Cold case: Police hold out hopes of solving murder of Steven Wayne Mulligan on Gold Coast 16 years ago

COLD CASE: Steven Wayne Milligan was in the prime of his life when his naked body was found in bushland just 1km from his Oxenford home.

Steven Wayne Milligan went missing from Oxenford in April 2000.

STEVEN Wayne Milligan was in the prime of his life when his naked body was found in bushland just 1km from his Oxenford home.

The talented snowboarder had just returned from competing in Canada when tragedy struck.

On April 18, 2000, the 20-year-old went for a walk and never made it home.

His mother reported him missing and conducted a massive campaign to find her son.

Three weeks later police found his badly decomposing body in bushland near a water tower.

Mr Milligan was wearing one sock and one shoe and some of his clothing was found burnt nearby.

Police have treated the death as a murder investigation, but lead investigator, Detective Senior Sergeant Mark Procter, said there had been no fresh leads for some time.

“I have been on this case since the beginning and it has never been an easy one,” the Coomera CIB boss said.

“A bushwalker found clothing of his not far from his house, so we went there to look and that’s where we found his body.

Steven Milligan: His body was found three weeks after he went missing.

“It was so badly decomposed there was no official cause of death, which always made the investigation hard.

“There was suggestion his clothes had been cut from his body, and we did find cuts in them.

“We stay in touch with his mum from time to time, who still lives in Oxenford, but at this stage we can’t rule anything out when it comes to the investigation.”

Det Snr Sgt Procter said the last “break” police had in the case was a few years ago when a distant relative came forward, but the information provided turned out to be incorrect.

“There were reports at the time that it may have been a drug deal or debt gone wrong, but we found no evidence of that,” he said.

“He was a champion snowboarder with plans to travel to Perisher for the Australian winter. What happened is still a mystery.”

Det Snr Sgt Procter said six months after Mr Milligan’s body was found his car keys turned up in a hanging pot plant at his family home.

Steven Milligan’s sister Samantha and mum Debbie Barrow in 2000.

“His keys were found there and no one knew he put them there. It could be he left them there while he went walking.”

Mr Milligan’s mother, Debbie Barrow, told media in 2014 that not knowing what happen to her son was both a blessing and a curse.

“In some ways I have come to terms with not knowing,” she said.

“Whereas, if I were to learn a horrible truth, I could be let down.

“I’ve had 20 million different scenarios go through my head but there’s no hard, cold facts.”

Ms Barrow said she believed her son could have simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, the victim of an impulsive action rather than cold-blooded murder.

A reward for $250,000 is still available for anyone with information that leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the suspected murder.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.