Revelle Balmain missing person case: NSW Police offer $1m for information

The disappearance of 22-year-old model Revelle Balmain in 1994 captivated Sydney. Now her family hopes a $1 million reward will help them find out what happened.

It was the mystery that has long baffled Sydney: What happened to 22-year-old model and sex worker Revelle Balmain?

Today, more than two decades after the model and sex worker went missing, NSW Police will announce a $1 million reward for information related to her 1994 disappearance.

Ms Balmain was last seen in the Kingsford area on Saturday November 5 1994 and reported missing later that evening.

She has never been seen since, nor has her body been found.

The NSW Government, together with the NSW Police Force, has announced a $1 million reward for information into the disappearance of Revelle Balmain more than 26 years ago.

Her family hopes they can find her and get some closure after more than a quarter of a century.

“For many years, our family worked tirelessly to find out what happened to my sister – but sadly both our mother and Revelle’s father, Ivor, passed away without ever knowing what happened to their little girl,” Revelle’s sister, Suellen Simpson, said.

Revelle Balmain was 22 when she vanished.

Her clothing, bag and shoe were found strewn on streets in Kingsford.

“Losing someone that is close to you – you’re never the same person again.

“It is my personal hope that this reward may also help us find Revelle – so that I may finally put her to rest.”

Two days after her disappearance, her cork-heeled platform shoes and the keys to her Bellevue Hill unit were found scattered across streets in the Kingsford area.

A man named as a person of interest in her suspected murder maintains he dropped Ms Balmain at a Kingsford pub on the evening she was last seen, but police say there were no confirmed sightings of her there.

The Red Tomato Inn, Kingsford, where she was last seen outside on footpath. 16 November 1994 Entertainment NSW / Hotels

Police Minister David Elliott said the reward for information had been lifted from $250,000 to $1 million.

“Ms Balmain was only 22-years-old, and her sudden disappearance has been deeply felt by her family and friends for more than 26 years,” Minister Elliott said.

“I am optimistic that the significant increase in the reward will help detectives obtain new information relating to Ms Balmain’s disappearance and hopefully hold someone to account.”

Revelle Balmain’s family will address the media today.

A coronial inquest in 1998 and 1999 revealed Ms Balmain had been working at two high-end Sydney escort agencies and on the day she disappeared had visited client Gavin Owen Samer.

Mr Samer has denied any involvement telling police at the time he dropped Ms Balmain off at The Red Tomato Inn, and never saw her again.

Then deputy state coroner John Abernethy found Ms Balmain was the victim of a homicide and identified Mr Samer as a suspect, but did not recommend any charges. In 2008, police reopened the case.

A formal review of the case was conducted last year.