Missing people Australia: Joanne Deacon, Li Bing Di and Bung Siriboon

Thousands of people go missing in Victoria every year, but most are found. Here are six people from the eastern suburbs who have never returned.

Missing people from Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.

Capturing the global imagination, missing people and their stories are used in often popular television shows, books and documentaries, but very rarely do people think about people who have gone missing from their own area.

In Victoria, about 21 people are reported missing to the police everyday. On average, 44 per cent of those reported missing are found within 48 hours, and most people reported missing are either found safe and well, or make contact with their concerned family and friends.

However, not everybody is found or makes contact.

Here are six missing people from Melbourne’s east whose whereabouts remain unknown.

Joanne Deacon and Li Bing Di

Joanne Gaye Deacon

Missing: Li Bing Di.

Joanne Deacon went missing on Friday, August 22 2003, after leaving a note for her boyfriend at their Gembrook home.

In the note, Ms Deacon said she was going to school and would be home in the evening.

Police reports show that she didn’t arrive at school that day, and later did not return home.

At the time of her disappearance, Ms Deacon was living with depression.

Ms Deacon had a medium build, was 160cm, with light brown/auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a fair complexion.

She would be now 50.

Li Bing Di disappeared from his father’s home in Dandenong South on Sunday, February 4 in 2001 and has not been seen by his family or friends since.

Mr Di moved to Australia from China with his parents in 1985, and lived with his mother Yu Lan Jarret and his stepfather Ian Jarret in Hampton Park until a fire destroyed their home in 2000.

After this, Mr Di moved into his father’s (Suo Fan Di) home with this stepmother Shu Hua Zeng, and his two half siblings in Dandenong South.

Police reports show Mr Di felt an immense amount of guilt, as the fire that destroyed his mother’s home could have been started by a discarded cigarette of his.

The guilt made him depressed, causing Mr Di to become more introverted.

Mr Di left his father’s house in Dandenong South on or around February 4 in 2001, and has never returned.

Mr Di’s father was the last to see him. Nobody knows why he left the house that day.

Police inquiries established Mr Di had been occasionally staying at his ex-partner’s home in Dandenong in the year leading up to his disappearance.

Mr Di didn’t have a car, and had very little money at the time of his disappearance.

He did not take any personal belongings with him.

Mr Di is described as having black and brown eyes, and was 168cm tall at the time of his disappearance.

He has a slim build, and would be 44 now.

John Forster and Kenneth Bethune

John Forster

Kenneth Bethune

John Forster has been missing since Saturday, October 7, 2017.

Mr Forster was last seen by his wife and two sons at 10am on October 7, at their family home in Diamond Creek.

His wife left the house with their children, and returned later to find Mr Forster and the family car gone.

Mr Forster had left his phone and wallet at home, which was not unusual for him, as he often went for a run or a walk without them.

The Forster family vehicle was later located at the Sugarloaf Reservoir in Christmas Hills, near the water intake tower look out, but Mr Forster was nowhere to be found.

Mr Forster was 175cm and had light brown/grey hair at the time of his disappearance.

He has an olive complexion, and a medium build.

He would be 63 now.

In mystifying disappearance, Kenneth Bethune was reported missing on Thursday September 21 in 1995.

Last seen in Glen Huntly, Mr Bethune’s family and friends have not seen or heard from him since that day.

Mr Bethune was 179cm and had brown hair at the time of his disappearance.

He has a solid build, and blue eyes.

Mr Bethune would be 62 now.

Siriyakorn (Bung) Siriboon and Suzanne Lawrance

Siriyakorn Bung Siriboon

Suzanne Lawrance

One of the more devastating and infamous disappearances in Melbourne’s history, Siriyakorn (Bung) Siriboon, vanished from her family home in Boronia, on Thursday June 2, 2011.

Bung left her home at 8.25am to go to school, wearing her school uniform and a dark blue zip-front jacket, carrying her backpack.

A neighbour of the family saw her a short time later, walking towards Albert Ave, Boronia.

Bung didn’t arrive to school that day, and never returned home.

Her family and investigators believed her disappearance was out of character.

In 2021, a full decade after her disappearance, investigators revealed they were still receiving calls “every week”.

Detective Leading Senior Constable Justin Tippett continued to urge anyone in the public with information to come forward.

“We have never given up hope that one day we will be able to find out exactly what happened to Bung that day,” he said.

Bung was 154cm, with a thin build.

She would be 25 today.

Suzanne Lawrance disappeared from Healesville after attending a birthday party on Saturday, February 7 in 1987.

Ms Lawrance was last seen leaving the party, and has not been heard from by family or friends since.

She was 175cm and had blond hair at the time of her disappearance.

She has a medium build and was 16 years old when she vanished.

Ms Lawrance would be 52 today.

If you have seen any of these people, or know anything about them or their disappearances, phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make an anonymous report online here.

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