John Lester Costello: Missing fruit picker ruled deceased after 25 years

Mystery continues to surround the disappearance of a fruit picker last seen in Cobram 25 years ago, with multiple theories on what might have happened to him.

A coroner has ruled an itinerant fruit picker who has not been seen for more than 25 years is deceased.

Earlier this month a summary inquest was hosted in the Coroner’s Court of Victoria into the disappearance and suspected death of John Lester Costello.

The inquest heard the 59-year-old Queenslander was last seen in Cobram — located on the Victoria side of the border with NSW — in January 1997.

Every year the father-of-two would travel down to Cobram, set up in a caravan park and pick fruit at an orchard for months at a time, the court heard.

He had been doing this since the early 1990s, but by mid 1996 his relationships with his colleagues had become “strained” and he told a friend they had had all “turned against him”.

In December he telephoned his son to say he couldn’t spend Christmas with him that year, as he normally did.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Ann Kho, said Mr Costello moved out of his caravan early in the morning of January 9, 1997 and told the manager he was heading north, to the tip of Australia, to find work.

It was the last reported sighting of Mr Costello.

Months later two of his suitcases were found on the eastern side of Pullar Rd, inside the fence of the orchard.

The court heard the grass underneath them was dead, suggesting they had been there for some time.

Mr Costello was reported missing in May 1997 and both Queensland and Victoria police began investigating.

Yet it was revealed during the inquest that a lack of communication between the forces meant his suspected death was not reported to a coroner for more than 20 years.

It was not until December 2017 — two decades afterwards — that the matter “came to the attention” of Queensland Police’s Missing Persons Unit as part of a review into an outstanding matter, the court heard.

“It appears Queensland Police understood that Victoria Police would have reported his disappearance and suspected death to a Victorian coroner following a discussion in 2003,” Ms Kho said.

However, the court heard Victorian officers thought they needed to find remains before they could do this.

Mr Costello’s disappearance and suspected death was reported to a Queensland coroner in January 2018 but he advised it fell under Victorian jurisdiction given he was last seen in Cobram and sent the files down south.

A summary inquest has been held in the Victorian Coroner's Court into the disappearance of John Costello.

Earlier this month Leading Senior Constable Kelly Ramsey, of the coroner’s support unit, said more than 20 years had passed by the time the file reached her desk.

She said this meant people who lived in the area at the time had moved on, while the suitcases had been destroyed.

“Unfortunately it was a bit of a shambles. There seemed to be three separate investigations but investigators were not speaking to each other.

“His disappearance hadn’t been reported to either the National Missing Persons Database or the Victorian Missing Persons Database,” she added, noting this action was taken after she received the files.

Proof of life checks yielded no evidence, while there was also no evidence he had changed his name.

“He hadn’t touched any of his accounts, he hadn’t gone to the doctor, he hadn’t gone to a chemist to get any medication. That is still the case,” she said. “There’s no trace of Mr Costello.”

Further, a DNA sample from his sister was entered into the Missing Persons Database but the sample did not match with any unidentified remains.

Ms Kho said some investigators had suggested Mr Costello had suicided, met with foul play or misadventure but it was up to the coroner to determine if he should be declared deceased.

In findings released this week Coroner Audrey Jamieson found Mr Costello, who would now be 85, was now deceased.

While noting there were no “credible sightings” of him since the morning of January 9, 1997 and that he likely died on this day or soon after, she said the available evidence did not enable her to make more specific findings as to date, time, place or cause of death.