Why weren’t Rachel Antonio’s diaries submitted as evidence?

A SURF lifesaver who has always denied involvement in schoolgirl’s Rachel Antonio’s disappearance also consistently said they did not have an intimate ­relationship. Rachel’s secret diary claims otherwise.

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A SECRET diary penned by schoolgirl Rachel Antonio discussing an alleged romance with the main police suspect in her disappearance was never shown to a jury.

The diary and Rachel’s letters to a friend could have been key pieces of evidence against surf lifesaver Robert Hytch but prosecutors did not use them. It is not clear why they were not used.

SEARCHING FOR RACHEL ANTONIO: The podcast by David Murray

Details from the diary and letters are revealed in a new instalment of The Courier-Mail’s investigative podcast, Searching for Rachel Antonio, launched today.

In the letters – which have not been made public before – Rachel wrote of falling for Mr Hytch, a fit triathlete and lifeguard who was 25 years old.

Rachel made similar claims in her makeshift diary, detailed here for the first time after a coroner released the brief of evidence from the case to The Courier-Mail.