Terry Floyd cold case breakthrough to be discussed at Geelong crime forum
The brother of a child snatched off the street and likely killed hopes startling new evidence and the discovery of his bones could finally bring a conviction, as a special crime forum hits Geelong.
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The brother of a child snatched off the street and suspected to have been killed hopes startling new evidence and the discovery of his bones could finally bring a conviction.
Schoolboy Terry Floyd, 12, vanished from the side of a road in Avoca almost 50 years ago.
His brother, Daryl, and former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina will appear at a special crime forum in Geelong on Saturday in the wake of fresh witness information that has breathed new life into the 1975 cold case.
It has been revealed that Terry was seen by a nurse talking to prime suspect and pedophile Raymond Kenneth Jones at the same spot where the young boy was last seen on Pyrenees Highway.
Jones, who was 23 at the time, admitted driving along the same road at 5pm that day but says he never saw Terry.
His remains have never been found.
Elizabeth Gribble, who died in 2021, alerted police at the time but was dismissed and the information was never passed on to investigators.
She dictated what she saw to her daughter, Rowena, before she passed, saying Jones was in the driver’s seat of a parked fawn-coloured panel van.
The comprehensive notes form part of a new brief of evidence presented by Mr Bezzina to the missing persons squad at Victoria Police.
“It’s just massive,” Daryl Floyd said.
“To have an eye witness and a really well respected person in the community at the time being able to identify the driver.”
The case has eerie similarities to the abduction and murder of 13 year-old Queensland schoolboy Daniel Morcombe.
Like his killer – Brett Peter Cowan – Jones was also on bail at the time for heinous sexual offending against children.
He denies any involvement in Terry’s disappearance.
“He was just an innocent little 12 year-old-boy standing on the side of the road trying to get a lift home and this horrendous thing happens,” Daryl Floyd said.
“They eventually solved that (Daniel Morcombe) murder and we are going to solve my brothers.”
Daryl and Terry spent most summers holidaying in Geelong.
“We loved it,” he said.
“We’d spend time at Hi-Lite Park, swimming at Eastern Beach. We hold the city dear to our hearts.”
Daryl Floyd will return with Mr Bezzina, and former Herald Sun crime writer and best-selling author Keith Moor, on June 21 for a special Insight Into Crime evening to raise funds for The Terry Floyd Foundation.
It is hoped the Morning Star mine at Bung Bong Hill – believed to be where Terry’s body was dumped – will be completely excavated if Daryl receives $100,000 in extra funding by the state government.
The 60m deep mine is just 200m from where Terry was last seen and where several witnesses spotted a fawn panel van parked.
Daryl believes his skull or femur bones will be found down there.
A coroner is expected to review new evidence and decide whether a second inquest into Terry’s disappearance – on June 28, 1975 – should be held.
A $1m reward for information leading to a conviction in the case remains on offer.
An update about the case, along with insights into other notorious criminals, will be held at The Sporting Globe on Ryrie Street on Saturday night from 7-10pm.
To book visit terryfloydfoundation.org.au/an-insight-into-crime/
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