‘I saw her’: Siblings Sarah and James Fidock who discovered Rosemary Brown’s body reveal what happened on that day 25-years ago
The children that discovered Rosemary Brown’s body break their silence after 25-years and reveal what they saw on that tragic day.
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When Sarah and James Fidock went fishing with their father on Garden Island 25 years ago – the last thing they expected to find was the decomposing body of Rosemary Brown.
It was on July 2, 2000, and the Fidock family woke up to a “clear, crisp day”.
Then as children, Sarah, 10 and James, eight, the family were fishing off the jetty at Garden Island before they decided to turn their attention to hunting rock crabs in the mangroves.
But when James went to put their bucket of crabs into the mangroves he made a frightening discovery. He saw a “dead person”.
Sarah recalled she didn’t believe her younger brother.
“I thought he was joking because he was so calm,” she told The Advertiser.
“I went there myself to have a look and I saw her lying face down … I remember she was wearing black trackpants with elastic bands around the ankle, she was wearing sneakers, she had a red flannelette top and long, dark hair.
“I panicked because in my mind, I honestly believed the killer was still nearby.”
The woman was Rosemary Brown, 33, who had mysteriously disappeared almost two months before, on May 13, 2000.
Tragically, Ms Brown’s daughter Melissa, 15, also went missing and to this day her remains have not been discovered.
Police launched a fresh search on Friday, July 18, 2025 in a previously unsearched area of the water in the Port River estuary on the northern side of the Garden Island in a bid to find Melissa’s remains. Police found a vehicle submerged in the water on Friday which will undergo testing.
The Fidock children found their dad who immediately raced them down to the Port Adelaide Police Station.
Police had to be convinced to believe the children’s account and by the time detectives went to the mangroves, it was dark and the tide had come in.
Ms Fidock said she had to guide the detective to where they saw the body.
“It was like in Hansel and Gretel,” she said. “I was using rocks we had overturned earlier as a guide to find the woman … and we had to waddle through about 150m of water and sludge.
“Then the detectives looked where I pointed to and I just heard him saying over the radio ‘we’ve found a deceased female’.”
Ms Fidock has commended police for their efforts back then and now – she just “wishes” they will find Melissa’s body.
“Obviously, it would be great if she was still alive but statistics are not on her side,” she said. “So I hope she’s near the mangroves because that means she was near her mum until the end and because it would give their family closure they need after 25 years.”
Ms Fidock has never gone fishing again.
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Originally published as ‘I saw her’: Siblings Sarah and James Fidock who discovered Rosemary Brown’s body reveal what happened on that day 25-years ago
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