Disappearance of Glen Stewart: Young man vanishes without a trace following a Henley Beach party in 1977

It is the mystery that has baffled police for 41 years — The young man who simply vanished following a Henley Beach party, leaving behind his pay packet, beloved dog and family. So, what happened to 21-year-old Glen Stewart? His mum talks to the Sunday Mail.

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Jean Stewart still remembers the last day she spent with her son Glen.

Although some of the memories have faded over the past 41 years, she treasures those that remain.

She can remember taking their boisterous dogs to a local park for a run for a few hours and she fondly recalls cooking him his favourite sweet and sour pork dish for dinner.

At the end of the evening, the pair said their usual warm farewell as Glen walked out the front door of the families’ Salisbury East home.

Ms Stewart had no inkling it would be their last.

“That was the last we saw of Glen. He said he was going home to bed,’’ she said.

“It was a normal family dinner, nothing unusual and he left with a clean tea towel and some capsicums I had grown because he liked them.

“It was just ‘bye mum, see you’ and he was down the driveway and gone.’’

The disappearance of Glen Stewart, 21, on February 19 1977 is a true mystery.

It is abundantly clear from the evidence that he did not simply run away and start a new life elsewhere.

But in stark contrast, there is not one scintilla of evidence to indicate what may have happened to him — only unanswered questions.

The Henley Beach flat that Glen Stewart attended before disappearing. Picture: SA Police.

Glen, a trainee nurse who was working at the then Home for Incurables — now the Julia Farr Centre — was last seen at 1am after leaving a party at a Henley Beach flat.

Driving a distinctive Mini Cooper S he had borrowed, he was last seen driving south on Seaview Rd after saying goodnight to a mate and telling him he planned to buy cigarettes on his way home.

Neither Glen — and somewhat strangely — the green and white Mini Cooper S with the registration number 577 394, have been seen since.

At his Devitt St, Payneham flat later that day his parents found his belongings, including an unopened pay packet, and his cherished labrador Kara.

While his disappearance was initially treated as a missing persons inquiry, it was later declared a major crime when it became clear he had most likely been murdered.

Major Crime case officer Detective Brevet Sergeant Ann Schaefer said the investigation was challenging because of the lack of leads.

“Nothing has come in on this at all,’’ she said.

“From the families perspective there would be no reason for him to up and leave and the evidence supports this. There have been no obvious leads for police to follow.

“The fact there has been nothing, no sightings at all from 1am when he was last seen has made it a difficult inquiry.’’

An artist impression of the missing Mini Cooper.

While there is a complete absence of leads to follow, detectives do know Glen did not leave the Henley Beach party under duress.

A police patrol was among the last to see him alive.

The patrol had stopped next to Glen and his flatmate and asked them if they had seen “three larrikins’’ in the area who were apparently breaking windows.

While no names were taken, the patrol was tracked down and the officers spoken to.

They confirmed it but made no notes of the interaction because it was unremarkable.

“His friend did not think he should be driving because of how much he had to drink, that’s why he had walked out with Glen,’’ Detective Bvt Sgt Schaefer said.

“They were at the car when the patrol approached, spoken to and the patrol left.’’

Detectives have interviewed the woman who owned the party flat but nothing out of the ordinary occurred there.

Likewise, Glen’s flatmate who he met there can shed no light on the mystery.

Neither are believed to be linked to his disappearance.

Keith and Jean Stewart with a photo of Glen in 1982. Glen disappeared in 1977.

One witness said there was a suggestion Glen was “hitting’’ on a girl at the party but the host said there were no issues involving him during evening and he only drank a moderate amount of white wine.

It appears Glen’s attendance at the party may have been spontaneous.

He made no mention of it to his family during their time together during the day.

It is more likely than not when he arrived home at his Payneham flat around 8.30pm that his flatmate may have invited him.

“How else did he know about it. He made no mention of it to us during the day,’’ Ms Stewart, 82, said.

She is adamant there was nothing unusual about Glen during their last day spent together.

He arrived in the borrowed Mini Cooper S that he was last seen driving away in and he was in his usual laid-back frame of mind.

“His biggest worry was getting up early the next day because he had to be at work at 7am,’’ she said.

It was this fact that alerted the family Glen was missing.

Ms Stewart received a phone call on February 19 from his boss asking why he was not at work.

When she and Glen’s father Keith went to his flat following the call they found his belongings, unopened pay packet and his dog waiting.

The tea towel and capsicums were also on a table.

Ms Stewart said there was “no way’’ Glen would have simply abandoned his beloved labrador Kara.

Missing man Glen Stewart in 1976 with his parents’ pet labrador.

Glen Stewart was no different than any other bloke his age.

He had completed an arts degree with honours in French at Adelaide University and wanted to study medicine but this didn’t eventuate.

He travelled in northern Australia after university in 1976 and ended up living on a boat at Cairns with his newly acquired dog for a short period.

While living on the boat he was robbed and his passport was stolen.

When he returned to Adelaide — with just 18c in his pocket after the flights for himself and his dog — he lived in a small caravan at his parents’ home until moving into his flat shortly before he vanished.

After returning to Adelaide he bought a 1941 Jaguar from a friend to restore. He had asked his father to go guarantor for the small loan, but he declined. While this caused tension, they were still talking.

There is just one aspect of Glen’s life that detective’s have not been able to gain much clarity on.

He was involved with the Subud movement in Adelaide, along with many of his friends.

Those involved are apparently urged to change their name, with Glen known among followers as “Hugh’’ Stewart.

Keith and Jean Stewart at their Salisbury East home in 1982.

Inquiries with the movement, which practices “a direct contact between an individual and the Great Life Force’’, have not raised any concerns with detectives.

Glen’s sisters Bev and Kate believe the key to solving the mystery may lie in Glen’s trip home that morning. He may have driven home via the city, stopping at Adelaide University to buy cigarettes.

He told a friend at the party he was out of cigarettes and in the absence of open shops at that hour, his best bet would have been the cigarette machine he was familiar with.

“What we also don’t understand is where the car can be, what happened to it,’’ Kate said.

While time has eased their pain at losing their brother, reminders are always close. Each time there is a media report about human remains being found, their hopes are raised — only to be continually dashed.

For many years after Glen vanished, Jean Stewart waited for him to come home. But as the years mounted, the blunt reality that Glen was gone forever sank in. She is saddened by the fact her husband died in 2010 without knowing what had happened to Glen.

She believes something happened to Glen on his way home and that he has been killed. Sadly, she fears she too will never find out just what happened and where his remains are.

“God help them, somebody must have a really bad conscience, they must have felt guilty over the last 42 years,’’ she said.

“Someone knows what happened to Glen, someone knows where Glen is.’’

Originally published as Disappearance of Glen Stewart: Young man vanishes without a trace following a Henley Beach party in 1977