Without a trace: baffling disappearances that have left heartbroken families in Melbourne’s southeast
When a loved one vanishes, friends and family face an agonising wait for their return. Some missing persons are never found — but they aren’t forgotten. These are some of the baffling disappearances that gripped Melbourne’s southeast suburbs.
South East
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Most missing persons cases have a happy ending — a child that simply strayed a little far from home, a runaway lover who just needed some time to cool off after a tiff.
Other times they end in tragedy.
But sometimes people simply disappear without a trace, leaving friends, family and detectives baffled.
These are some of the mystifying cases that haunt Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs.
They all have one thing in common, they still have a chance — however small — of being solved.
SHIVA CHAUHAN
He was all set to marry his long-term girlfriend, but popular delivery driver Shiva Chauhan vanished in May 2014.
Six years later, his disappearance in Keysborough remains a mystery.
Mr Chauhan, 27 at the time, left a Dandenong South bakery on South Park Rd about 12.30am on May 2, 2014.
He was reported missing later that morning after it was discovered his deliveries had not been made and he had failed to turn up to an arranged meeting that afternoon.
The delivery van was discovered on Hutton Rd, Keysborough at 3pm that day.
Mr Chauhan’s bank account and mobile phone have not been used since his disappearance.
Police revealed they were investigating whether a maroon Toyota Camry reported stolen shortly before Mr Chauhan vanished was linked to his disappearance.
Missing Persons Squad detective Senior Sergeant Craig Rhodes said Mr Chauhan’s possible captor or captors were likely known to him.
“There were no signs of any force and the vehicle that he was driving at the time was locked and all his personal belongings were located in the vehicle,” he said.
“That tends to make us suggest … that whoever intercepted Shiva on that morning was in fact known to him at the time.”
Police later revealed they had information Mr Chauhan might have been taken to Phillip Island shortly after his disappearance.
Cold-case detectives, volunteers and an interstate cadaver dog scoured Flynn’s Beach in February 2015 but failed to locate anything connected with the investigation.
JOY LANCASTER
Joy Lancaster was 36 years old when she was last seen drinking at the Windsor Hotel on the night of April 19, 1985.
She left with a male employee of the pub who later told police Ms Lancaster had dropped him off outside his Albert Park home and kept driving.
She was driving a yellow Mazda light truck, registration number BWP414.
Ms Lancaster’s flat appeared undisturbed with her bank books, passport and clothing all in place.
Her work involved buying fresh produce from the markets and delivering it to hotels and restaurants, including the Windsor Hotel, and in most instances she was paid in advance.
At the time of her disappearance Ms Lancaster had about $1300 cash on her.
Neither Ms Lancaster nor her vehicle have ever been found.
She would now be 70 years old.
LINDA STILWELL
A plaque marks the spot on the St Kilda foreshore where Linda Stilwell disappeared more than 50 years ago.
The little girl was last seen near Luna Park about 5pm on August 10, 1968, but she never returned to her Middle Park home.
Linda, 7, had been playing with her siblings and some other children on the foreshore near the St Kilda Pier and Luna Park when she was snatched — a week before her eighth birthday.
Her body has never been found but in 2014, a Victorian coroner found Linda had been abducted and murdered by infamous child killer Derek Percy.
Deputy State Coroner Iain West found Percy was in the St Kilda area on the day the young girl disappeared but conceded the evidence implicating the depraved criminal was “circumstantial”.
“It is highly unlikely that another child molester was in the vicinity when Linda disappeared,” he said.
Percy admitted to abducting and killing 12-year-old Yvonne Tuohy less than a year after Linda’s disappearance but was found not guilty on the grounds of insanity and ordered to be detained indefinitely.
He was also a suspect in seven other child murders, including the Beaumont children who went missing from an Adelaide beach in 1966.
Percy, who was detained from 1969 until his death in 2013, became Victoria’s longest serving prisoner not convicted of a crime.
He died of natural causes at the age of 64, without ever admitting he murdered Linda or revealing where he disposed of her body.
ANDREW DYMOTT
Andrew Dymott was enjoying a family barbecue at his sister’s home in Mt Eliza when he popped out to the shop and never came back.
His sister, Rachel Grace, remembers watching Andy walk down her driveway on January 10, 1999, leaving his car behind.
But he was never heard from again.
In 2018, Ms Grace told News Corp the family had “gone through that day over and over in our minds” in the 19 years since.
“We constantly look back and question ourselves, anguishing over details and possible signs he gave, but there’s really nothing,” she said.
“There was no conflict, there was no argument before he left. There was no indication that he wasn’t going to come back.”
Andy was 26 years old when he inexplicably disappeared more than two decades ago but his family has never given up hope he will return home.
“Mum and dad still live in the same house. They didn’t want to move in case he wouldn’t be able to find them when he came home,” Mrs Grace said.
There have been a handful of reported sightings of Andy over the years, usually after public appeals for information, but none have been confirmed.
Mrs Grace said her brother suffered from a mental illness that was being treated but that there were signs he was having low points in the months before he disappeared.
“At the time we didn’t know enough about (his condition) to know what to look for,” she said.
Last year, on the 20th anniversary of his disappearance, the family posted a heartfelt tribute to Andy on the help find Andrew Dymott Facebook page.
“The pain at times is still so deep and raw but we will never stop loving Andrew, searching for Andrew and hoping that Andrew will come home to us,” the post read.
ELOISE WORLEDGE
When her dad checked in on little Eloise Worledge at 11.30pm on a warm January night in 1976 she was sleeping soundly.
But what happened to the eight-year-old that night is every parent’s worst nightmare.
Sometime after her dad Lindsday looked in on her and 7.30am the next morning, Eloise was snatched from her bed.
Her abduction sent shivers down the spines of parents across the state and from that moment, many families in the sleepy Bayside suburb of Beaumaris started to lock their doors.
The flywire screen had been cut, but police believed Eloise was lured away because the hole was too small for an adult to climb through without waking the household.
A neighbour reported hearing a car speeding down their street about 2am but an intense search yielded little information.
Police cars patrolled Beaumaris streets, using bullhorns to call for witnesses to come forward.
Officers visited more than 5000 houses and prepared 1700 files of evidence, but it was all for naught.
No-one has ever been charged with Eloise’s abduction and her body has never been found.
At an inquest years later, Mrs Worledge told detectives that she had believed her husband was involved from the moment Eloise vanished.
But Mr Worledge denied it and even took a lie-detector test to try and prove his innocence — the results were inconclusive.
A 2003 coroner’s inquest failed to name any suspects.
Police told the inquest the flywire had probably been cut from the inside and was likely done to divert suspicion from someone who had access to the Scott St house.
But they said there was no evidence either parent had been involved.
Mr Worledge died in February 2017, with police no closer to knowing what happened to his daughter.
JAKE LYONS
For Rick Lyons, August 25, 2014, was like any other Monday.
He got ready for work and left his Scullin St home in Dandenong North, telling his son Jake he’d see him later.
There was no way he could have known that would be the last confirmed sighting of the 20-year-old.
Mr Lyons said when he got home about 5pm, he found the house unlocked, the gas on the stove turned on but his son was nowhere to be found.
It is believed that at some point during the day, Jake visited a supermarket on Springvale Rd, Springvale.
He bought a drink, some snacks, withdrew $50; and then he vanished.
Police later found his father’s Holden Astra in the car park of Warner Reserve in Springvale.
The car had been locked and the keys placed underneath.
Assistant Commissioner Fontana said the police had explored several avenues throughout the investigation but ultimately believed Jake “left of his own accord”.
“Did Jake meet with foul play? Did he have a plan? Was he meeting someone? We have and continue to have a lot of the same questions as the Lyons family,” he said.
“Nothing within the car suggest that he left in a rush.
“Despite common misconceptions, going missing isn’t a crime.
“If Jake is out there somewhere, that’s okay, we just want to give his family some closure.”
About three months after Jake went missing, Mr Lyons told the Dandenong Leader that not knowing what had happened to his son was tearing him apart.
“Jake, if you’re out there, mate, I’d like you to ring me to let us know that you’re OK,” he said.
“We love you and we miss you. We’re worried sick about you.”
Mr Lyons said his son had been suffering from depression before the disappearance and had received counselling.
He said before he left, Jake dismantled his phone and computer.
There have been no reported sightings of Jake since he vanished.
Anyone with information about any of the above cases is urged to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.