Michelle Coral Lewis cold case: $500k reward offered for information leading to a conviction

Detectives have announced a fresh push in the mysterious 1989 disappearance of a young Rockhampton woman once thought to be a victim of a serial killer.

Detectives have announced a fresh push in the mysterious 1989 disappearance of a young Rockhampton woman once thought to be a victim of serial killer Lenny Fraser.

Michelle Coral Lewis was 21 when she disappeared from Rockhampton during a short bike ride home from a friend’s house late on a Saturday night.

Police have now offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer in a new effort to solve the long-running missing persons case.

Homicide cold case Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said police particularly wanted to speak with an anonymous man who called the Rockhampton police station a month after Michelle disappeared who said he had information on her disappearance.

Michelle Coral Lewis was 21 when she disappeared from Rockhampton while riding her bike home from a friend’s house.

She said the man hung up as officers were attempting to transfer him through to the investigating detectives.

“The call came through to the general line of the station and the general conversion was had then, but by the time it was transferred through to investigators the call was no longer there,” Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said.

Michelle was last seen on January 14, 1989, after spending the evening with her best friend Kerry Bartley, who lived on Stenlake Ave, North Rockhampton.

The two friends had eaten dinner and watched a movie before Michelle, wearing a pink tie-dyed singlet with the word “surf” on the front, rode her maroon and white mountain bike home to nearby Alexander St.

She never made it home, despite the trip being no more than 1km.

Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said Michelle had had a tough upbringing and was raised by her grandmother Helda Lewis after being abandoned by her mother as a baby.

When Helda died, she was taken in by a kind-hearted local woman named Adeline “Del” Salhus.

“Del, who has since passed away, told police at the time that Michelle, a former Glenmore High School student, was very responsible and always telephoned if there was a change in plans or she was going to be home late,” Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said.

Retired detective Ann Gumley, the lead investigator at the time, said she had never forgotten Michelle.

“Miracles happen - and miracles have happened over the years with cold cases,” Ms Gumley said, adding that in the 1980s, police had relied heavily on information from the public to solve cases.

“When something like this happens, it’s just a blank wall in front of you and you can’t see anything. It’s frustrating. It’s sad for her, it’s sad for her friends.”

Ms Bartley said her friend deserved a proper burial and those who knew her deserved to know what had happened.

Lenny Fraser in Rockhampton.

“I always wonder every year, what would she be like? Would she have gotten married? Would she have children?” she said.

“When I had my first child, (I gave her the) middle name Michelle. So if Michelle ever came back, I could say, I didn’t forget you. You’re still there.”

She said over the years, those who knew Michelle had held theories about who could have killed her.

“Over time, I’ve had thoughts and other people have had thoughts but you can’t prove those thoughts,” she said.

“We have expressed those thoughts.”

Det Sen Sgt Kentwell said police reviewed Michelle’s disappearance in 1999 as a possible victim of serial killer and rapist Leonard John Fraser but were unable to link her to him.

Fraser died in custody in 2007 after being convicted of the 1999 abduction, rape and murder of nine-year-old Keyra Steinhardt and the murders of Rockhampton women Beverley Leggo and Sylvia Benedetti and the manslaughter of Julie Turner, who he killed in 1998 and 1999.

Prior to that, he had spent nearly all of the previous two decades behind bars for raping women.

Anyone with information on Michelle’s disappearance, no matter how small, should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.