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

[FigTree]

Nine msm Video link to 60 Minutes Program:
At the 60 minutes link there is also a link for Part 2 & 3
(I have also put links below)

Part 1
Keep playing video for Part 2 & Part 3
A special investigation into the abduction of two teenage girls, taken 17 years ago from the main street of Bathurst, west of Sydney.
http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/stories/8859080/abduction-a-special-investigation-into-a-17-year-cold-case

Part 2:
http://video.au.msn.com/?mkt=en-au&vid=109d24e3-a1bf-4885-bfc4-e7160701c49a&from=sharepermalink&src=v5:share:sharepermalink:

Part 3:
http://video.au.msn.com/?mkt=en-au&vid=76b94bdf-16a3-445b-9d26-c215a943e3f9&from=sharepermalink&src=v5:share:sharepermalink:

Heartbreaking ...
Compelling.


.

 

[Lesa]

Just finished watching 60 mins, so very sad.

 

[Elainera]

Thanks Jacalyn. Glad that the DM picked up the story.
From the link above:




60 Minute Program Video interview with Rob Fitzpatriick:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2658452/Teenage-girl-abducted-17-years-ago-accepting-ride-stranger-likely-murdered-Inquest-breaths-new-life-one-Australias-perplexing-cold-cases.html#v-3623628752001

Eight months after Jessica vanished, two forestry workers found a pair of girl's underwear, a bottle of bleach and a blanket covered in blood in bushland 75km east of Bathurst




.

Did Ms Small identify the items from this photo as belonging to Jessica?

It's unbelievable that police destroyed the items and did not inform her. :banghead: Why on earth were they so nonchalant about the case?

I'm so glad that all this has been dug up now and the case is being discussed and publicized. I hope someone remembers and talks.

 

[Lesa]

I was wondering the same thing Elainera, the whole thing makes me so mad, I really hope someone talks.

 

[FigTree]

I wonder if a line search was ever done in the forest area where the items were found?
Though it may be moot now because forests are usually harvested - and if you've ever seen the land after the trees have been harvested in the pine forests in the area - its very devastating.
Though I also wonder if the items did belong to Jessica or had anything to do with Jessica - why were they there. I wonder if they were dumped and but Jessica was not dumped there. Reason being if she had been buried - these items would be with her - not on the top of the ground.

Its the first time I've seen a picture of the blanket material - I hope someone recognizes it and calls in a lead to the Police.

'

 

[Elainera]

Whether the items belonged to Jessica or not, they should have been tested for DNA and an investigation should have started given that the blanket had so much blood on it. Why were they destroyed? I don't get that at all. A cover up? What were they thinking??

 

[FigTree]

Western Advocate. Read More:

17th June 2014

I'm so glad to have told my story, says Jessica Small's mum

RICKI Small says she knew early on that the police investigation into her missing daughter Jessica was flawed, because no one seemed interested in finding out what happened.
-----
Mrs Small said yesterday she thought 60 Minutes did a good job telling Jessica’s story.
“I got to say a couple of things that I really wanted out there. But I think they did a really good job, and I’m happy her story has been told nationally,” she said.
“After all this time, there is relief [it’s been told] because it’s such a hard story to tell.
“It was thwarted by the [initial] police investigation, and I never knew when it was the right time to speak out.

Im so glad that 60 Minutes did a program too -
I felt for Mrs Small and for Jessica’s friend Vanessa Conlan and Rob Fitzpatrick - it seemed they were buried under a weight of no one taking them seriously, or believing them.

.

 

[FigTree]

Western Advocate Read More:

Mrs Small said at the inquest she was floored when State Forests employee Glen Christie Johnson gave evidence about the items of clothing he found in an isolated area outside Oberon, which were covered in blood.

The first she’d heard about the discovery was when Detective Sergeant Smith, the officer in charge of the second strike force into Jessica’s disappearance, told her about it in the lead-up to the inquest.

I didn't realize that Mrs Small had only heard about these items being found just prior to the Inquest.
This woman deserves no less than justice for Jessica.
I hope it comes for her one day.

 

[FigTree]

60 Minutes FB.

"I remember this case from the time," ‪#‎60Mins‬ reporter Allison Langdon reflects on her time in Bathurst following Jessica Small's abduction in this ‪#‎ExtraMinutes‬ interview.


Youtube -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THEXnm10msk&feature=youtu.be

.

 

[FigTree]

For those who may not be able to get the 60 minutes program -

The full segment is on Youtube:

JESSICA SMALL - ABDUCTION, 17 YEARS AGO - BATHURST - SPECIAL INVESTIGATION - YouTube

.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I missed seeing this

And the youtube video has been removed.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'll watch this tomorrow on the sixty minutes site.

 

[FigTree]

I missed seeing this

And the youtube video has been removed.

That's a shame. Hopefully 60 Minutes will keep their segment online for a long time.
Thanks for letting us know Tootsie Footsie.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

OT Article in today's Western Advocate about another missing Bathurst person, Andrew Russell missing for 5 years.
No thread for him so I hope it's ok posting this here.
His parents have never given up trying to find out what happened to their son.
Arrests made but his body hasn't been found


Grieving parents just want to bury their boy
http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2366218/grieving-parents-just-want-to-bury-their-boy/?cs=119

 

[Oddsocks]

Unless I'm blind I didn't see this here
http://www.coroners.lawlink.nsw.gov...01601l771003/jessica small findings final.pdf

 

[FigTree]

OT Article in today's Western Advocate about another missing Bathurst person, Andrew Russell missing for 5 years.
No thread for him so I hope it's ok posting this here.
His parents have never given up trying to find out what happened to their son.
Arrests made but his body hasn't been found


Grieving parents just want to bury their boy
http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2366218/grieving-parents-just-want-to-bury-their-boy/?cs=119

Thanks Tootsie.
Possibly Andrew Russell's case needs a thread.
Prime7 news...

A man charged with the murder of a Bathurst man will remain behind bars until his trial in the Supreme Court next year.

At the video is says that the court date is Feb 16 2015.

.

 

[FigTree]

Unless I'm blind I didn't see this here
http://www.coroners.lawlink.nsw.gov...01601l771003/jessica small findings final.pdf

Thanks for finding that Oddsocks - it was an interesting concise read by the Coroner - and puts a timeline in perspective as how things played out the night that Jessica went missing, and to the main witness' accounts.

I wish this case could get one more good lead so as to find Jessica.

.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Waiting for the reward: more pain and confusion for Jessica Small's mum

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...-and-confusion-for-jessica-smalls-mum/?cs=114

 

[FigTree]

Waiting for the reward: more pain and confusion for Jessica Small's mum

http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/s...-and-confusion-for-jessica-smalls-mum/?cs=114

From the Western Advocate Article:

In his submissions to the inquest, counsel assisting Ian Bourke recomm-ended a substantial reward of not less than half a million dollars should be offered for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for Jessica’s death.

Mr Bourke also submitted for Ms Freund’s consideration that a reward be made for information that leads to the recovery of Jessica Small’s remains.

Im sad to hear this - no application has yet been put in for the reward to be posted.

With all the publicity around at the time of the Coroners Findings - it was a ripe window of opportunity for the Reward to be posted and for someone to come forward. As time slips by without the reward - I think it hinders people from giving information - they have second thoughts or dont think their info would be as relevant as they thought.

I just hope it will be soon and that when it does happen and the reward is posted that their is a Police Media Release for it and more publicity about the case. Maybe 60 Minutes would do a short follow-up.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

"After the bungle comes the delay"



"THE countless delays associated with the 1997 disappearance of Jessica Small show no sign of ending just yet"

"Almost two months on from Ms Freund’s recommendation, Ms Small is still waiting to hear news about the reward and, understandably, now fears that any momentum established during the inquest may have been lost.

What cannot be ignored, though, is that someone must know what happened to Jessica.

Even if her abductor acted alone on that night, it’s hard to believe they have managed to keep their secret to themselves for almost 17 years.

They must have tripped up at some point in that time, must have been loose with their words and may even have admitted their guilt to another person.

And maybe it will take the lure of a truly life-changing reward to finally bring someone forward with that sort of information "

Read more http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/2450479/after-the-bungle-comes-the-delay/?cs=117