Personal DetailsStatus: Declared Dead MurderedLast seen: Sunday, 30 September 2001
Year of birth: 1967
Height: 165cm
Build: Medium
Eyes: Green
Hair: Light Brown
Complexion: Fair
Gender: Female
Distinguishing Feature:
Circumstances: Patricia was last seen in Margate, QLD at her home address on 30 September 2001. There has been no contact with family or friends since that time.
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Court declares Patricia Anne Riggs of Margate dead Mark Oberhardt From: The Courier-Mail December 29, 2010 10:34AM
A BRISBANE swimming instructor missing for nearly a decade in mysterious circumstances has been declared dead in a Supreme Court ruling.
Patricia Anne Riggs, of Margate in the Redcliffe area, has not been seen since September 30, 2001.
Mrs Riggs, then aged 34, was to begin a new job as a swim instructor on October 1, 2001 but never turned up for work nor contacted her would-be employers.
Three days after Mrs Riggs was last seen her husband Ian reported her missing.
He told police the mother of four children had left after an argument and not returned.
Police have made widespread investigations into her disappearance without a result.
After making it clear they believed Mrs Riggs could have been murdered, police offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of her fate but it has never been claimed.
Mrs Riggs daughter, Matilda Riggs, went to the Supreme Court seeking three declarations - that Mrs Riggs was dead, that she died on September 30, 2001, and she died in Queensland.
In a written judgment Justice Glen Martin said the details he was supplied on Mrs Riggs's disappearance were "startlingly brief".
He noted Mrs Riggs had a share in properties with her husband in the Northern Territory and ACT.
Justice Martin said there was nothing unusual in Mrs Riggs's bank accounts in the lead up to her disappearance and there was nothing to suggest she had left the state.
He made the three findings sought by Matilda Riggs.
The decision means Mrs Riggs's assets can be dealt with and her affairs finalised.
