Sunshine Coast cold case murder suspect Keith Lees seen in Victoria
A man at the centre of a Sunshine Coast cold case murder has been sighted in Victoria.
Victoria
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A 70-year-old man at the centre of a cold case murder investigation on the Sunshine Coast has been spotted in Victoria.
Police are hunting Keith Lees over the 1997 murder of 25-year-old Queensland woman Meaghan Louise Rose, who was found dead at the bottom of the Point Cartwright Cliffs at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast.
Detectives did not believe her death on July 18 was suspicious until they discovered that a life insurance policy had been taken out in the lead-up to her death.
Ms Rose’s car was discovered at the top of the cliff, along with several of her personal belongings.
A fresh probe into the woman’s death led detectives to an address in Victoria to question Mr Lees, who police say knew Ms Rose, on June 25.
But his car was found abandoned the next day in Portland, in Victoria’s west, sparking a police search and rescue operation.
Mr Lees gave police a fake name when police tracked him down later that day and spoke with him in Port Fairy.
Detectives from Victoria Police and the Queensland Police have confirmed several sightings of Mr Lees, including at a Waurn Ponds shopping centre on June 27, where he was spotted buying new clothes.
Later that day, he was seen leaving Shepparton Train Station.
On another occasion, he could be seen wearing a black and white chequered button-up jacket.
Police believe Mr Lees could still be in Victoria or that he has travelled interstate.
It is understood he has been looking for casual farming and fruit picking work.
Queensland authorities have offered indemnity to anyone with information who may have been an accomplice in Ms Rose’s murder but did not commit the crime themselves.
Anyone who sees Mr Lees has been asked not to approach him and to call triple-0.
Originally published as Sunshine Coast cold case murder suspect Keith Lees seen in Victoria
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