Married couple arrested after teen mum Amber Haigh’s 2002 murder

A man and a woman have been arrested in regional NSW today as police made a major breakthrough in the case of a missing teen mum who disappeared 20 years ago.

A married couple believed to be the last two people seen with teenager Amber Haigh when she went missing 20 years ago have been arrested over her disappearance.

NSW Police Homicide Squad detectives made the massive breakthrough on Wednesday morning, arresting the man and woman – both aged 61 – at a property at Harden, in the Riverina.

They have been taken to Young Police Station, where it is expected they will be charged with murder.

The arrests come a week after police announced a $1 million reward for information relating to Ms Haigh’s disappearance, a major increase on the initial $100,000 reward offered in 2007.

Police were told Ms Haigh was dropped off by the couple – who she had been living with – at Campbelltown Train Station on Wednesday, June 5 2002.

Homicide detectives arrested a man and a woman this morning. Picture: NSW Police

The pair, both 61, are expected to be charged with Ms Haigh’s murder. Picture: NSW Police

She planned to travel by train to Mt Druitt to visit her sick father in hospital, but never arrived.

At around 8.45pm that evening, cash was withdrawn from Miss Haigh’s bank account at a Commonwealth Bank ATM on Queens Street in Campbelltown.

Amber Haigh, 19, with her infant child in 2002.

Despite extensive investigations by police over the years – including numerous public appeals and a reward for information – Amber has not been located and the circumstances of her disappearance remain undetermined.

While there have been extensive investigations over the past 20 years into the 19-year old’s disappearance, the circumstances are still undetermined.

A coronial inquest in 2011 found that Amber had died as a result of homicide or misadventure in June 2002, however in 2020 this decision was formally reviewed and the case was reinvestigated by detectives attached to Strike Force Villamar II.

As part of ongoing inquiries, strike force detectives travelled to Thurgoona and seized a white Suzuki Sierra for further forensic examination last Wednesday.

That breakthrough was followed by today’s arrests.

Originally published as Married couple arrested after teen mum Amber Haigh’s 2002 murder