Source : Perth Now news
Early on December 7, 2001, Janine Vaughan was captured on CCTV stepping onto the footpath and walking into the darkness as she left a nightclub.
That footage of her departing the club in Bathurst, in central western NSW, is believed to be the last time the 31-year-old was seen alive, and her body has never been found.
After years of perceived mismanagement of the case – which involved the lead detective becoming a suspect – her siblings Adam Vaughan and Kylie Spelde fronted a NSW parliamentary inquiry into missing persons and unsolved murders on Thursday.
They made a desperate plea for police to grant them access to the original tape of the footage, as they believe it could finally deliver answers.
“We’re not trained or qualified criminologists … but after 25 years, what are we supposed to do?” Mr Vaughan said.
“We can’t sit and do nothing.”
The siblings want the tape, which also partly captures a car she was then believed to have got into, to be securely transferred to US forensic expert Bryan Neumeister for analysis.
“Brian has viewed the copy of the CCTV footage we have, and he believes he could get a closer read on the car,” Mr Vaughan said.
“That would be a major breakthrough in the case.”
The inquiry heard the police repeatedly botched the investigation, with the initial lead detective, Bradley Hosemans, later becoming a suspect.
Mr Hosemans was actively involved in Ms Vaughan’s case despite being restricted to desk duties as he was facing criminal charges over an unrelated matter, Mr Vaughan said.
A Police Integrity Commission inquiry found Mr Hosemans provided a false statement on his whereabouts on the night of Ms Vaughan’s disappearance, but there was no reliable evidence he was involved.
He was dismissed from the force in 2003 for unrelated matters.
Mr Vaughan also told the inquiry two knives collected as evidence, one of which was found with blood and hair on it, were destroyed before being forensically tested.
The inquiry heard no recommendations made by the commission, including dismissal of senior detectives, were implemented.
NSW Police has been contacted for comment.
Ms Spelde said distrust of the police forced the family to conduct their own investigations.
She said she had gone out herself, “bare-handed on the ground”, to search for her sister’s remains.
“Now we’re looking for scattered bones or any sort of piece of clothing, or something that’s going to be able to lead us to her,” Ms Spelde said.
“The family shouldn’t have to do that. We do these things because we’re desperate.”
The force is offering a $1 million reward for information that helps them crack the case.
Mr Vaughan requested police also consider offering immunity for witnesses with information that could incriminate them in some way.
“It is possible there is someone out there who knows something, but perhaps they have lied to police previously, provided a false alibi for someone, or are simply scared,” he said.
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