THE husband of a missing woman says he’s not worried about being charged, as a $1 million reward is offered for information about her suspected murder.
Roxlyn Bowie, 31, was last seen at her home in Walgett, a small town in northern New South Wales, about 6pm on Saturday, June 5, 1982.
The mother of two, who did not have access to a car, was never seen again.
Her husband John Bowie, a former ambulance officer now living in Toowoomba, has told The Courier-Mail he believes police will charge him, but has denied he killed her.
The born-again Christian yesterday said he was being “crucified” but hadn’t done anything wrong.
Bowie has said he kept “coming up to a dead end” for reasons his wife would leave her young children, Warren, 18 months and Brenda, 6.
An inquest held in 2014 found Roxlyn was dead but could not determine when or how she died.
Investigators have said the mother was utterly devoted to her two young children, which made her disappearance puzzling to those who knew her well.
During an appeal yesterday, after a $1m reward was offered by the NSW Government, Roxlyn’s daughter Brenda said it was hard to grow up without a mother.
“It has been hard living all my life not knowing what has happened to her,” she said.
“From what I remember of her mum it just seems impossible she would have left my brother or I.
“I just ask if any of the public can put themselves in my position, I just want answers.
“Also my brother Warren passed away in 2016. He also died without knowing what happened to our mother.
“If this reward brings anyone forward or maybe the possibility of finding my mother, my hope is to lay them to rest together.”
Bowie, now 68, last month told The Courier-Mail: “They’re going charge me with it even though I’m innocent.
“Come judgment day when we all get judged by the almighty God, I know I will not be responsible for Roxyln’s disappearance.”
Bowie claimed that on the night his wife was last seen, he had come home at 7pm and then left for the pub.
When he went to leave he claimed Roxlyn said: “If you go, I won’t be here when you get back.”
He claimed that when he returned at 10.30-11pm Roxlyn was no longer there.
A “Dear John” letter was found at the table saying she was leaving, without the children, and would never come back.
On Tuesday, three days after she was last seen, her parents received a letter which claimed to be from Roxlyn which said she had left. The letter was posted in Coonamble, about 100km south of Walgett.
Bowie pleaded guilty to forging his wife’s signature on a transfer of land in 1983.
When asked by The Courier-Mail last month if he wrote the two letters from his wife, Bowie said: “No I did not.”
When asked if he killed his wife, he said: “No I did not.”
Two weeks after Roxlyn disappeared, Bowie went to Sydney. He later introduced a woman called Gail to meet the children who he said was their new stepmother.
He married another woman, Anne, the following year.
Some of Roxlyn’s jewellery was pawned 12 months after her disappearance.
Bowie said he ̶killed two teenagers when he fought during the war in Vietnam.
He also shot another man in the 1990s and said he spent four-and-a-half years in jail.
He also admitted to being violent to another woman he married years later.
“I could not bring myself to kill another person, may it be the bloke I shot or Roxlyn,” he said last month.
Speaking for a second time to The Courier-Mail, Bowie said yesterday was the first time he had learned of his son’s death.
He said he hoped the investigation would “come to a final head” and he was sick of being seen as a police target.
Bowie said there was a number of rumours about him and was not worried about being charged.
“No I’m not, I’m not worried about it, I’ve left everything in the Lord’s hands,” he said.
“I’ve got nothing to hide.”
He claimed he believed his wife left him because of his drinking and womanising.
He said issues like refugees were more important to Australians than the disappearance of his wife.
“To the general Australian public, it is,” he said.
“Roxlyn’s disappearance only affects a handful of people, not Australia-wide.
“The government spending money to foreign aid is more to do with the Australian people than a handful of people concerned about Roxlyn’s disappearance.”
Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty of the NSW Police Force’s Robbery and Serious Crime Squad said the award was significant and hoped it would help anyone who had been reluctant to come forward.
He said the family needed closure.
Supt Doherty said information at the inquest given by Bowie was “found to be non-credible.”
“However as I said we’re trying to keep an open mind, look at all information so we can look at all lines of inquiry.”
Supt Doherty previously said letters alleged to have been penned by Roxlyn would undergo further forensic examinations.
Information to Crime Stoppers online or on 1800 333 000
Elite squad to track elusive murderer and cold case fugitive
It’s been almost a year since a confirmed sighting of one of Queensland’s most wanted men, cold case fugitive and convicted murderer Keith Lees, and police are stepping up the hunt.
‘Last ray of hope’ snuffed out with no charges over crayfish farm shooting
The family of a young scientist shot dead while working at a crayfish farm say they lost their “last ray of hope” after an inquest failed to result in charges against two people named by a coroner.