Dear Rachelle investigation: 10 unanswered questions into Rachelle’s chilling murder

Rachelle Childs was brutally killed and her body set alight but her killer has never been found. These are the unanswered questions into her unsolved murder.

Rachelle Childs was brutally murdered, with her body dumped in bushland on a lonely road and set alight.

Her killer has never been found.

The Dear Rachelle multimedia investigation into the 23-year-old’s murder has gripped the nation, with the 15-episode podcast soaring to the top of the charts in Australia.

Rachelle was last seen leaving work on June 7, 2001. The next day her burnt remains were found in Gerroa, NSW.

Kevin Steven Correll was identified as a prime suspect during an inquest into her death. The Coroner delivered an open finding.

Mr Correll has always professed his innocence and has never been charged with her murder.

These are the 10 unanswered questions that surround her chilling death.

WHERE WAS RACHELLE KILLED?

There’s no conclusive evidence to suggest Rachelle was killed at her home in Bargo, in her blue 1978 Holden Commodore, or in Gerroa where her body was set alight.

Forensics couldn’t find signs of smoke inhalation in her lungs, which meant she was dead by the time the killer doused her in petrol and burnt her body.

Her red brick home was fingerprinted by police, but former detectives have now raised questions about whether the house was declared a crime scene or thoroughly investigated at the time.

Six baffling questions surround the murder of Rachelle Childs.

Bargo woman Rachelle Childs’ burning body was found at Gerroa, near Seven Mile Beach National Park.

But there is evidence to suggest she left work in Camden and made it home to Bargo before she was killed.

Her colleague, Fiona, recognised her work clothes in the laundry.

The inside lights and TV were still on when Fiona went to the property the day after she disappeared. For photos of inside Rachelle’s home, visit dearrachelle.com.au.

LISTEN TO THE LATEST DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW:

WHAT HAPPENED TO RACHELLE’S CLOTHES?

Rachelle was found naked from the waist down, which strongly suggests she was sexually assaulted.

However, the bottom half of her clothing has never been found.

DID RACHELLE’S KILLER HAVE HELP?

Witness Matt Wilson says he saw Rachelle Childs’ car being driven by a male through Gerringong, south of Sydney, less than an hour before her burning body was found in Gerroa a few kilometres to the south.

Mr Wilson, who was working the graveyard shift at the newsagency, in Gerringong, describes a second car closely trailing the vehicle in the otherwise deserted street.

His revelation, which he reported to police at the time, makes it possible that more than one person was involved in Rachelle’s death and/or the disposal of her body.

FBI-trained criminal profiler Kris Illingsworth suspects that more than one person was involved.

“Does he deal with it all on his own or does he dial a friend?” she told the Dear Rachelle podcast.

“Does he go somewhere and get some help? I think it’s more likely he got some help.”

Of Rachelle’s final resting place, in bushland, she said: “There’s some very strong indicators that there was someone there who had extensive knowledge about forensic awareness.”

WAS THE MAIN SUSPECT’S GREASY ALIBI ACCURATE?

Australia’s pre-eminent forensic phone data expert said it was “impossible” for Mr Correll to have been were he said he was early on the night of June 7.

Mr Correll told police that he was shopping at Campbelltown Mall when he made a call at 6.08pm.

But the University of Adelaide’s Dr Matthew Sorrell, who has given evidence in dozens of big trials in Australia, including the ongoing Mushroom Cook murder trial, said advanced mobile phone tower analysis pointed to Mr Correll being up to 40 kilometres from where he claimed – potentially in Bargo, south of Sydney, where Rachelle lived.

Person of interest in the murder of Rachelle Childs, Kevin Steven Correll. Picture: Julian Andrews

After Rachelle’s death, police verified that Mr Correll’s phone connected to the southern sector of a phone tower in Picton for the phone call.

Picton lies south of both Campbelltown and the Razorback mountain range, which blocks phones north of the ridge line from connecting with the Picton phone tower.

Investigators were also struck by the detailed similarities of fish and chips orders provided by Mr Correll in his alibis for two unrelated crimes 18 years apart.

Mr Correll told police that he ate fish and chips in the hours that she disappeared on the night of June 7, 2001.

Mr Correll told police, when asked about his whereabouts during a break-in and assault of a woman in her home in Darlinghurst in 1983, that he had ordered a battered sav, a bag of chips, a piece of fish and a loaf of bread.

After the death of Rachelle, he told police that he ordered a battered sav, a bag of chips, a fish cake and a Coke.

Detective Inspector Mick Ashwood said it “stands out to you” that the sameness of the alibis “could be manufactured evidence”.

WAS RACHELLE LURED TO HER DEATH BY THE PROMISE OF A ‘FANCY CAR’?

In the days before Rachelle’s death, the car enthusiast told friends and family that she would have the use of a Holden Special Vehicles VL SS Group A, known as a Walkinshaw, for the upcoming long weekend.

The car, she said, would be arriving at her Holden dealership workplace.

Her boss, Mr Correll, had allowed Rachelle to take home cars from the used-car car yard.

Counsel assisting the coroner at the inquest into Rachelle’s death, Peter Singleton, told the Dear Rachelle podcast: “It seems that no Walkinshaw was ever coming into the yard. And Rachelle had been completely misinformed.”

LISTEN TO EARLIER DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW:

WHY WAS HER CAR STEREO MISSING?

Rachelle had just been gifted a new JVC car CD player by her sister, Kristy Childs. She was paranoid about her car being broken into, so she usually took the stereo faceplate out whenever she left the vehicle to deter thieves.

When her car was found parked out the back of Bargo Hotel on June 9, two days after her murder, the whole stereo was missing.

The interior of Rachelle Childs’ VH Commodore. When her car was found two days after her murder, the whole stereo was missing.

The faceplate was eventually found in Rachelle’s handbag, which was dumped on farmland near Tahmoor, just north of Bargo, but the stereo itself has never been found.

It’s possible the killer took it, but FBI-trained criminal profiler Kris Illingsworth told the Dear Rachelle investigation: “I think it’s probably been stolen while the car’s been parked there for several days and nights.”

However, the car was still locked when they found it. Kristy still feels baffled by this particular aspect of the case.

WHO PARKED RACHELLE’S CAR AT THE BARGO HOTEL?

Whoever put Rachelle’s car into the carpark may have left some clues. Kristy said the driver’s seat was reclined too far back for Rachelle to reach the foot pedals, significantly more so than usual, possibly suggesting the killer was taller than her?

He also knew Rachelle well enough to know she used a club lock. But the way he positioned it on the steering wheel was inconsistent with her usual, unique method.

Rachelle Childs’ car was found, parked out the back of the Bargo Hotel, two days after she was murdered.

Kristy said: “She did used to have her seat really far back, but (when the car was found by police) it was really far back, and I remember looking at the car going, and ‘she didn’t park this here’ and ‘there’s something seriously wrong here’.

“That’s when I knew something bad had happened.”

Rachelle also loved her car, she was saving up to paint it red, and she wouldn’t have left it overnight in a public parking lot.

WHERE DID THE KILLER GET PETROL?

Rachelle wasn’t very good at managing her finances so she rarely had a full tank of petrol.

Her Holden was also an older model, from 1978, which meant it wasn’t fuel efficient and required constant trips to the petrol station.

Bargo to Gerroa is a 200km round trip, which means it’s highly likely at least one stop at a service station was required. Her car took unleaded petrol, the same variety that was found in a jerry can in the boot of her car and used as an accelerant to burn her body. The killer may have siphoned fuel from the car to set her alight, or he may have gone to a petrol station for extra fuel.

WHERE IS THE CRITICAL CCTV FOOTAGE FROM THE NIGHT RACHELLE WENT MISSING?

Service station CCTV from Nowra, NSW, and railway station CCTV from Bargo was going to be digitised and enhanced for clarity in an attempt to find vital clues into her final hours.

It is unclear where police are at with this process.

CCTV was captured at the South Nowra Caltex Service Station at 10.40pm on the night Rachelle disappeared.

According to a police log, it depicts an “unknown blue VB (or) VH Commodore” parked near the shop entrance.

A female – “blonde hair – dark top – light slacks” got out of the car and was seen in the shop, three minutes later, with a handbag over her right shoulder.

The car stayed at the service station for another seven minutes.

At 10.50pm it reversed out of the car park. A male appeared to be in the front passenger seat.

WHY DIDN’T POLICE HAND OVER THE CASE TO HOMICIDE?

There was a police investigation, but it was marred by inefficiencies and ultimately failed to attain vital evidence within the first critical 48 hours.

When local police thwarted the handing over of the case to the NSW homicide squad, the investigation was doomed to errors and distractions.

For more information about our investigation, visit dearachelle.com.au

If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at [e-mail].

You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group.