The ‘worst serial killer in Australia’s history’ may be on the loose in a region where 67 murders and disappearances of women remain unsolved.
Cases date back to 1977, when 21-year-old Narelle Cox vanished while hitchhiking from Grafton, New South Wales, to Noosa in neighbouring Queensland.
She was last seen by a truck driver who dropped her in Brunswick Heads, around 18km north of Byron Bay, famed for its turquoise sea and sand that’s almost white.
Between then and 2009, numerous women have disappeared along the state’s northern coast, between Newcastle and Byron Bay.
Suspicion is growing that the same person may be behind at least some of them.
‘The worst serial killer in the nation’s history has gotten away with it’, said Jeremy Buckingham, a Green member of the state’s legislative council, last week.
‘Ivan Milat was convicted of seven murders. There is someone on the north coast that has murdered as many or more, and they are still amongst us, if they haven’t died or fled the country.’
He claimed there is ‘every indication that someone operated in that area, travelled that area, lived across that area, and took women, destroyed their bodies, destroyed their lives’.
Breaking down in tears, he added: ‘It’s appalling that it’s taken so long for this matter to come before the house and to public attention.’
A police spokesperson said they have launched several task forces to investigate disappearances over the years and there is ‘no evidence to indicate a common offender was responsible’.
But Buckingham suggested it was either that or there are numerous murderers the police are unable to catch.
Admitting he’d been branded ‘alarmist’, he said: ‘It is impossible to think that there are 67 murderers that have escaped justice in that area from (the) North Coast to the Tweed Heads – all individuals. Someone has done these things repeatedly.
‘This week I met with senior police who confirmed… the most senior police in this state tell us there were causal links in some of these matters.’
Buckingham’s motion for police to release files on certain cases within 21 days was passed by the state’s upper house on Wednesday, but this may not happen for some cases subject to ongoing investigations.
Since Buckingham’s speech, numerous women have spoken out on social media about their own experiences being followed or fearing for their lives in the area in question.
Hayley – known as @heykayley on TikTok – said she was nearly kidnapped on her way to the beach in Byron Bay in September.
‘The man just felt so experienced in what he was doing’, she said in a TikTok video released over the weekend.
‘I couldn’t believe how quickly he ran up on me and how quietly, and how prepared he was. It was like I was being hunted.’
Even when Hayley first shared the story last month, comments mentioned the high number of missing people in the area.
Another woman, Laura Clare said: ‘If you’re a local, you’ve known about this [serial killer] for quite a while.’
She shared her own TikTok video recounting a ‘close call while hitchhiking’ in Byron Bay.
After she and a friend entered a man’s van, she noticed a big rusty knife on the front passenger seat, which the driver said he owned because he’s a chef.
‘This is where my red flags were like, “Get out of there”… and I was like, “That’s us, thank you so much”, and he pulled over and let us out’, she said.
Despite calls for a special commission to investigate the ‘alarming similarity’ between cases, Premier Chris Minns has so far refused.
He said: ‘We’ve got a cold case unit within NSW police, we’ve got incredibly committed homicide squad detectives whose business it is to investigate this information and if it is provided I promise you they will conduct a full investigation.
‘Now if that parliament decides to go down a different route we’ll respond to that.’
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