Rachel Antonio: Family believe they know where her body is

THE family of Rachel Antonio, who went missing aged 16, believe they know where her body is. Police never searched there after her disappearance.

THE Bowen dump where schoolgirl Rachel Antonio’s father believes her body lies was never searched by police in the days and months after her disappearance.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the apparent hole in the police investigation, 18 years after Rachel vanished without trace after being dropped off at a cinema by her mum.

Rachel’s dad Ian has come to believe his daughter was dumped in one of a number of unsecured skip bins around the small coastal town, in Queensland’s north, before ending up at the dump.

“Nothing’s ever going to change my mind,” he said.

The Courier-Mail today begins a podcast series — Searching for Rachel Antonio — investigating the 16-year-old’s disappearance on Anzac Day, 1998.

The podcast reveals the surprise phone call Mr Antonio received only last year that led him to think Rachel’s remains could be buried at the dump.

The former manager of the dump phoned him and revealed he had put aside the rubbish from the week after Rachel went missing and told police, but it was never searched.

The disappearance of Rachel Antonio is an enduring mystery. Rachel is pictured here at Bowen in 1994.

Audio and video footage of a suspect, Robert Hytch, being interviewed by police, is made public for the first time in the podcast, after coroner David O’Connell released the brief of evidence to The Courier-Mail.

Witness statements, police logs and unseen photographs from the case have also been obtained as part of the series.

Rachel’s parents urged people to help solve the 18-year mystery, calling on anyone with information about the case to contact police.

MORE: Eerie calm of schoolgirl’s accused killer

“If anybody knows anything, in any way, shape or form, any sort of closure is going to be helpful to us,” Mr Antonio said.

“Anything at all that they know or think they know, please come forward.”

The lead investigator on the case, Detective Sergeant Mark Inmon, confirmed the dump had not been searched but said there had been no ­information Rachel’s body was there.

Rachel Antonio disappeared in 1998.

Her body could have been concealed at numerous locations, including beaches, bushland, creeks, mangroves or in the ocean, he said.

“Resources need to be used in the early stages to look for someone who could be alive, kidnapped or be injured somewhere,” he said.

Rachel vanished after being dropped off at Bowen’s Summergarden cinema.

Mr Hytch was the strapping 25-year-old captain of the Bowen Surf Lifesaving Club when she went missing.

Police alleged they had a secret relationship, but he has denied this and has consistently said he had nothing to do with her disappearance.

He was charged with Rachel’s murder and at a trial in 1999 a jury convicted him of manslaughter.

On appeal the conviction was overturned, and at a 2001 retrial he was found not guilty.

Rachel’s parents Cheryl and Ian Antonio.

The two families still live side-by-side in Bowen, where almost everyone has an opinion about what happened.

In July the coroner, Mr O’Connell, found Mr Hytch killed Rachel and disposed of her body in a location that had never been found.

Mr Hytch has appealed to the Supreme Court against the coroner’s findings, asking for them to be overturned. The appeal is ongoing.

Under double jeopardy laws, Mr Hytch could only be charged again if new and compelling evidence emerged.

Mr Hytch’s solicitor Kevin Baxter said he would not be commenting and his barrister Harvey Walters did not return calls.

Barrister Bronwyn Hartigan, who represented the Antonios pro bono at the inquest, said the family had never been able to move forward with their lives.

“I got the distinct impression that they had lived in emotional limbo since the day Rachel disappeared,” Ms Hartigan said.

“By that I mean they have been involved in the investigation from day one, from the next morning when she was not in her bed.

“They have followed the arrest of Robert Hytch closely, they have followed both trials, they went to both trials and sat through every day of evidence.

Robert Hytch.

“They went to the court of appeal and have constantly reread, I believe, the information that they had available to them.

“At the inquest they weren’t absent for a single day. I don’t believe they have had a moment’s peace in the last 18 years.”

MORE: Eerie calm of schoolgirl’s accused killer

Follow the bold links to listen:

iPhone or iPad users search for “rachel antonio podcast” on iTunes — by clicking subscribe, each weekly episode will appear on your podcast app.

Android users can listen by following The Courier-Mail on Soundcloud at soundcloud.com/couriermail.