Four million reasons to catch a serial killer
The families of four missing women feared taken by a serial killer are calling for a $1 million reward for each victim to help catch the predator and finally provide answers decades on.
Cold Cases
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The families of Newcastle’s missing women want just one thing for Christmas: a $1 million police reward for information on each of their disappearances.
Gordana Kotevski, Amanda Robinson, Leanne Beth Goodall and Robyn Hickie vanished between 1978 and 1994, and earlier this year former State Coroner John Abernethy told True Crime Australia a “serial killer” could be responsible.
“We’ve been through this hell for too long,” said Anne Robinson, 76.
“Give us a Xmas present of $1 million (for anyone who can help police convict the killer) for each of those girls. They were beautiful girls that were loved and cared for and looked after and from good families and some creature has devastated all our lives.
“You just don’t know who it is. It could be the bloke down the road, or anyone, you just don’t know.”
The Kotevskis and the Robinsons are demanding the reward be posted not just for their own children but for fellow victim Leanne Goodall, whose parents are no longer alive, and the family of Robyn Hickie, who no longer wish to publicly campaign for answers.
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Over their years of suffering, the four sets of parents became friends, and now remain committed to a collective resolution.
“It’s what we’ve always been fighting for from the beginning,” said Mrs Kotevksi, 62. “It’s not just for Gordana.”
Leanne Goodall, 20, was last seen alive on 30 December, 1978, at the Star Hotel, Newcastle. Robyn Hickie, 18, disappeared on 7 April, 1979, after she was spotted walking along the Pacific Highway at Belmont North.
Two weeks later Amanda Robinson, 14, went missing from Lake Road, Swansea on April 21.
After a period of quiet, Kotevski, 16, was abducted on 24 November, 1994, after she was dragged screaming into a white Toyota HiLux just steps from her aunt’s front door on Powell St, Newcastle.
“It affects the whole family,” said Ron Robinson, 77, who moved to Western Australia after Amanda disappeared, finding it too painful to stay in Newcastle. “It’s the not knowing. We’d just like to put her to rest.”
Initial police investigations were marred by incompetency, resulting in the families of Robinson, Hickie and Goodall spending almost 40 years without closure; the Kotevski’s have been waiting for close to a quarter of a century.
“They’ve done all the searches they can, they can’t do anything else that way,” said Mrs Robinson.
“The only thing they can do now is give us a bigger reward for our girls. We need the million dollars, if no one claims it no one’s out of pocket but it just might be the bait we need.”
The commander of the NSW Homicide Squad, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, said he empathised with victims’ families and the frustration they felt when large rewards are offered for some missing people but not others.
“The purpose of rewards is to encourage people to come forward. They’re also part of a strategy: it’s not simply the reward, it’s the associated media attention and associated investigations that are happening behind the scenes that complement the reward,” he said.
“From a policing perspective, this is a tool or a strategy for us to solve homicides, if we were to put a reward out on every single homicide carte blanche we would lose the opportunity a reward gives us to further an investigation.
“Police want to maximise the opportunities to gain evidence in every single case. To do that we need to time reward announcements tied with investigative strategies. It is not a value on human life, it is an investigative tool.”
After True Crime Australia ran a series of stories on the women earlier this year, a local Newcastle family came forward to nominate one of their family members as a potential suspect in Kotevski’s disappearance.
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The lead has not yet been investigated by police but a commitment has been made to do so next year.
“It is expected the matters will be reviewed by detectives from Lake Macquarie Police District in early 2019,” said a NSW Police Force spokesperson.
“Following the reviews, investigators may submit an application for consideration by the NSW Police Force Rewards Evaluation Advisory Committee (REAC).”
“I’m frustrated,” said Mrs Kotevski.
“I was 38 when she went missing, I’m 62! You’d think I’d find something out before I kick the bucket. It’s been 24 years. Someone knows something.
“Don’t be gutless,” she urged. “Come out and put people at peace.”
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