Aruna VERMA

Personal Details
Status: Murdered
Body Missing
Sex: Female
Year of Birth: 1966
At Time of Disappearance on 2 June 2002
Age: 35
Height (cm): 170.0
Build: Medium
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Complexion: Dark Brown
Nationality: Fijian Racial Appearance: Indian
Circumstances Aruna was last seen in Port Kembla.
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Fijian man convicted of wife's murder By Amy Coopes
November 14, 2007

A Fiji-born man who fled to the Solomon Islands on a one-way ticket just days after the disappearance of his de facto wife in NSW has been convicted of her murder.

Aruna Verma vanished from her Port Kembla home while her four children and their nanny attended church on the morning of June 2, 2002.

Her bank accounts and mobile phone have not been touched since, and immigration records show no sign of her leaving the country.

Ms Verma's de facto husband Kaniappa Raju, 45, was convicted of her murder by a NSW Supreme Court jury on Wednesday.

The panel of 12 took just five hours to reach its verdict, following a trial of three weeks.

It was the third trial for Raju, with the first aborted and a hung jury at the second.

Ms Verma's relationship with Raju had been strained in the month leading up to her disappearance, the jury was told.

Raju suspected his wife was having an affair with his cousin Chinna Gounder, whom he dobbed in for working in breach of his visa.

Mr Gounder was detained in Villawood and eventually deported, and Raju threatened his wife the same fate awaited her.

The couple fought bitterly, with Raju becoming so aggressive Ms Verna took out a restraining order and made plans to leave with her four daughters.

On the morning of her disappearance, someone called the last numbers dialled on Ms Verna's phone, including the refuge where she was intending to flee the following day, said prosecutor Merv Grogan.

Within four hours of discovering his wife was missing, Mr Grogan said, Raju packed up his daughters and drove through the night to his lover's home in Queensland.

He left the girls there, then bought a one-way ticket to the Solomon Islands, where he remained until being extradited to face the murder charge in 2005.

"That is indicative of somebody acting in a way that shows their guilt," Mr Grogan told the court.

Raju wept as he took the stand in his own defence, claiming he drove around for hours searching for his wife.

His lawyer, Nathan Watts, told the jury it was impossible, within the narrow timeframe, for Raju to have killed his wife and disposed of her body.

Justice Virginia Bell remanded Raju in custody for sentencing submissions on December 6.

Niamh Maire MAYE

Personal Details
Sex: Female
Year of Birth: 1983
At Time of Disappearance on or about the 27th March 2002.
Age: 18
Height (cm): 175.0
Build: Thin
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: blue-grey eyes
Complexion: Fair
Racial Appearance: Caucasian
Circumstances: Police Fears for Missing Teenage Girl. On March 27, 18-year-old Niamh Maire Maye told her mother she was leaving Batlow to travel by bus to Sydney, expecting to arrive on March 31. On Wednesday April 3, the teenager's mother contacted police, concerned for her daughter's welfare. Niamh was last seen carrying a backpack, tent, sleeping bag, and a metre-long stick. She is white, 170-175cm tall, slim with shoulder-length brown hair, blue-grey eyes and freckles. A missing persons investigation has released an image of a vehicle Niamh may have been travelling in.
"The car is a black Holden HT station wagon, described as bearing Victorian number plates," said Detective Inspector Gae Crea of Tumut Police. Anyone with information about the vehicle or Niamh is urged to call (02) 6947 7199 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Kathryn GROSVENOR - Murder

Blue Boots Linked to an Unsolved Canberra Murder.

15 July 2011 , 1:42 PM by Louise Maher - ABC

ACT police are urgently trying to track down the woman who bought this pair of electric blue platform boots from a St Vincent de Paul store in Wagga this week.
The shoes are thought to be connected to the murder of Kathryn Grosvenor.
23-year old Kathryn was last seen at her home in Canberra in March 2002. Her body was found nearly a week later in Lake Burley Griffin.
When Kathryn was last seen she was wearing dark coloured hipster pants and a pair of boots identical to the ones in the photo.
Louise Maher spoke to Detective Superintendent Brett McCann about the boots and details of the case.
If you know anything about them please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Karen MORTON

Personal Details
Last seen: Saturday, 9 February 2002
Year of birth: 1967
Height: 165cm
Build: Slim
Eyes: Green
Hair: Shoulder length brown hair
Complexion: Caucasian
Gender: Female
Distinguishing Feature: Numerous tattoos on her legs and arms





Circumstances: At the time of her disappearance Karen was residing in a unit at Pennington. Due to Karen's failure to appear over time Police together with family members have fears for her safety and welfare.

Carmel Louise GIANNASCA

Missing Persons
Sex: Female
Year of Birth: 1969
At Time of Disappearance on 14 January 2002
Age: 32
Height (cm): 175.0
Build: Thin
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Brown
Complexion: Olive
Racial Appearance: Caucasian


Circumstances: Carmel Louise Giannasca, 32, was last seen at her home in Albert Street, Gladesville,in Sydney's north-west, at 7am on January 14, 2002.
Carmel packed two suitcases and left the house after an argument with her husband and drove off in a dark green 1995 Holden Commodore registered TVN 835. The vehice was recovered in Newcastle several weeks after her disappearance.
Carmel has not been seen since nor has she contacted her family or friends which is quite out of character for her.
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Police Investigate Vanishing Mums
Daily Telegraph 11-5-2005 - Brad Clifton

MOTHER-of-three Lisa Franks left home to go for her daily walk a little over two weeks ago.
She has not returned.
Since April 9, the 36-year-old's children Nicholas, 15, Patricia, 11, and Christian, 9, have been distraught, while police and her husband Ken remain baffled.
Mrs Franks is the latest in a string of mothers who have disappeared without trace in recent years, leaving behind shattered families.
In some cases, police believe they have met with foul play.
But in others there is evidence to suggest the women merely abandoned their families to start anew.
In Mrs Franks' case, she was last seen about 4.45pm on April 9 walking along Bungaree Rd, Toongabbie, in western Sydney, towards Pendle Hill railway station.
She had been seen earlier that day carrying two plastic bags full of clothing -- a possible indication that she had planned to leave home.
"There's been a number of sightings, which we're trying to prove or disprove," Parramatta crime manager Detetective Inspector Ian McNab said.
"We can't confirm it was her in any of these sightings.
"We've run by a number of scenarios that she may have met with foul play, she may have caused herself harm, she may have gone off somewhere, we just don't know."
Mrs Franks' bank accounts have remained untouched, but her family is hoping that some type of stress could have caused her to temporarily seek a break from home life.
A similar situation exists for Matthew Girkin, whose wife Cassandra, 30, has not been seen since leaving a Central Coast shopping centre on February 14. v Mr Girkin said she told him she was going to the toilet, but security camera footage shows she left the complex.
The couple's three daughters, Teegan, 9, Chloe, 7, and Georgia, 5, are constantly asking their father, "When will mummy come back?"
"It's just not fair, it really isn't," Mr Girkin said yesterday.
"What do you tell the kids? Just to take each day at a time, that's all I can do. I just try to keep myself busy, because if you just sit there thinking about it you end up going mad."
While there is evidence to suggest Mrs Franks, Mrs Girkin and another Central Coast woman Kylie McKay - who disappeared in 2002 - may have willingly left their families, police have reason to believe some other missing mums have met a more sinister fate.
Detectives are currently compiling evidence for a coronial inquest into the death of Gladesville mother-of-two Carmel Giannasca, 32, who disappeared in 2002 after an argument.
Police feel she has met with foul play and are hoping the upcoming inquest will lead to an arrest.
Grave fears are also held for Dubbo mother-of-four Lateesha Nolan, who has been missing since January 4.
Ms Nolan, 24, has not been seen since dropping off her two youngest children at their grandmother's house.
Her abandoned car was found next day near the Macquarie River.
Her children, aged 2, 3, 4, and 5, are being cared for by their grandmother.
"We've discussed the fact of foul play and that, on face value, seems very much apparent because of her situation with the children," Dubbo crime manager Acting Inspector Mark Meredith said.
"It would be very uncharacteristic of her to get up and leave her children in that way. She's very, very closely aligned to her family."

Janine Mary VAUGHAN

Personal Details
Sex: Female
Year of Birth: 1970 on 7 December 2001
At Time of Disappearance
Age: 31
Height (cm): 164.0
Build: Thin
Hair Colour: Blonde
Eye Colour: Green
Complexion: Fair
Racial Appearance: Caucasian

Circumstances Janine was last seen in Bathurst.
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PIC inquiry to hear evidence about missing woman. 5
ABC Australia Orange Monday, 5 June 2006. 10:39
PIC inquiry to hear evidence about missing woman
Witnesses will appear before a Police Integrity Commission (PIC) hearing that begins in Orange today into the investigation surrounding the disappearance of a Bathurst woman.

Janine Mary Vaughan disappeared four-and-a-half years ago, on December 7 2001, after leaving a Bathurst nightclub.

The police investigation into her disappearance has since failed to find what happened to Ms Vaughan, 31, after she was last seen getting into a red car outside the nightclub.

The PIC became involved after claims one of the investigating police officers was involved in her disappearance.

It has set aside five days at the Orange courthouse to hear from people who may have information to help the investigation.

It is only the second time a PIC hearing has been held outside Sydney.
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Romance was on missing woman's mind
SMH Stephen Gibbs June 6, 2006

COUNTRY copper smiles - perhaps even winks - at a young woman through her shop window. The woman tells her mum later he is drop-dead gorgeous.

When Janine Vaughan vanished from a Bathurst street early one morning 4½ years ago, Detective Sergeant Brad Hosemans and his colleagues simply got on with their job.

This series of events - with a few complications - has stalled the investigation into Ms Vaughan's disappearance and dragged some of the state's most respected detectives to Orange this week for a costly Police Integrity Commission inquest.

When Ms Vaughan disappeared in 2001, Mr Hosemans was simultaneously a well-known detective and the deputy mayor of Bathurst.

He managed the investigation into her possible abduction while facing unrelated charges of aggravated indecent assault over an incident at the local golf club, which he subsequently beat. He left the police force in 2003.

The commission says its inquiry will investigate the circumstances surrounding Janine Mary Vaughan's disappearance and the conduct of police involved.

Counsel assisting the commission, Mark Buscombe, said yesterday it was important to stress at the hearing's outset that this was not a coronial inquest, or a substitute for one, and by the end of the day, at least that was clear.

Mr Buscombe said the hearing would be about "aspects of the policing investigation". Since the commission announced its investigation, "considerable new information" had been forthcoming, which will presumably be revealed this week.

Mr Hosemans, who now runs a fish-and-chip shop, gave evidence, followed by seven policemen, including senior detectives from the sex crimes and homicide squads.

Ms Vaughan had just left the Metro Tavern when she was last seen getting into a red car in Keppel Street, Bathurst, about 4am on Friday, December 7, 2001. When interviewed a year later, Mr Hosemans told investigators he spent that week with his mother in the Hunter Valley, returning on December 7.

Yesterday Mr Hosemans conceded he might have been back in Bathurst a day earlier, having last week found a receipt for petrol bought at Wyong on December 6.

Strike Force Toko, under the command of Detective Inspector Paul Jacob, had investigated the disappearance, and half a dozen assaults on women in the area. All remain unsolved.

In January 2002, Ms Vaughan's mother, Jennifer Vaughan, told the strike force she did not recall her daughter talking about any men except "a guy she had seen in Bathurst and who she described as drop-dead gorgeous".

Her daughter had found out this man was Brad Hosemans.

Mr Hosemans had smiled at Ms Vaughan from outside her shop, and winked, her best friend said.

No police who gave evidence were surprised by those statements and none had known a missing persons case managed by a detective facing charges of indecent assault in the past.

The hearing continues.

Patricia Anne Riggs

Personal DetailsStatus: Declared Dead Murdered
Last 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.