The Missing Australia podcast: Why it can take decades to solve a crime

Fear and deeply buried memories can lead to crimes remaining unsolved for decades – but it’s never too late to come forward and potentially help crack these cold cases.

The missing pieces that could solve an enduring cold case could take decades to surface, one of Australia’s leading criminologists said.

And those holding those pieces may not realise how crucial or significant that information could be.

“People process things at different times. They process information, they process trauma, they process fear at different stages so people will work through their emotions,” leading criminologist Dr Xanthe Mallett said.

Criminologist Xanthe Mallet said there are many reasons why people hold onto information.

“We see this with trauma all the time and that people will get to a point where they’re ready to share. They’re ready to talk, so that could happen. But it could be hours, weeks, months, years later – or never at all”.

While scientific breakthroughs can help investigators crack cold cases, Dr Mallett said the best crime fighting tool is people.

“We’ve got all sorts of science that helps crack cold cases but ultimately people crack cases – police or witnesses,” Dr Mallett said.

She said while some people may not realise how valuable their information is, others are fearful of getting involved.

“There can be a number of reasons for that – relationships break down, that’s a key one. So fear or some form of attachment or loyalty can stop people coming forward,” she said.

But when relationships change and alliances shift, people might decide to come forward without the fears they previously had.

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“It’s not because they don’t sympathise with other potential victims,” she said.

“It’s just because they manage it the way … for their best psychological benefit. And it’s a very personal thing.”

In some cases the offender’s behaviour escalated over time into something more serious, for example lower level criminal behaviour like flashing to attacking someone. For many people knowing they got close to something awful was hard to process.

“They want to kind of disassociate from that – in a way you don’t want to acknowledge you were that close to something so serious or violent or awful happening. So it can take people years or forever to kind of make that leap to be able to come forward and share that information,” she said.

In the first episode of the The Missing Australia podcast, a woman reveals her fear she was stalked by the men who would then abduct Gordana Kotevski.

It comes as Meni Caroutas opens up about why he started The Missing Australia podcast series.

SEND YOUR TIPS AND QUESTIONS TO MENI CAROUTAS HERE