The 45-year-old murder of Patricia Schmidt will head across the Tasman Sea as SA Police remain determined to solve the mystery
PATRICIA Schmidt never got the chance to live out her dream of being an airline hostess. She was murdered in 1971. Now, SA Police will head to NZ to try to solve the cold case.
PATRICIA Schmidt dreamt of being an airline hostess.
But the bright 16-year-old would never get the chance to apply.
Three weeks after finishing her leaving exam at Seacombe High School, she was brutally raped and murdered.
Her body was found partially hidden in tall grass on a lonely stretch of road near Hallett Cove, south of Adelaide, on December 18, 1971.
It has been almost 45 years since her tragic death and to date, no arrests have been made.
On Monday, SA Police renewed calls for information about the murder and said DNA evidence from the case would be going across the Tasman Sea to be analysed in New Zealand.
Over the past 18 months, Crime Stoppers has received more than 20 reports on the murder.
Despite promising leads, police have not had any major breaks in the case.
But the Major Crime Investigation Section is confident new technology and information could help solve the mystery and bring closure to her family.
Ms Schmidt — also known as Suzie — disappeared after completing a shift at the Burger King in Darlington at 1.46am of that fateful Saturday.
She got the job so she could buy her family Christmas presents.
When her father was running late to pick her up after work she decided to walk home.
Following the murder, her father Werner Schmidt told The Advertiser he was minutes away from saving his daughter.
“A few minutes could have made all the difference — I might have saved my daughter’s life,” he said.
Mr Schmidt had driven his daughter to her friend Frieda Piechnick’s house in Seacliff Park about 6pm on Friday, December 19, 1971.
He then went to his part-time job as a barman at the German Club in the city.
About 8.30pm, Ms Schmidt and Ms Piechnick, then 16, walked to the Burger King, on South Rd.
Ms Schmidt started work, her friend walked home.
“She was her normal happy self. As I left her at the restaurant she said, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’,” Ms Piechnick said following the murder.
The teenager told her mother that night: “Mum, I hope Patricia’s father picks her up. Someone else might pick her up, I’m worried about her.”
Only nights before, she had been driven home from work by a stranger.
On Tuesday, December 14, 1971, Ms Schmidt worker her first ever night shift, which she had requested because of the penalty rates.
The next day she told a girlfriend that a man had given her a lift home. She had been walking home when the man stopped and offered her a lift, which she accepted.
He had a “flash car”, she had told her friend.
She described him as not very good looking, had pimples and was “old”, or about 30.
Once she got in the car, the man suggested they go for a drive to the Adelaide Hills but she had refused.
He then started driving towards Hallett Cove but Ms Schmidt had insisted she be taken home and the man finally dropped her at her house.
At the time, homicide detectives believed she was picked up by her murderer after her shift on the Saturday morning.
It is unclear if police believed it was the same man who picked her up on the Tuesday morning also picked her up four days later.
Evidence found at the scene suggested she had been sexually assaulted before being murdered.
The Schmidt family was no stranger to tragedy.
Ms Schmidt’s mother had died five years before she did.
After his wife died, Mr Schmidt did everything he could to build a good life for his children.
He remarried Annemarie in June 1971.
The couple worked together to raise Patricia, as well as two other children — Frank and Bettina.
“At last we thought we could find happiness,” Mrs Schmidt said following her stepdaughter’s death.
“What was left of the two families came together, we bought this house in January and after all, having known so much unhappiness, we were happy at last.
“And now our daughter is raped and murdered.”
Ms Schmidt’s stepmother was deserted by her first husband.
In the years after her murder, Mr Schmidt lashed out at the fact no reward was being offered for information relating to his daughter’s case.
Now, a $1 million reward stands for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Ms Schmidt’s death.
On Monday, Major Crime Detective Brevet Sergeant Paul Tucker said for police, it was never “the end” with cases such as this.
“Evidence in this matter continues to be stored in case there are opportunities or advancements in the future,” he said.
“We’re always hopeful, forensic science has come a long way and we’re always excited by the prospect that something may come up.”
There are more than 100 unsolved murders in South Australia, some dating back almost 50 years and range from child abductions to domestic and gangland killings.
Anyone with information about Ms Schmidt’s murder is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.