Dear Rachelle investigation: Rachelle Childs’ chilling phone call on day she vanished

New details have emerged about a phone call Rachelle Childs made hours before she was murdered. Listen to the new bonus podcast episode.

The chief suspect in Rachelle Childs’ murder allegedly gave a former security guard associate unsolicited advice about “how to lie” to get out of trouble.

It can also be revealed that Rachelle, 23, was driving to get a car radio fixed when she called her nail technician for an urgent appointment, just hours before her burning body was found at a coastal town, south of Sydney, in the early hours of June 8, 2001.

The security guard, known only as Brett for the purpose of this report, hadn’t done many shifts with Kevin Steven Correll, an RSA marshall, before they were rostered on together at a busy club in December 2024.

Brett told the Dear Rachelle podcast team that a patron with mental health issues entered the club and started telling stories. When the patron walked away, Mr Correll said to Brett: “He’s lying … when people lie, they subconsciously look to the left.”

Kevin Steven Correll, a key suspect in the murder of Rachelle Childs. Picture: Julian Andrews

Mr Correll said his supposed work in psychology taught him how “to lie and get away with” it, and advised Brett to “keep the details short and simple, never over exaggerate”.

He said such techniques had helped get him out of traffic fines.

Brett described the conversation as “very strange”.

LISTEN TO THE NEW BONUS INVESTIGATION UPDATE BELOW:

It comes as fresh details about Rachelle’s final hours can be revealed.

Nail salon owner Wendy Shanahan told the podcast team that Rachelle had wanted to get a full set of acrylic nails on the afternoon she died, calling her at about 2.30pm on June 7.

Fresh details about Rachelle Childs’ final hours have been revealed.

Wendy recalled there was urgency around the appointment, likely because Rachelle was going out that evening or sometime over the upcoming Queen’s birthday long-weekend.

“I said I could fit her in at 3.30, but she wouldn’t be back from Belmore … and she was really disappointed, she was like ‘I really wanted to get my nails done’, and I told her I couldn’t fit her in because I just booked out until nine o’clock that night,” Wendy said.

“Usually she’d want them done because she was going out.”

Nail salon owner Wendy Shanahan took a call from Rachelle Childs hours before her body was found. Picture: Supplied

LISTEN TO THE LATEST DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW:

During that conversation, Rachelle didn’t say what her plans for the weekend were. She made an appointment for 9am the following morning, on June 8, but never turned up.

“God I wish I’d squeezed her in and had a good old chat and found out. I really wish I did, but no, I couldn’t squeeze her in,” Wendy said.

Murdered Bargo woman Rachelle Childs’ burning body was found at Gerroa on June 8 in 2001.

She explained Rachelle had previously been upfront about how her colleagues at Camden Holden had warned her about their “sleazy” boss Mr Correll – the man who would go on to become the main suspect in her death – but she paid no attention because he was like a “father figure” to her.

Mr Correll strongly denies any wrongdoing, says he has always co-operated with police, and has never been charged.

A coronial inquest into Rachelle’s death in 2006 failed to identify her killer, and delivered an open finding.

LISTEN TO EARLIER DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW:

Wendy approached police about the last phone call she had with Rachelle. Detectives went to her house, but she was never asked to make a formal statement.

Her version of events has filled in key points about Rachelle’s movements on the day she died, including what she was doing in the hours before she vanished.

Wendy was shocked and devastated when she found out Rachelle’s body had been discovered by the roadside in Gerroa – about 100km from her home.

Her killer has never been caught.

“She used to tell me everything,” Wendy said.

“She told me she was being told to be wary of the [manager at Camden Holden, Kevin Correll] by other employees, I’m assuming. But she looked at him as a father figure.”

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.

Originally published as Dear Rachelle investigation: Rachelle Childs’ chilling phone call on day she vanished