Families of missing Bendigo teens Maureen Braddy and Allan Whyte plan rally in bid to solve case

The desperate families of Bendigo teens who disappeared have made a dramatic move to bring attention to the unsolved case.

Lynette Ireland, sister of Maureen Braddy who went missing from Bendigo in 1968.

The family at the centre of one of Victoria’s most puzzling murder mysteries say they’ve had enough of ­waiting patiently.

For more than 50 years relatives of Maureen Braddy have sat silently waiting for police to solve the mystery of the missing teen.

Maureen, 16, and her 17-year-old boyfriend Allan Whyte haven’t been seen since they returned from a dance in Bendigo in November 1968.

Jodie MacDonell, who is married to Maureen’s nephew, and a string of Maureen’s siblings believed the teens were killed and buried, but police treated them as young runaways.

The family believe that Maureen was shot, and her body later buried in a well at their Bendigo home alongside Allan.

Police have never searched the well, and because of an extension of the former Braddy home it is now covered by a room.

Police are still investigating Maureen Braddy (right) and Allan Whyte’s disappearance.

Maureen Braddy in school.

Mrs MacDonell said the family had been frustrated by police inaction and would hold a rally outside the home on Saturday.

“By opening this well, at the least many minds will be put at ease – and at best, the case will be solved and those responsible can be brought to justice,” she said.

“Perhaps other pieces of evidence can be found, such as the murder weapon; helping to accelerate the case.”

The teens were treated as young runaways for decades before police announced they were treating their disappearance as a murder inquiry.

For more than a decade police have suspected Stanley Braddy, Maureen’s father, of being involved in their deaths.

Maureen’s youngest sister Lyn Ireland told a coronial inquest in March 2012 that she had seen her dad and a friend carry a bloodied body through their front yard the night the teens went missing.

She said it was an image that had haunted her since then.

Ms Ireland believes one or both bodies may be buried down a well at the former Braddy home or disposed of in a mineshaft about 100m from the house.

The well has since had an extension to the home built over it, with a thick concrete slab – and the mine has collapsed.

Maureen Braddy was last seen at a YMCA dance and police now believe they have been murdered.

“Maureen and Allan disappeared, together, in circumstances that were sudden and unplanned and completely out of character,” Mrs MacDonell said.

“Each of them had left their belongings behind. Maureen had left her last pay packet at work, while both had left clothing and Allan left his bank books and car, which was his pride and joy.

“Maureen was consistently described by everyone as a quiet, reserved, responsible and obedient girl. She wasn’t streetwise or adventurous and didn’t have a wide circle of friends or contacts.”

Shortly after Maureen’s disappearance her sister Suzanne said she remembered her dad sealing the well.

Stanley Braddy is the only person ever named by police as a suspect.

Mr Braddy, who now resides in a nursing home, denies involvement in any of the deaths. He claimed to the Herald Sun in 2009 that Maureen and Allan had run away together in 1968.

He claimed Maureen had died in 2008: “She’s in the Swan Hill cemetery, I know because I went to her ­funeral. That’s where she is – and she’s under a different name.”

Police have conceded they bungled the initial missing persons investigation, and had no evidence to work with.