Australia Australia - Jessica Small, 15, Bathurst, NSW, 26 Oct 1997

[FigTree]

Thanks for the links TootsieFootsie :seeya:


Western Advocate. Read More:
TIMELINE

October 26, 1997: Jessica Small 15, and her friend Vanessa Conlan accept a lift with a stranger in a white Commodore in William Street in Bathurst.
The girls are attacked by that driver in Hereford Street. Vanessa makes it out of the car.
Jessica was abducted.

OCTOBER 26, 1997: A woman reports the sighting of a car similar to the one that abducted Jessica parked in a secluded area of Beaconsfield Road, O’Connell, along the Fish River.
The car lights inside the vehicle regularly being turned on and off.

LATE 1997: Clothing, a bottle of bleach and a towel covered in “red stuff” are found in an isolated area near Oberon.

OCTOBER 2006: The Jessica Small brief is completed by police and forwarded to the Coroner, but only after pressure is exerted by Jessica’s mum to have the brief finalised. The brief is rejected by the Coroner as inadequate.

OCTOBER 2007: State Crime Command’s Detective Sergeant Peter Smith takes the case. He and his team spend two years re-reading statements and interviewing key witnesses before he comes across a piece of crucial information overlooked by original investigators.

JUNE 2011: Police launch a massive operation in Oberon in a bid to flush out a man they believe holds the key to Jessica Small’s abduction.

AUGUST 2012: Cadaver dogs were unsuccessful finding any trace in to search for the remains of Jessica Small along the Fish River at O’Connell.

AUGUST 2013: The inquest into Jessica Small’s presumed murder begins in Bathurst with the admission by police that the initial investigation into her abduction was deficient, and that lines of inquiry which should have been followed were not followed.

MAY 19 2014: Inquest Resumes - 30 witnesses will be called to give evidence.



Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

 

[FigTree]

Jessica Small inquest reopens
Western Advocate May 19 2014. Read More:

MORE than 30 witnesses are expected to give evidence this week at the inquest into missing teenager Jessica Small’s presumed murder.

The inquest has been set down for one week, until Friday, May 23, before adjourning for one week, and restarting again at Bathurst Court House on Monday, June 2, 2014.
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A COUPLE who allowed Jessica Small to live with them for a brief period prior to her abduction were among the first witnesses to give evidence on Monday at an inquest into the Bathurst teenager's presumed murder.

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[FigTree]

Western Advocate 20th May 2014. Read More:

Jessica Small inquest: Police officer draws a blank on links
A DETECTIVE who took a statement from a girl who was followed by a man in a white Holden Commodore just hours before Jessica Small was abducted has told an inquest he can’t recall if he made a connection between the two.
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Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said he was the officer who took the statement on October 29, 1997 from Kayla Brien, who had been followed by a man driving a vehicle which fitted the description of the car Jessica was abducted in.
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Ms Freund then asked Detective Sergeant Cosgrove if the information he had taken would have been reported to the officers investigating the Jessica Small disappearance.
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“There seems to be nothing on the [police reporting system] relating it to the Jessica Small case even though it has got so many boxes ticked,” she said.
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Mr Bourke then asked Detective Sergeant Cosgrove if it was the case that police were not taking the Jessica Small matter seriously in 1997?
“I can’t recall,” Detective Sergeant Cosgrove said.

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[FigTree]

Western Advocate 20th May 2014. Read More:
Jessica Small inquest witness sheds light on dirty Commodore
COLIN Charlie Cole was driving home in the early hours of October 26, 1997, when the driver of a “dirty white Commodore” travelling at high speeds and without its headlights on pulled out in front of him on the Sydney Road.

Mr Cole yesterday told an inquest into the death of missing Bathurst teenager Jessica Small that the driver was coming down the left hand side of View Street, Kelso, so fast that the vehicle nearly rolled as it took the corner.

“The car was dirty white [in colour] an early model Commodore – either a VB or VC model,” he said.
Mr Cole told the inquest the car travelled along the Sydney Road and turned up the Oberon road, and said it was “really moving”.
He said the Commodore continued along the Oberon Road still without headlights, eventually turning them on near Dawson’s Transport.[/QUOTE]

He also added that:
The car paintwork looked as if it had no gloss to it.
That the tail lights were different, eg: they didnt belong to that model of Commodore.
He rang the Bathurst Police and reported the incident to an officer by the name of Jimmy Bilton.
He also rang Police regarding the white car down near the river bank at O’Connell.

Police search for Jessica at O'Connell.

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[TootsieFootsie]

Thanks for your posts Figtree :tyou:


I hope the inquest leads to some useful information lease:

 

[FigTree]

Thanks for your posts Figtree :tyou:


I hope the inquest leads to some useful information lease:

With 30 people to give evidence and information - I hope so too.
It must be some slight relief for those who made contact with the Police at the time of Jessica's disappearance, that they can give their input at the Inquest now as well - knowing that it is definitely recorded.
Strength and Prayers to the family at this time too.

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[TootsieFootsie]

Jessica Small inquest: man had interest in teen girls, say witnesses

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...-interest-in-teen-girls-say-witnesses/?cs=115

 

[FigTree]

Prime7 Video Court day -
https://au.prime7.yahoo.com/n3/video/-/watch/23710181/bathurst-inquest-continues/

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[FigTree]

Thanks TootsieFootsie :seeya:

Western Advocate. Read More:

Yesterday the inquest heard from five witnesses – three of whom, including his ex-girlfriend, said former Oberon man Andrew McBride had “ a thing” for teenage girls.
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Caroline Anne Livingstone, the mother of Mr McBride’s former girlfriend Leila Williams, told the inquest he was obsessed with one teenage girl and used to leer at her.
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Ms Livingstone continued telling the inquest how on Sunday, October 26, 1997, McBride and Leila moved out of their flat suddenly.
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Another female witness told the inquest she clearly recalled Andrew McBride driving around Oberon in a white Commodore.

The witness said there were only two Commodores like it in Oberon at the time, and the other one was owned by a close friend of hers.
“Andy’s had an orange blanket covering the back seat. I don’t know if the seat was ripped but the blanket was there all the time,” she said.
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So that is why they were looking for anyone who had bought or knew of an Orange Commodore with an orange blanket.


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[TootsieFootsie]

Jessica Small inquest: Man was ‘touchy feely’ with 15-year-old

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...man-was-touchy-feely-with-15-year-old/?cs=331

 

[FigTree]

Jessica Small inquest: Man was ‘touchy feely’ with 15-year-old

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...man-was-touchy-feely-with-15-year-old/?cs=331

The woman, who cannot be named because of a suppression order on her daughter’s identity, gave evidence via audio link up at Bathurst Court House yesterday.

She said she became suspicious about the relationship after she saw McBride and her daughter swimming in a pool.

https://au.prime7.yahoo.com/n3/vide...-into-jessica-smalls-dissapearance-adjourned/

Detectives said that Andrew McBride was a POI in the case and the other girl in the car with Jessica the night she disappeared said that he (AMc) looked like the man driving the car.

The inquest was scheduled again for tomorrow 23rd May 2014 - but has been adjourned until the 2nd of June 2014.

Screen Capture from Prime7 News report 22nd May 2014 - Jessicas Roadside Memorial plate.

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[TootsieFootsie]

Jessica Small inquest hears interview with person of interest


http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...ars-interview-with-person-of-interest/?cs=115

 

[FigTree]

Jessica Small inquest hears interview with person of interest


http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...ars-interview-with-person-of-interest/?cs=115

Thanks again TootsieFootsie :seeya:

Western Advocate. Read More:

The remainder of the ERISP [electronically recorded interview of a suspected person] interview between Andrew McBride and homicide police, which was recorded in May 2012, was played to an inquest into the missing teenager’s presumed murder yesterday.

In the interview Detective Sergeant Peter Smith said to Mr McBride that he originally told them he had never been to Bathurst, but police had obtained banking records which placed him in the city a number of times in 1997.
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Detective Smith said a witness had come forward saying an adult male, whose description matched Mr McBride’s back in 1997, was asking about Jessica Small just an hour-and-a-half before she was picked up and never seen again.
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Detective Smith said police had been investigating the case for five years and Mr McBride was the most likely person of interest.

“We’re going to find that car and we’re going to find out who did this,” he said.

My bold: I really hope that they do!

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[TootsieFootsie]

Probe into Jessica Small's abduction resumes

"AN inquest into the presumed murder of Jessica Small resumes today after a one-week adjournment.

The inquest, now in its third week, is being heard before deputy state coroner Sharon Freund and has already heard from more than 40 witnesses"

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2321107/probe-into-jessica-smalls-abduction-resumes/?cs=119

 

[FigTree]

Probe into Jessica Small's abduction resumes

"AN inquest into the presumed murder of Jessica Small resumes today after a one-week adjournment.

The inquest, now in its third week, is being heard before deputy state coroner Sharon Freund and has already heard from more than 40 witnesses"

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2321107/probe-into-jessica-smalls-abduction-resumes/?cs=119

Wow, they came so close to getting leads on this case -

When the inquest began, it heard from a number of witnesses but most poignant was the evidence given by Rob Fitzpatrick, who lived at Eglinton at the time.

Mr Fitzpatrick told the inquest that in the early hours of October 26, 1997, he heard a girl screaming, looked out the window of his home and saw a white car.

The screams for help were coming from inside the car. He went to investigate but the car drove off.

After hearing of Jessica Small’s abduction Mr Fitzpatrick contacted police, who did not take a statement from him.

Mr Fitzpatrick told the inquest he got the impression “they [police] didn’t want to take my statement, they thought she’d run away”.

I think it was the 'standard response' that teenagers had run away - how wrong they were.
I wish things had been different and this case was followed up on at the time. Such a tragedy.

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[TootsieFootsie]

I remember the talk at the time was that she had probably run away.

And being a local who was in a business I got to see lots of people every day and not one person even considered the possibility of any other explanation.

They all thought it was too unbelievable that anyone could be abducted in little old safe Bathurst.

There are 2 other cases of missing Bathurst people that I know of.
Janine Vaughan
http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/1187299/more-questions-no-answers-on-janine/

And Andrew Russell. Still missing but arrests made

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2161510/andrew-russell-murder-accused-committed-to-trial/

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Small inquest focuses on Commodore details

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2324209/small-inquest-focuses-on-commodore-details/?cs=119

 

[FigTree]

Angry words at Jessica Small inquest
June 4 2014
Western Advocate. Read More:

AN inquest into missing Bathurst teenager Jessica Small’s presumed murder was abruptly adjourned yesterday when the missing girl’s elder sister Rebecca had an emotional reaction to evidence.

Ms McMillan had told the inquest she was a close friend of Jessica and had seen the missing teenager almost every day, apart from a brief falling out between the pair in July 1997.
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The situation became too much for Ms Small, who told the court the witness was a “fruit loop”, saying her family and those close to Jessica had never set eyes on Ms McMillan.
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Ms Small called out in court that Ms McMillan’s evidence was “bulls..t”.
Ms Freund attempted to bring order to the proceedings before adjourning for a brief period.
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Mr de Mars put it to the witness she had overstated the degree of friendship she had with Jessica and the frequency with which she mixed with the missing teenager.

But Ms McMillan denied this, saying theirs was a “hidden friendship”.

How distressing for the family

I wonder if they have interviewed Ms McMillans father about the phone call McMillan said that her father (the ex-policeman) supposedly made to get more information about Jessicas disappearance. If Jessica was to going to move with them to Sydney - he would surely know - and he would have seen Jessica visit the home and family business.

If Ms McMillan had no association with Jessica - why has she planted herself inside this inquest?

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[FigTree]

In regard to the white Commodore -

Western Advocate Read More:
Small inquest focuses on Commodore details
June 3, 2014,

The witness told the inquest Mr Robertson purchased the Commodore from the Trading Post and believed it came from the Port Kembla area.

The witness never drove the car or saw inside it, but said one day Mr Robertson “just didn’t bring it back”.
“He told me it had mechanical problems and had broken down,” she said.

She also recalled Mr Robertson hanging picnic blankets on the back seat of the car.

When counsel assisting the coroner, Ian Bourke, asked the witness if she had asked what Mr Robertson had done with the car, she replied no.

The witness also told police that around November 1997, Mr Robertson became depressed about having no work and she noted a change in his behaviour, which included becoming increasingly violent.

So if the car broke down - what happened to it then?
Was it sold on - was it used for wrecking parts?
Wonder what happened to it.
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[TootsieFootsie]

Rebecca Small's torment: if only I waited for my sister

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...orment-if-only-i-waited-for-my-sister/?cs=119