Backyard dig reveals no trace of missing woman Veronica Green
Family and friends of a woman missing for 44 years have been left with unanswered questions after a renewed investigation into the disappearance of Veronica Green yielded no new evidence. But the investigation isn’t over yet.
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No trace of missing woman Veronica Green has been found after a police dig at the home where she was last seen 44 years go.
Investigators have this week excavated a Ballarat Rd, Ardeer, property where Mrs Green lived with her family until she vanished in February, 1976.
Nothing of significance was found as part of the fresh search surrounding the then-38-year-old’s case.
An old swimming pool site was dug up, garden sheds removed, concrete paths and a driveway excavated and the area beneath the house scoured.
Detective Sgt Allan Wood from Brimbank CIU said investigations would continue.
A brief-of-evidence will now be prepared for the Coroner.
Sgt Wood said such cases left family and friends with many unanswered questions.
“When a loved one, family member or friend disappears without explanation, it causes significant heartache for the families involved,” Sgt Wood said.
“Despite the time that has passed I encourage anyone with information to come forward.
“If you can help, please contact police. It’s never too late.”
The Herald Sun revealed in April that police were reviewing the circumstances of her disappearance.
They will spend five days excavating the backyard of the Ardeer home where she lived with her husband and children until her disappearance on February 13, 1976.
Police were told she had disappeared of her own accord.
But others were not so sure, with some family members believing she would never have missed the birthday of one of her children the next day.
Detective Sgt Allan Wood of Brimbank CIU said an order from the Coroner approving the excavation was obtained and there was consent from the property’s current owners.
Sgt Wood said there was no guarantee anything would be found but he had received information Mrs Green’s body may have been buried there.
“There’s been too much talk about it to ignore it. We wouldn’t be doing our due diligence if we didn’t undertake the search,” he said.
Sgt Wood has worked on the Green case “on and off” for 12 years.
“It’s quite horrific for the family not knowing,” Sgt Wood said. “We’re not ruling out that she might have met with foul play.”
Mrs Green’s daughter Penny, who was 14 when her mum vanished, has wrestled with what happened most of her life and said the circumstances meant she lost her teenage years.
Penny said she did not believe her mother would be found but understood why the work was necessary.
“Initially, you’re just waiting for her to come home,” Penny said. “You don’t want to think the worst but the whole thing is: ‘Why?’”
Penny said part of the reason police were searching was talk from her father installing an in-ground pool in the yard three years after the disappearance. But it made no sense a pool would be installed so long after her mother vanished to conceal her body, she said.
Mrs Green’s sister-in-law, Margaret Medcraft, believed all along she was murdered.
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Originally published as Backyard dig reveals no trace of missing woman Veronica Green