Sister of missing woman Stella Farrugia lives in hope, but police fear the worst

The sister of missing Henley Beach woman Stella Farrugia lives in hope she is still alive — but Major Crime detectives believe she was murdered and have two persons of interest in the case.

Stella Farrugia is presumed murdered by SA Major Crime detectives.

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Although she has been missing for almost 35 years, Christine Lilkendey has not given up hope of one day seeing her little sister Stella again.

She can still remember their last words.

Ironically, the conversation was about keeping in touch as their lives took different directions.

In contrast, while Christine, 58, still feels Stella Farrugia is alive, Major Crime detectives fear otherwise. Her disappearance in October 1984 is being treated as a homicide investigation.

While detectives have two persons of interest in the case — both male friends of Stella’s — one of them has passed away.

“I dread the thought that this young, beautiful woman is in a shallow grave somewhere where no-one will ever find her. That scares me,’’ Ms Lilkendey said.

Stella Farrugia.

“I feel she is still alive and one day I might cross her path. I know she may have been taken, I know it has been a long time.

“Bottom line, my gut feel tells me she is still alive.’’

Christine Lilkendey last saw her sister in 1983 in Cairns. Stella was 18 and she was 23. They were both leaving Cairns — Stella to moving to Adelaide with her then boyfriend and Christine to Melbourne to live with her parents.

“I made arrangements to catch up with Stella just before she left to say goodbye, but went knocking on her door and she had already left. I missed her by a few days,’’ Ms Lilkendey said.

Although her memories have faded, Christine still remembers Stella as a “beautiful girl who was fun and happy’’ and who loved animals.

“She travelled from Cairns to Adelaide with her dogs and cats, she wasn’t going to leave them behind,’’ she said.

Christine said Stella’s disappearance had taken its toll on her parents.

Her father, Michael, has now passed away and her mother, Rose, elderly and frail. Her family struggled to cope with Stella’s absence for the first five years, but then it became “normal’’ having a missing person as a daughter and sister.

“Stella is in the background and I think about her if I see the name Stella anywhere and hope that one day I will see her again,’’ she said.

“The toughest thing is that for 30 odd years I have not had a sister, it is a relationship I have not had. We were good together.’’

Shortly after arriving in Adelaide from Cairns in late 1983, Stella Farrugia and her boyfriend stayed briefly with friends at Mt Torrens before moving into a flat at 307 Seaview Rd at Henley Beach.

Not long afterwards, their relationship deteriorated and the pair parted company.

Major Crime case officer detective Sergeant Cameron Georg said Stella began a relationship with another man named Wojciech Kubale and the pair moved in together into a flat at 284 Seaview Rd at Henley Beach.

On October 17 1984 Mr Kubale — who died in Adelaide in 2010 when aged 47 — attended the Henley Beach police station and reported her missing. He said he had last seen her at their flat on October 17.

“Mr Kubale was the last person so see her,’’ Det. Sgt. Georg said.

“He said he went out for the day and when he came home her dog was still there, her bank books and personal possessions were still there. Her bank accounts have remained untouched.’’

Stella was initially treated as a missing person and her disappearance not treated as suspicious, primarily because police believed Stella had fled voluntarily amid suggestions of domestic violence.

Several weeks later Stella’s family was contacted by Mr Kubale, asking where she was. Christine said she remembers that phone call. She answered it.

“It was from a very angry young man. He just said ‘what have you done with Stella?’’ she said.

“That is when we reported Stella missing. I only spoke to him once.’’

Stella Mary Farrugia was last seen on October 18, 1984.

Det. Sgt Georg said both Mr Kubale and Stella’s former boyfriend were interviewed at length by detectives once the case was declared a major crime and treated as a homicide investigation.

“Both remain persons of interest in the case, albeit that one is now deceased,’’ he said.

While it is more likely than not Stella is dead, there is one aspect of the case that provides a small glimmer of hope.

In the five years after she vanished an unknown caller would ring her parents’ telephone five or six times a year. When they answered, there would be silence on the other end and after a short time the phone would be hung up.

“Her family always thought that may have been Stella, not talking, just listening,’’ Det. Sgt. Georg said.

“Those calls over that five year period became less and less frequent to the point they ceased.’’

Christine says while her mother clung to that thought, she did not believe that was the case.

“A few times I answered the phone and there were hang-ups as well,’’ she said.

“If it was Stella looking for me she would have known my voice and answered.’’

Det. Sgt. Georg said there was also a reported sighting of Stella by a school friend in 1989 in Casuarina in WA. The female was walking through a local shopping centre and saw someone she thought was Stella.

“She called out to her and spoke briefly to the person she believed was Stella,’’ he said.

But after interviewing the witness, he feels her belief is probably higher than the reality “given the reaction of the person she spoke to.’’

Det. Sgt George said although extremely difficult for many reasons, Stella may have moved away and started a new life with the help of other people.

“It may be if there was a level of domestic violence occurring she may have had enough and found someone who was going to take her away and give her a new life and she was prepared to abandon her family,’’ he said.

“The alternative is that her disappearance is a result of her being murdered at the hands of an unknown person and her body disposed of.

“For a number of reasons I think it is more likely she is deceased, but until such time as we find a body or have a confession there is always that hope she is still alive.’’

A reward of up to $200,000 is available for information leading to a conviction in the case or the recovery of Stella’s remains.

Originally published as Sister of missing woman Stella Farrugia lives in hope, but police fear the worst