Missing Person Unit disbanded after mismanagement fears

The NSW Police Missing Persons Unit will be disbanded amid fears families have been living in limbo while their loved ones are actually among more than 100 sets of unidentified remains in the morgue, following years of internal criticism about its leadership.

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The NSW Police Missing Persons Unit will be disbanded amid fears dozens of families have been living in limbo while their loved ones are actually among more than 100 sets of unidentified remains in the morgue.

A discreet project is now underway to match any long-term cases with human bones that have been sitting in boxes for years.

Missing persons officers have been told to look for other roles in the force and a new high-powered unit is tipped to take its place within State Crime Command following years of internal criticism about its leadership.

Melcom Cross, 40, was last seen in Woolloomooloo in August, 1988.

At least three impending inquests are expected to expose failures in how the cases were ­handled, sources said.

The unit is meant to act as a ­liaison for police and other agencies investigating missing persons, checking details such as whether a person’s bank account has been used or if they have applied for a new driver’s licence.

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It is also ­responsible for organising DNA samples from relatives to compare against unidentified bodies.

However, the unit has come under fire for being poorly managed, lacking leadership and dropping the ball on “long-term” cases involving people missing for more than three months.

An officer said: “No one has wanted to pick the scab because clearly everyone identifies this as a poor system.”

It appears the unit is already being run down, with insiders claiming only five of its 13 positions are currently filled. A police source said: “To say it has been poorly managed would be an understatement. This means there is a family grieving or mourning and not able to find closure because the bones of a loved one are sitting in a box.”

While DNA from a missing person’s parents can be compared against unidentified remains, it is only carried out on a case-by-case basis.

There are currently more than 110 unidentified sets of bones found across the state over decades stored in Lidcombe morgue.

Around the country there are 1600 long-term missing persons cases. While 10,000 people are ­reported missing every year in NSW, only about 30 actually go on to become long-term cases.

The unit’s failures was high­lighted last year by the case of ­Ursula Barwick, who disappeared in 1987. She was wrongly identified for 30 years after dying in a car crash in October that year.

Ms Barwick had adopted the alias Jessica Pearce and a friend identified her body using this name.

Meanwhile, Ms Barwick’s family had no idea she was dead and held press conferences appealing for information about her whereabouts.

Ursula Barwick “went missing” in 1987 but was wrongly identified for 30 years after dying in a car crash that same year.

It wasn’t until 2015, after a missing persons unit officer noticed similarities between the files of Pearce and Barwick, that police figured out the crash victim had been given the wrong name. By then she had already been buried in an ­unmarked grave in Emu Plains and couldn’t be exhumed.

Late last year a coroner revealed the blunder and a further inquest into Ms Barwick’s death is now scheduled for September.

It is understood the mix-up sent ripples through the police force and prompted a scathing report from the Office of General Counsel.

A source confirmed it also led to the creation of a project involving police, health and the coroner’s ­office to urgently compare ­unidentified remains with long-term missing person cases, including dental records and DNA.

Meanwhile, police are coming up with a blueprint for a new missing persons unit, with speculation the positions will all be turned into detective roles.

Police confirmed the unit was being “reviewed”.

A spokeswoman said: “The process involves examining the current structure, staffing and objectives of the unit.”

“WE HOPE JAMES IS ALIVE”

Bruce and Michele West’s son James has been missing since August, 2006, and was last seen in the Blue Mountains. The couple provided DNA in the hope it will one day help identify their son.

Bruce and Michele West’s son James has been missing since 2006 and they still don’t know what happened to him. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

James West, 35, disappeared from the Blue Mountains in August, 2006. He was last seen at Katoomba train station.

“I think it’s very important for all unidentified bodies in a little country like Australia to be identified,” Bruce West said.

“If next of kin provides DNA to police agencies around the country, this should be done.”

Mr West said the thought often crossed his mind whether his son was in a morgue somewhere.

“In a funny way, you are nervous to get closure. You certainly live with hope that maybe James is out there and closure would mean he isn’t,” he said.

“In some ways you want to have it, and in other ways you don’t.”