Allison Bernard inquest hears search would have found her if she was at quarry

A highly-decorated police search expert told Cairns Coroner’s Court if a missing woman last seen near a quarry had been there and been alive, she would have been found.

IF a 23-year-old missing mother-of-two was in the rugged area where she was last seen, search teams would have found evidence unless she was buried in a shallow grave, an expert witness told Cairns Coroner’s Court on Thursday.

Speaking at the inquest into the disappearance of 23-year-old Allison Neridine Bernard, Senior Sergeant Jim Whitehead, who has been involved in an estimated 17,000 searches said, “if she was alive, she would have come out because she would have heard the noise of searching” if she was there.

Alison Bernard's mother and uncle Edwina Bernard and Teddy Bernard with a photo of Allison (left) with her grandmother and sister. Picture: Brendan Radke.

Ms Bernard was last seen at a quarry near Coen on the night she disappeared on February 10, 2013 and her family, attending the inquest this week, hasn’t faltered in their quest for answers nine years later.

“Generally we find something every search and the reason we didn’t suggests there was nothing actually to be found,” he said.

“We always find evidence of them having passed through an area, and there was no evidence.”

He said if Ms Bernard had run away from Mr Byrnes, as he alleged, she had a high chance of survival.

“We found smaller objects, and that shows we couldn’t have missed a large one,” Snr Sgt Whitehead said.

Thomas Byrnes leaves the Cairns courthouse precinct after day three of an inquest into the disappearance of Kowanyama mother Allison Neridine Bernard. Mr Byrnes was the last person to see Ms Bernard alive when she disappeared from the Archer River Quarry in February 2013.

He said over time, feral animals and the harsh elements could reduce evidence to very little.

“In the Daniel Morcombe case, after eight years, we found 18 small splinters of bone,” he said.

A huge search was launched of the quarry area, including the dams on the property, which ended up covering about 610sq km, but no trace was ever found.

The court has previously heard Archer River Quarry caretaker Thomas Byrnes was the last person to see her alive – but she was not reported missing until two days later, when her family contacted police.

Detective Inspector Geoffrey Marsh, who was head of the Far North region at the time, was asked if the case was later seen as a missing person case or an unlawful killing.

“In my mind, it was a missing persons case,” he said.

Det Insp Marsh told the court he was not aware that police had terminated a conversation with Mr Byrnes because he made disclosures that caused police to consider him a suspect.

He said Mr Byrnes had told police Ms Bernard ran off “naked or nearly naked into the bush at night”.

Asked if he was informed there were at least three different versions of how Ms Bernard came to be in the vehicle and leave his presence, Det Insp Marsh said he believed there was a consistent version.

He said scratch marks on Mr Byrnes were excluded from being caused by defensive actions of Ms Bernard.

Mr Byrnes has denied any involvement in her disappearance.

Originally published as Allison Bernard inquest hears search would have found her if she was at quarry