Faces of missing people to feature on Canberra Milk bottles

Laura Haworth left her friend’s house in Queanbeyan in January 2008 and was never seen again. A decade later, police are going “old-school” by featuring her and the faces of 11 other missing people on Canberra Milk bottles

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Laura Haworth left her friend’s house at Queanbeyan on January 5, 2008, and was never seen again.

More than a decade on, her mother Beth Casilles said she is “always hopeful” she will one day be reunited with her first born.

Ms Casilles has welcomed a new partnership between the Australian Federal Police and Canberra Milk to put the faces of missing people back on milk bottles in the ACT.

Canberra’s Laura Haworth who went missing on January 5, 2008.

The “old-school approach” will see 12 long-term missing people with connections to the Canberra region featured on one-litre milk bottles for six weeks.

“Being on milk bottles in people’s homes, it hangs around longer and might give people more time to take it in and reflect on it,” Ms Casilles said.

“I’m very excited about the initiative because the smallest piece of information may just complete the puzzle.”

Beth Casilles has never given up hope that she will see Laura again.

AFP Assistant Commissioner Debbie Platz said the partnership will result in missing people’s profiles being seen by many thousands of Canberrans “every time they have a bowl of cereal, bake a cake or make a cup of tea”.

“It takes me back to the days, before amber alerts and social media notifications, to when reports of missing people appeared in a place guaranteed to catch the eyes of the broader population — on milk cartons,” Assistant Commissioner Platz said.

“In turn, we hope this tried-and-tested method will start a new conversation about the region’s missing people and how the community can help police find them.”

Anthony Fahey’s mum Eileen says she will not rest until she finds out what happened to him.

Ms Casillies still has “no idea” what happened to Laura, then aged 23, after she told her friend she was going to work before driving off in her red Mazda 121.

Laura never made it to work and has not made contact with family or friends since, despite being a mother to two children, aged three and four.

Police found her car on January 19, 2008, at the Kanangra Court carpark but she had disappeared without a trace. She would have turned 35 on March 18.

An older picture of Laura Haworth with her mother Beth Casilles.

“I entertain she has gone missing on her own volition, I entertain something went wrong and she went bushwalking and has fallen down a cliff or something like that, or that she has met with foul play and somebody’s had a hand in her going missing,” Ms Casilles said.

Her message to anyone who might know something: “Speak up, don’t be shy, it can be reported anonymously.”

Capitol Chilled Foods Australia director David Tyack said the company, which owns Canberra Milk, wanted to help those in the community who have faced a long wait for answers about their loved ones.

Wendy Dalla was last seen on September 25, 1975.

“We thought it would be a great idea to help get the message out by going old school and advertising on our 1L Canberra Milk full cream bottles”, he said.

Eileen Fahey, mother of Anthony Fahey, said the initiative would be “an incredible help” to the families still searching for answers.

“This gives us hope that our children, our loved ones will actually be remembered and our stories will be shared and this will go a long way to help with that,” she said.

Laura Haworth with her red Mazda that she left a friend’s house in before vanishing.

“Anthony went missing from Canberra on July 3, 2013; he boarded a bus from Canberra to Sydney and then he just vanished.

“When I accepted Anthony was actually missing, I had this rising panic in me that I needed to go and find him and have the questions answered about where my son was and what had happened to him.

“And for the last six years, that’s what I’ve been doing, I’ve been seeking every opportunity that I could find to get our story out there.

“But it’s not just our story, it’s the story of all these long term missing Canberrans.

“Today I want to tell Anthony I love him very much and miss him very much as does all our family and I won't rest until I find out what happened to our son.”

The missing:

Elizabeth HERFORT (ACT)

Amelia HAUSIA (ACT)

Kate ALEXANDER (ACT)

Megan MULQUINEY (ACT)

David ABUOI (ACT)

Jean POLICARPIO (ACT)

Owen WILLIAMS (SA)

Wayne PICKETT (NSW)

Anthony FAHEY (NSW)

Robert JACOB (ACT)

Wendy DALLA (ACT)

Laura HAWORTH (ACT)

These people’s faces will feature on the Canberra Milk bottles.

If you recognise any of them or have information about any of Australia’s long-term missing people on the register, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.