Siriyakorn "Bung" Siriboon

Bung case 'like opening a bag of dirt'

Mex Cooper The Age October 25, 2011   

Police have compared the ‘‘troubling’’ case of missing schoolgirl Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon with the disappearance and suspected murder of an eight-year-old girl in a Melbourne bayside suburb 35 years ago.

Eloise Worledge was discovered missing from the bedroom of her Beaumaris home and her window’s fly wire cut in January, 1976.

Despite the state’s biggest-ever missing person case and years of subsequent police work, nobody has discovered what happened to the little girl and her body has never been found.

Detective Superintendent Brett Guerin today said detectives had even less to work with to find Boronia schoolgirl Siriyakorn, who vanished four months ago, than those who investigated Eloise Worledge’s case.

Siriyakorn  was last seen by her step-father Fred Pattison and her mother Vannida as she set off for the short walk from her Elsie Street home to her Boronia high school on June 2.

The couple still believe their daughter is alive.

Detective Superintendent Guerin today said the newly formed Task Force Puma would double the number of police officers working on the case, which he described as ‘‘very unusual’’ and ‘‘troubling’’.

He said the diligence of the homicide squad, originally tasked with investigating Siriyakorn ’s well-publicised disappearance, had led to a large number of enquiries that still needed to be worked through.

Police have received more than 500 phone calls relating to the case and 70 people have been touted as possible suspects.

Detective Superintendent Guerin said this list had been whittled down to a ‘‘handful’’ and police had no ‘‘firm suspects’’.

‘‘Some of these have been discounted reasonably quickly but others need far more work,’’ he said.

‘‘We have a number of individuals that cannot be alibied at the moment. That doesn’t make them suspects, it just makes them people of interest to the investigators.’’

About 100 registered sex offenders in the surrounding areas and the residents of 450 homes that live on routes that Siriyakorn  could have walked to school are to be spoken to by police.

Detective Superintendent Guerin  said there ‘‘was no evidence whatsoever’’ that whoever was responsible for Siriyakorn ’s disappearance would target another victim.

But he warned parents to discuss ‘stranger danger’ with their children, including trusting their natural instincts and going to a populated area if they felt threatened.

‘‘They have a good sense of what’s dangerous to them,’’ he said.

Detective Superintendent Guerin said the lack of evidence surrounding Siriyakorn’s disappearance had reminded investigators of the case of Eloise Worledge, which has never been solved.

‘‘The detectives in that case at least had a crime scene to work from - there was a bedroom with a cut wire window so they knew that she had been taken from her bedroom from an intruder,’’ he said.

‘‘The detectives in this case have an absolutely cold start, like opening a bag of dirt with a spoon and taking the first bite. This is not a sexy investigation, it will take a long time, it’ll be painstaking and thorough.’’

Detective Superintendent Guerin said investigators had been in contact with Thai police and Siriyakorn ’s biological father in Thailand and her step-father and mother were not considered to have been involved in her disappearance.

‘‘At this stage, no one’s ruled in, no one’s ruled out,’’ he said.

‘‘However, in cases like this we often start with the family obviously, and we’re satisfied at this stage that we’re on the right track by pursuing alternative avenues of enquiry.

‘‘There’s no evidence to suggest that they’re involved in any way’’.

Siriyakorn left her home just before 8.30am on June 2 dressed in her Boronia Heights College blue-and-white striped uniform, blue raincoat, blue-patterned backpack and black Dunlop Volley runners with white socks.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Fears held for missing Vic girl

Xavier La Canna June 24, 2011 SMH

Police fear a 13-year-old Melbourne girl who disappeared without a trace on her way to school three weeks ago could be dead.

Siriyakorn Siriboon, nicknamed Bung, vanished during a 10-minute walk to school, Detective Inspector John Potter from the homicide squad said.
The last person to see her was a neighbour who watched her begin the walk to Boronia Heights College, in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, on June 2.

Det Insp Potter said there was a possibility the teenager had died and the homicide squad had taken a more active role in the investigation in the past week.
Despite the fears, Det Insp Potter said Bung's family still believed she was alive.
He said the girl may also have been abducted, but he discounted early speculation that Bung led a double life using social media websites.
"We don't believe her use of social media is connected to this case," Det Insp Potter said.
"This is a worrying case, worrying because here is a girl 13 years of age walking to school who disappears.
"We have had nothing, no information to suggest what has happened to her."
Asked whether there could be links to the Mr Cruel attacks on young girls in the late 1980s and early '90s in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, he said no connection with other disappearances had been drawn.
Child rapist Mr Cruel was believed to be responsible for at least four attacks on children, and two of his victims were 13-year-old girls.
While three of the victims were released, Mr Cruel went on to murder his last known victim, 13-year-old Karmein Chan.
Mr Cruel was never caught but police last year said a fresh taskforce had been established to track him down.