 50s is currently in custody, assisting with the investigation.

Human remains found in bushland

 

[TootsieFootsie]

A man who lived close to missing Medina woman Dianne Barrett has been charged with her murder after the 59-year-old’s body was found in bushland southeast of Perth seven months after her disappearance.

The 52-year-old Medina man, not believed to have been known to Ms Barrett, was taken into custody on Sunday and charged in relation to her death.

The accused man was refused bail and is due to appear in Rockingham Magistrates Court on Monday.


https://www.watoday.com.au/national...ns-remains-found-in-bush-20200105-p53p2k.html

 

[TheSecondLaw]

"The 52-year-old Medina man, not believed to have been known to Ms Barrett"

This rules out friends, family or a partner/ex/suitor. Perhaps it was someone who had seen Dianne around and had some infatuation for her which was rebuffed? Or maybe a random, opportunistic attack. There is still always the possibility Dianne had crossed paths with this individual before or had some rapport with him.

It always seemed like foul play from the start - In any case it's a sad outcome now that it's confirmed.