Retired judge doubts missing Bronwyn Winfield would have left her young children

A retired Family Court judge says it was improbable that missing Lennox Head woman Bronwyn Winfield would have ‘walked out’ from her children | LISTEN

Bronwyn Winfield was last seen at her Lennox Head, NSW, home in 1993.

The likelihood of a mother such as missing Lennox Head woman Bronwyn Winfield walking out on her children and never getting in touch with them again was improbable, according to a retired Family Court judge.

Former Queensland and West Australian Family Court judge Brian Jordan, who also had experience in criminal law, said his two decades on the bench taught him that parents would “go to the brink” to maintain contact with their kids.

“It’s an instinctive thing, this bond with their children, that they find impossible to let go,” he told The Australian’s Bronwyn podcast.

“In the course of hearing cases for 20 years, I did hear a number of experts giving evidence about the bond between parents and their children.

“In particular – and I know there is some controversy about this – the bond between mother, biological mother, and young children, is extremely strong.

“It’s what enables parents … mothers, to almost invariably put their own lives ahead of those of their children if it comes to those sorts of terrible choices.”

Now retired Family Law Court judge Brian Jordan in 1994. Picture: Simon Renilson

Bronwyn Winfield, then 31, for all intents and purposes appeared to be one of those mothers.

She disappeared from her home in Sandstone Crescent, Lennox Head, a seaside village on the NSW far north coast, in mid-May 1993.

She was at the time separated from her husband, who later told police his wife had expressed a desire for a short break from the relationship. He said that late on Sunday, May 16, she was picked up at the house by a person unknown and driven away. She has not been seen since that night.

In the lead-up to her disappearance, Bronwyn had engaged solicitors and was on the verge of a potential custody and property dispute with Mr Winfield. Police investigating her case years later said at that time she was about to seek sole custody of her two daughters.

Bronwyn was mother to Chrystal (from a previous relationship), then 10, and Lauren, then 5, her child with Mr Winfield. Family and friends confirmed to police that Bronwyn was an adoring mother and lived and breathed for her daughters.

They said everything she did was for her children.

Mr Jordan previously gave expert opinion on Hedley Thomas’s global hit podcast The Teacher’s Pet, about the disappearance of mother of two Lyn Simms (formerly Dawson) from Sydney’s northern beaches in January 1982. Her husband, footballer and teacher Chris Dawson, was convicted of her murder in 2022.

Mr Jordan offered a word of caution in relation to the Bronwyn podcast. “You’ve got to be mindful of the trap,” he said.

“You’ve been vindicated, Your instincts were right. Your investigations were central to the eventual successful prosecution of that man. Doesn’t guarantee you’re infallible on another matter that you’re pursuing, does it? So caution is always required in these sorts of matters.”

Mr Jordan told Thomas in The Teacher’s Pet podcast: “As soon as you mentioned that she (Lyn) left her four-year-old and two-year-old daughters, who she had difficulty with conceiving those children and was a devoted and dedicated mother, my ears pricked up and I started paying attention.

‘It’s not a conclusive piece of evidence but it’s a compelling piece of circumstantial evidence.

“A wife, to suddenly, without any prior indication of intention to do so, to walk out of the lives of her two children, to never see them again, never inquire about them again, is just an inherently improbable proposition.”

Bronwyn had been renting a small flat for herself and her daughters after her break-up with Mr Winfield in March 1993, but decided to move back into the family home while Mr Winfield was working in Sydney.

Mr Winfield flew back to Lennox Head when he heard Bronwyn had reoccupied the house. She disappeared that night and has never been seen or heard from since.

Mr Winfield has always strenuously denied any involvement in the disappearance of Bronwyn and has never been charged in relation to the case of his missing wife. They had been married for 5½ years when she went missing.

Mr Jordan, a qualified Family Law Mediator, built his reputation on fairness and respect for all parties and the processes of the court.

He told the podcast that his personal experience as a father and the years he spent as a family lawyer listening to expert opinions led him to conclude that a mother who had dedicated her life to her kids was unlikely to just walk away.

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