Could a witness account of what sounded like an abduction finally solve the 23-year mystery of missing teen Daniel Sheppard?

MISSING Adelaide teenager Daniel Sheppard yelled “I don’t want a lift” as he was abducted by three men early on New Year’s Day 1995, his family believes, in a startling twist in the cold case.

Daniel Sheppard’s mother, Pat, (left), with his sisters Denise and Jennifer back in 2008.

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MISSING teenager Daniel Sheppard yelled “I don’t want a lift” as he was abducted by three men early on New Year’s Day 1995, his family believes, in a startling twist in the cold case.

His sisters and cousin were stunned to learn the story of a woman who phoned police hours before anyone knew he had failed to arrive home.

The Major Crime detective leading the cold case probe told the family the woman had not wavered in her claims but he could not explain why it had never been raised in 23 years.

Police last night confirmed the claims were investigated in 1995 but had “been unable to confirm any link” with the disappearance. They did not respond to questions why the report was not made public.

Speaking exclusively to The Advertiser, Daniel’s nephew David Sheppard, 38, said he and other family members had met the woman, who remained “haunted” by what she heard and saw.

Daniel Sheppard disappeared on New Year’s Day 1995.

He said the family was sceptical when the woman messaged the Missing Person Daniel Sheppard Facebook page several months ago.

But they are now convinced she is telling the truth, after Major Crime Detective Sergeant Simon May this week confirmed she had phoned police hours later on January 1.

Her story fits the timeline of his disappearance — despite a litany of theories including that Daniel, 19, was killed by skinheads, members of the occult or by drug dealers.

The witness told police she heard a young man screaming “f … off, f … off, I don’t need a lift” on Jane Flaxman Court at 4.45am — 10 minutes after Daniel left Port Adelaide train station for the 12-minute walk to his home on the northern fringe of West Lakes.

“She was having a smoke out the front of her house and she could hear one young man screaming ‘f … off, f … off, I don’t need a lift’,” Mr Sheppard said.

“Then she heard muffled screaming and car doors slamming, then a car came down the street with no lights on, and it was still dark.”

The woman said the car was a blue or silver sedan, similar to a Holden Statesman or XD Falcon with a man driving and three men in the back seat, but she could not make out faces or take the registration because of the darkness.

“Her husband said it was probably just drunk people but she didn’t feel right about it and in the morning, she called police,” Mr Sheppard said.

“There was no report at that time and we didn’t know Daniel was missing yet so they weren’t interested, which is fair enough at the time.”

He said the conversation with Sgt May had shocked his family, including Daniel’s twin brother Michael, but provided an unexpected faint glimmer of hope for answers.

“He said that it seems (the witness) has stayed true to her story all these years. For us, it is the only theory that matches the timeline exactly,” Mr Sheppard said. “You have got to ask the question, why wasn’t there a re-enactment done of this, but he couldn’t really tell me why.”

Daniel and Michael were the youngest of seven children and were between 12 and 17 years younger than their five sisters, who doted on them.

Daniel’s sister Denise, 60, said the initial investigation was sidetracked by an alleged confirmed sighting of the apprentice powder coater wandering along Grand Junction Rd.

“We never believed he was on Grand Junction Rd, and we were probably at the point where we don’t think we will ever find out what happened to him,” she said. Denise was also staggered that police, including former head of the investigation, Detective Senior Constable Robert Stapleton, had never aired the claims.

Star Force divers searching for Daniel Sheppard in the Port River in 1995.

“We were never told about it, the police have never, ever told us about this,” she said.

“We just want to know where he is, mainly. This is with us every day, you think about it every single day.”

The family said they have always suspected Daniel was abducted, and said unsubstantiated claims — including that he was murdered over a large drug debt, killed in a satanic ritual, or fallen asleep in an industrial bin — had added to their anguish. “I knew straight away that something was wrong,” Denise said, “I had a gut feeling and had no doubt he was taken because he would not have hitchhiked.”

Mr Sheppard, who regarded Daniel as more of a brother than a cousin, said the claims he shouted that he didn’t need a lift bolstered their belief he was snatched by strangers in a random abduction.

Mr Sheppard said the family believed Daniel was likely the victim of predatory sex attackers out cruising the streets looking for victims.