Parents of missing woman Sarah MacDiarmid make plea for 30th anniversary
Sarah MacDiarmid was last seen walking to her car at Kananook railway station on July 11, 1990. And after enduring 30 years of unimaginable grief, her parents have made a plea for answers.
South East
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On Wednesday July 4, 1990 the MacDiarmid family crowded in their Frankston lounge room and made a toast.
It was Alisdair’s 21st birthday, and proud parents Peter and Sheila gushed over their son and older sister Sarah as they blossomed into adulthood after breezing through school and landing work.
Mr MacDiarmid vividly remembers turning to his wife and beaming over their two beautiful children who they described as “like twins”.
“We’d had a meal and raised a glass in the centre of our lounge room,” Ms MacDiarmid told the Leader.
“Peter and I never said our kids were perfect, but they never gave us any problems.
“After we said cheers Peter looked at me and said, ‘I think now we can say we’re safe.”
Exactly one week later the MacDiarmids would be rocked by an unthinkable tragedy.
Hailing from Scotland, MacDiarmid children went to school at Lochaber High School, Fort William in the ‘80s as their father — who previously served with the Dorchester police — completed civil aviation training and mother worked as a sister nurse.
The close-knit family moved to Melbourne in 1987 after Mr MacDiarmid found employment as an airways operation officer and Mrs MacDiarmid for Melbourne’s royal district nursing service.
It wasn’t long before Sarah, then 21 and Alisdair, 19, slipped into the Australian way of life.
“They loved their new life very much … Sarah was the first one to get an Australian accent,” Ms MacDiarmid said.
“She made good friends quickly, but hated leaving (friends in Scotland).”
Within months of the move to Skye Rd, Sarah — certified with clerical qualifications back home at commercial college — got a job processing car accident payouts at an insurance firm on Collins St in the CBD, and Alisdair also hit the ground running starting an engineering course at Melbourne University.
The pair kept continued to play the Scottish fiddle in their new home, with Sarah often dancing to rock music as well as anything from Annie Lennox and the Eurythmics.
“Sarah loved her job and was quickly moved to the finance section as a finance clerk,” Ms MacDiarmid said.
“She also loved her tennis and being active … tennis was the key sport which she really enjoyed when we moved out.”
The evening of Wednesday July 11, 1990 was just like any ordinary Wednesday when Sarah would play social tennis with work friends at the National Tennis Centre at Melbourne Park.
She and her friends played together from 5.30pm before walking to Richmond station to catch the train home.
Sarah and two of her friends missed the Frankston train, so they caught the 9.20pm service to Caulfield where they could transfer onto their home route.
Her friends hopped off at Bonbeach about 10.15pm and arranged to meet her on the train the following morning to go to work.
Witnesses then reported seeing Sarah get off the train at Kananook and walking toward her red Honda Civic in the poorly lit station carpark five minutes later.
Several people later told police they heard screams coming from the area.
Alisdair drove to Kananook to check if his sister would arrive on the last Frankston train from the city and found his sister’s car vacant in the carpark.
The MacDiarmids reported Sarah missing when they discovered she had not arrived at work the next morning.
Police found Sarah’s blood on the bitumen underneath the driver’s side door, with more blood spots on the concrete leading to the grass and bushes.
Sarah’s body has never been found and no charges have been laid over what police are convinced was her abduction and murder.
“Put yourself in Sarah’s shoes … it was a horrible night, no sunshine, blistering cold, while you’re going to walk to your car in a carpark with one light,” Mr MacDiarmid said.
“Alone with no mum and dad, nobody there to rescue you … what must it have been like?
“We try not to dwell on it too much, but what kind of an end was it?
“Dreadful, absolutely dreadful.”
Serial killers Paul Denyer and Bendali Debs are included on Victoria Police’s list of possible suspects but there is no evidence linking them to Sarah’s disappearance.
Frankston crime author Vikki Petraitis, who is producing a series for the leading true crime podcast Casefile ahead of the 30th anniversary of Sarah’s disappearance, holds strong beliefs that Denyer is responsible.
“Any researcher has to ask the question, how many people were killing Frankston women at the time of Sarah’s disappearance?” Ms Petraitis told the Leader.
“He was 18 at the time Sarah went missing and was, by his own admission, stalking people in the area and carrying knives with him.
“You have to look closely into any connection with him.”
Mr and Ms MacDiarmid, who are now retired and live in Bacchus Marsh, were previously strangers to the podcast medium but are hoping the series can reach the ears of someone who may have vital information from July 11, 1990.
The grandparents keep themselves busy by visiting Alisdair and their 12-year-old granddaughter as well as going on long walks and enjoying twice weekly coffee dates.
They hoped to launch an appeal for the anniversary however it has been postponed due to coronavirus.
“As we get older we keep hoping we hear something about Sarah before anything happens to ourselves … sometimes it feels like Sarah vanished yesterday,” Mr MacDiarmid said.
“The police have been excellent but you feel as though over the years you’ve let her down and you’re not doing anything to find her … but we’ve got absolutely nothing (to go from).
“Since July 11th our lives have just changed … it affects the remainder of your life.
“You just feel so bloody helpless.”
brittany.goldsmith@news.com.au
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