Hayward family wants missing persons laws changed to allow for grieving
THE family of missing woman Rebecca Hayward has been unable to hold Sorry Business and grieve because the investigation remains open, says her older brother Eric Hayward
Crime and Court
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THE family of missing woman Rebecca Hayward is caught in a state of limbo as long as the investigation into her disappearance stays open, says her older brother Eric Hayward.
He said because Ms Hayward is listed as missing, they have been unable to hold ceremonies and sorry business.
Ms Hayward, a mother to three young children, touched down in Alice Springs on New Year’s Day 2017 to see family.
That night she left the Gillen house at 8pm and never returned.
The last time she was seen was at 8am on January 2, 2017, by a passing motorist on the Stuart Highway 15km north of Alice Springs.
As well as calling for an inquest, as reported in the NT News on Monday, Mr Hayward wants to see missing person’s cases that have gone cold to automatically be sent to the coroner’s office.
“How long do you have to wait until the investigators say, ‘well let’s hand it over to the coroner’s office to determine a resolution’,” he said.
“At what point does the system go ‘maybe we need to determine what happened’.”
A spokesman for Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said there were no plans to make this change but would seek further advice from police and the Department of Attorney-General and Justice.
A police spokeswoman said they had spoken to the family of Ms Hayward.
“NT Police will submit a report to the coroner once all lines of inquiry are exhausted,” she said.
Mr Hayward said the family wanted to put his sister to rest.
“My sister is still here and we can’t let her go, we need to conduct our business and move on,” he said.
“Police need to complete their investigation. I want to know why it hasn’t been completed given they have so little to go on in the first place.”
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