Allison Bernard’s ‘missing hours’ revealed as inquest date set

The mysterious final hours before Far North mum of two Allison Bernard disappeared eight years ago have been revealed as the date for an inquest was set.

A FAR North mum of two who has been missing for eight years left a man’s house in the middle of the night and was never seen again, a court has heard.

An inquest into the disappearance of Kowanyama woman Allison Bernard, 23, will be held in July in what her grieving family – including a young son and daughter – hope may finally give them answers into what happened.

During a pre-inquest hearing in Cairns Coroner’s Court on Thursday, the court was told Ms Bernard had a sexual encounter with a caretaker from the Archer River quarry Thomas Byrnes, who she had met just hours earlier.

MORE NEWS

Alleged Cairns crime joyride after fatal crash

Court rules on woman’s lost lotto ticket claim

Stark warning to FNQ women as crime spikes

“She disappeared sometime that night,” counsel assisting the coroner Joseph Crawfoot said.

“Mr Byrnes is the last person to see her alive.”

The court heard the pair had met when Ms Bernard and four friends were travelling between Lockhart River and Coen on February 10, 2013, and stopped to break up the trip at the quarry.

Mr Crawfoot said they reached Coen where Ms Bernard planned to stay with a resident, but saw Mr Byrnes again at the Exchange Hotel.

He said the pair and another man left together about 7.45pm, dropped off the second man and reached the quarry about 90 minutes after leaving the hotel.

The court heard that Mr Byrnes raised some “unofficial concerns” for her safety the following day, but she was not officially reported missing until February.

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.

Mr Byrnes was interviewed by police, but no charges were laid. It is understood he is expected to give evidence during the five-day inquest, due to begin on June 7.

Mr Crawfoot told the court that evidence of the pair’s interactions at both the first visit to the quarry and at the hotel would be heard during the inquest.

The court heard Ms Bernard’s young children were aged just three and five at the time of her disappearance.

Coroner Nerida Wilson said she hoped to determine if Ms Bernard was dead, how, when and where it occurred, and the circumstances of her death. “Many have been affected by Allison’s disappearance,” she said. “(We seek to place) emphasis on the value of a human life.”

Originally published as Allison Bernard’s ‘missing hours’ revealed as inquest date set