Australia Australia - Revelle Balmain, 22, Kingsford NSW, 5 Nov 1994

[Graham Clayton]

Cabaret dancer and part-time escort agency employee Revelle Balmain disappeared from the Sydney suburb of Kingsford on the evening of the 4th of November, 1994, after an appointment with a client from the escort agency. The following day, the 5th of November, Balmain’s bag, make-up, diary, credit cards and keys to her Bellevue Hill flat were found scattered around several Kingsford streets. One of her shell-studded platform shoes was retrieved from one street; the other shoe was found in another street.

Her body has never been found, and no-one has been officially charged with her disappearance.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/new-lead-in-revelle-balmain-murder/2008/07/30/1217097331341.html

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.womansday.com.au/lifesty...ins-family-still-trying-to-uncover-the-truth/

The devastating realisation that Revelle was almost certainly dead didn’t stop Suellen searching for answers as to what happened to her sister. Almost 20 years on, Suellen and Jan are still waiting to uncover the truth.

They believe crucial opportunities to solve the young model’s disappearance were squandered in the first 48 hours after she vanished...

“By the time police did go and see Revelle’s last client he had cleaned his car, cleaned his home, and washed his clothes and linen. The rubbish bins in the area had been emptied. He had scratches on his face and neck, but there was never enough evidence,” says Suellen.

 

[gregjrichards]

"For 20 long years the disappearance of beautiful blonde dancer Revelle Balmain has remained a mystery.

The 22-year-old vanished on November 5, 1994, almost without a trace except for one cork-heeled platform shoe.

The high-heel was found two days later in a street in Kingsford, a south-eastern suburb of Sydney, scattered alongside Revelle’s cane make-up bag, diary and the keys to her Bellevue Hill unit.

It was the first worrying indication police had that Revelle may have been harmed, but two decades later her killer has still not been caught and a $250,000 reward for information leading to an arrest remains on offer from the NSW Government."

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...years-ago-leaving-one-shoe.html#ixzz3I4Kx3q9A

 

[KateB]

http://resources3.news.com.au/image...oduced-by-Ivor-and-Jan-Balmain-pa-6171584.jpg
http://www.news.com.au/national/photos-e6frfkp9-1111120319601?page=3

 

[hayaletcatcher]

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/3763473/invisible-women/

A hardhitting new book details the murder and disappearance of 65 Australian women

Revelle Balmain was a beautiful 22-year-old woman who disappeared, and has never been found, after failing to arrive by train at Newcastle station on November 6, 1994, where her mother Jan was waiting.

Balmain was a dancer and model. It was not until after she disappeared that her family was told she was also a high-class escort.

Fox and Wykes recount in some detail Revelle Balmain’s known final movements and those of a suspect who has never been charged. They also recount the desperate attempts by her parents and sister to learn what happened to Balmain. An inquest in 1999 found there was not enough evidence to charge the suspect. It also found the police investigation could have been handled much better.

Balmain’s parents Ivor and Jan Balmain left Newcastle and moved to Queensland after their daughter’s death.

“The memories of their daughter’s disappearance and their futile attempts to find her were overwhelming,” Fox and Wykes wrote.

“Ivor Balmain died in 2011, without learning what happened to his beloved daughter,” they wrote.

 

[OkieGranny]

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...-for-help-solving-nsws-most-notorious-murders

Police have also earmarked sums of $250,000 for help solving string of other cases, including... the disappearance of 22-year-old model Revelle Balmain, last seen in Kingsford in Sydney’s east on November 5, 1994, and believed to have been murdered.

 

[OkieGranny]

https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/who-missing/nsw/balmain-revelle

 

[Romulus]

The Doe Network:
Case File 1811DFNSW

Revelle Sabine Balmain
Missing since November 5, 1994 from Kingsford, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Classification: Endangered Missing

---

Vital Statistics

• 
  [*]Date Of Birth: July 11, 1972
  [*]Age at Time of Disappearance: 22 years old
  [*]Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'8" ; 120 lbs.
  [*]Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Blonde hair; blue eyes.
• Clothing: Three-quarter length, linen, wrap around green or beige skirt. Blue/grey t-shirt. Cream colored, button down cardigan. High cork platform shell shoes. She had a large, blue, stoned carved necklace, almost see-through in some pieces and a small, three-diamond gold ring. She carried two bags, one a backpack and the other over the shoulder.

---

Circumstances of Disappearance
Revelle was last seen by an acquaintance who said he dropped her off at the Red Tomato Inn at Kingsford at approximately 19.00 on 5 November 1994.
She was due to meet her mother at Newcastle on 6 November 1994, to say goodbye before leaving for Brisbane, Queensland, for a two week dance rehearsal, before going to a job in Japan, on a 6 month dance contract. She never caught her train and failed to arrive.She was due to meet a girlfriend on Saturday evening November 5, 1994 but failed to keep this appointment. Later that evening she was to meet her boyfriend, but failed to keep this appointment as well. Her girlfriend last spoke to her by phone at 19:15. A man told Police she was driven from premises at Kingsford, Sydney to the Red Tomato Inn at 19.00. No one from the Inn ever saw her.
Her mother reported her as missing right away. The following day, Revelle's bag, shoes, make up, diary, credit cards and the keys to her flat were found scattered around a Kingsford suburb. Subsequent checks have found no witnesses seeing her enter the Red Tomato Inn.
She worked as a professional dancer (classical, tap and jazz) and model at the time. Se was also working as an escort to earn some quick money.
It was later revealed that Balmain had gone to the Kingsford house, on McNair Avenue, to visit a client. The client denied he was involved in Ms Balmain's disappearance, telling police and an inquiry he had dropped her at the nearby pub and then gone home, watched television and fallen asleep.
Balmain had traveled extensively through Europe, England and America at an early age.Shortly before her disappearance, she had bleached her hair totally white for a modeling shoot for a Sydney magazine. Just three days before her disappearance, she had returned it to her normal color, which was a sandy blonde.
Foul play is suspected.

---

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:National Missing Persons Unit
1800 000 634
--
Australian Federal Police
EmailSource Information:
National Missing Person's Unit of the Australian Federal Police
Orato
The Daily Telegraph

 

[matildawentworth]

I lived on McNair Avenue in a house that had a history that nobody wanted to discuss. I'm fairly sure this could be Gavin Samer's home. Is there any way that I could find out which house she may have gone missing from? We moved out 15 months ago.

 

[cybervampira]

EXCLUSIVE: 'I hired a hooker - big deal': 24 years after the murder of model and escort Revelle Balmain haunted Sydney, the main suspect surfaces and issues a chilling slur - as he claims HIS life has been ruined
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...NIES-killed-model-escort-Revelle-Balmain.html

[...]
'I'm not worried about getting arrested over the Revelle thing,' he said.

'I've done nothing wrong. I hired a hooker, that's the only thing I did. Big deal.'

Asked if he knew he was still considered the main suspect in Ms Balmain's murder, Mr Samer said: 'I'm well aware of the situation.'

'You don't have to explain it. I've been through it all, don't worry.

'As far as the police are concerned, I'm guilty. As I said, I have no fear about being arrested or charged over murdering Revelle Balmain.

'One, I didn't do it. Two, I've been that heavily checked over. If I was guilty, I'd already be out of jail.'

Mr Samer confirmed he had been living in Tasmania where he sometimes works as a chef but had lost lucrative jobs because of his links to Ms Balmain's disappearance.

He had interrupted his reclusive life down south where he previously worked at an oyster farm to visit his well-to-do parents in Sydney and deal with old charges of theft.

'That other matter, as far as I'm concerned, has been dealt with,' he said of the Revelle Balmain investigation. 'I'm not guilty of that crime, obviously. Unfortunately, the police think I am guilty.'

[...]

'It has totally *ed my head up, obviously. It's cost me a lot. I've lost jobs over this. Really, really good, well-paid jobs.

'As far as this goes, they reckon I'm guilty of murder. I'm very well aware of it. I appreciate these guys have a job to do but the level of harassment was amazing.

'But as I said, they've been through my house, they've done all the forensics. I've been to the Coroner's court.'

Asked if he felt hard done by, Mr Samer said: 'Yeah'.

[...]

When police brought Mr Samer in for questioning after Ms Balmain's disappearance, photographs show they found scratches on his neck and hand which a forensic expert said may 'have arisen possibly during a struggle'.

Mr Samer said at the time the scratches were a result of a surfing accident. When Daily Mail Australia spoke to Mr Samer last week he had a cut above his left eye which he said was another surfing injury.

[...]

(Lots more & pictures at link)

 

[meticulously]

Thank you cybervampira .
Very interesting article with lots of details well researched

 

[alb1on]

This seems to me to be a classic case of the police deciding they knew who did it and neglecting all other possibilities. I would certainly consider Samer a leading suspect, but the evidence is highly circumstantial and, as the police have conceded, they have no motive. Add the fact that no one has claimed similar violent sexual behaviour on Samer's part and it must make sense to look at the other suspects.

She was working for Zoran Stanojevic, owner of an escort agency (in other words, a pimp). The police were aware of contradictory statements by him about where he was when she disappeared, and were also informed of a claim by another of her clients that she had been murdered by an escort agency owner for moonlighting. But they chose to believe him and investigated no further. This was despite an obvious motive (Samer confirmed her moonlighting) and that she was due to meet 2 important Yugoslav connections of Stanojevic that evening after leaving Samer.

The source of the claim about her murder was Mark Coulton (reported by a friend of his who was another client). Coulton denied the conversation reported to the police as just speculation - but he would. He was a wealthy commodities trader, worried about his reputation from being involved (he tried to get anonymity at the inquiry) and he was subsequently sentenced to 8 years for large scale drug dealing in 2017. Hardly an upright citizen.

Samer may be guilty. However, he looks a very convenient suspect for all sorts of other individuals involved with Revelle, not least a Sydney police force notorious for its corrupt connections to major players in the local drugs and sex industries. I suspect this one will never be solved, except by accident, as too many people seem to have a vested interest in it being Samer or no one.

 

[Bohemian]

Thanks for the background information, alb1on. I suspect you may be correct about Revelle’s murder remaining unsolved.

 

[Morrisa]

Main suspect in 1994 disappearance of model and prostitute Revelle Balmain is charged with assault | Daily Mail Online

 

[Al Ka]

‘A double bombshell’: Final hours of missing Sydney model Revelle Balmain

Young, beautiful and about to head overseas, Revelle Balmain had so much to look forward to on November 5, 1994.

A model and dancer, the 22-year-old was set to head to Japan the following day for a six-month dance tour.

However, that evening, some time after 7.15pm, Ms Balmain disappeared. Two days later, her shoes, wallet and keys were found scattered around the Sydney suburb of Kingsford.

This week marks 25 years since Ms Balmain vanished, and what really happened that night remains a mystery that haunts her loved ones.

Final hours of missing Sydney model

 

[wrestlingpigs]

$1 million reward announced in Balmain case

 

[wrestlingpigs]

Sexual Assault charges against Samer dropped after tragic fire death

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Police are "forensically searching" three properties in Sydney's eastern suburbs, hopeful new information can finally solve the 1994 disappearance of Revelle Balmain.
The three properties of "significant" interest, where searches will begin from 9am, are located at Bellevue Hill, Bondi Beach and Potts Point.

Search for Revelle Balmain clues at three properties in Sydney's east, as police chase 'significant' lead

 

[alb1on]

Sounds like they are after the Stanojevic's. In her first police statement in 1994 Jane Stanojevic gave the Swiss Grand Hotel as the location for Revelle to meet the two Yugoslav friends of her husband. 4 years later she changed her mind and claimed the Yugoslavs were at the Parkroyal in Darling Harbour - strange that. And the Stanojevic brothel was located in Potts Point. I wonder who has talked? Coulton?

 

[ediethedog]

Cabaret dancer and part-time escort agency employee Revelle Balmain disappeared from the Sydney suburb of Kingsford on the evening of the 4th of November, 1994, after an appointment with a client from the escort agency. The following day, the 5th of November, Balmain’s bag, make-up, diary, credit cards and keys to her Bellevue Hill flat were found scattered around several Kingsford streets. One of her shell-studded platform shoes was retrieved from one street; the other shoe was found in another street.

Her body has never been found, and no-one has been officially charged with her disappearance.

New lead in Revelle Balmain murder

She was a model on the brink of signing with a very very decent agency too....not only a part time escort and dancer. I knew her vaguely ....did one shoot for her book with her and she was a regular customer at clothing boutique in Paddington ...where I worked.
All of us in working in film or editorial fashion had second jobs in 1994, as living in the Eastern Suburbs was and still is hellishly expensive. I lived in Paddo she was in Bellevue Hill , closer to Bondi , we went to the same clubs, knew the same people...we were waiting for calls booking jobs so we didn't need to wait tables , flog thousand dollar tops or worse sell yourself.
I'm sorry Graham, I really don't mean to come across cranky, as its amazing to see her case finally get attention again, however Revelle was not just an Escort or Caberet dancer.....she was a talented ballerina and a lovely soul.
It just irked me to see her reduced to that .....