Twenty-seven years after 16-year-old Sunshine Coast girl Jessica Gaudie vanished, her sister is calling for a renewed search.
It was August 1999 when Burnside State High School Year 10 student Jessica disappeared from a babysitting job.
Derek Bellington Sam was convicted of her murder in 2001, but Jessica’s body has never been found, and Sam has never disclosed her location.
Her sister Tammy Gaudie now wants senior police and the state government to back a fresh review of the case, saying advances in technology and communication could provide new information.
Under current Queensland Police policy, a person remains listed as missing until they are sighted or their remains are located.
At the time, searches heavily focused on the 35,000ha Kenilworth Forest Reserve, near where Sam had worked at an Indigenous youth centre on Booloumba Creek Road.
He was a known horseman and tracker who knew the forest area well.
“He was always by himself in the bush tracking. He knew the place like the back of his hand,” Ms Gaudie told Sunshine Coast News.
“Back then, there were certain places that couldn’t be searched. Now, maybe with drones and different technology, something could be possible.”
Ms Gaudie said a professional tracker had recently offered to assist her privately, while other people had contacted her about using dogs trained to locate human remains.
She stressed her renewed call was not a criticism of the detectives who had investigated Jessica’s disappearance.
“They tried their best at the time,” she said.
“I still talk to the former detectives if I ever need to clarify anything, I can ask questions, and they are still there to help me.
“They are semi-retired and both moved on to new careers but they are still pretty important to us. They even came to my mum’s funeral.
“They did such a great job. Without them, we would have nothing.”
But Ms Gaudie said 1999 was also a different era.
Facebook and smartphones did not exist, and families did not have today’s social-media networks to circulate photographs and public appeals, quickly and widely.
In recent months, Jessica’s story has received renewed attention online, speared by The Treasured Stories Project, a national initiative of Australian charity Shine The Light Missing Persons Australia.
Season six of investigative podcast GUILT also examined Jessica’s case and the disappearances of Celena Bridge and Sabrina Ann Glassop, also from the Sunshine Coast.
Ms Gaudie hoped the increased media and online attention could trigger a memory for someone who has held onto information without realising its significance.
“I do believe somebody might know something and don’t know exactly what it is that they know,” she said.
“It can be the smallest thing. It’s that simple.”
Jessica had been babysitting Sam’s three children in Burnside on August 28, 1999.
Sam’s eldest daughter later told police she woke and saw her father arrive at the house in the early hours of the morning. Jessica went to the rear laundry door, where there was a muffled conversation, and after his vehicle drove away Jessica did not return to the room.
Sam subsequently admitted to police he had driven Jessica away in his Toyota LandCruiser.
He told investigators he had dropped her near the intersection of Bonney and Elizabeth streets, about 263m from a party he had attended.
But Jessica never arrived at the party and witnesses travelling through the relatively quiet area at that time did not see her.
Police examination of Sam’s LandCruiser also formed part of the circumstantial case against him. The vehicle had been thoroughly cleaned shortly before Jessica disappeared, but by Sunday there was mud on the bullbar and steering wheel and dirt and leafy material inside.
Police found no fingerprints, and the Court of Appeal noted Sam’s account of his movements did not explain the mud.
Presumptive tests also returned positive reactions for blood in numerous parts of the vehicle. However, the tests did not establish the material was Jessica’s blood and the court heard other substances, including animal blood, could produce a positive result.
The vehicle evidence was considered alongside a broader circumstantial case, including Sam being the last person known to have been with Jessica and giving differing accounts of what happened after he drove her from the house.
Sam was convicted of Jessica’s murder in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
He appealed his conviction, but on February 5, 2002, the Queensland Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Despite originally being eligible for parole in 2016, Sam remains in prison.
Queensland’s “no body, no parole” laws mean prisoners convicted of homicide can be blocked from parole if a victim’s remains have not been found and authorities are not satisfied they have cooperated in locating them.
For Ms Gaudie, finding Jessica cannot be separated from the two other long-running Sunshine Coast disappearances.
British backpacker Celena Bridge vanished after she was last seen on Booloumba Creek Road at Conondale in July 1998.
Kenilworth teacher aide Sabrina Ann Glassop disappeared in May 1999 and her car was later found at Little Yabba Creek.
Both cases remain unsolved.
A 2002 coronial inquest named Sam as a person of interest in both disappearances and in 2019 Detective Senior Sergeant Daren Edwards, who headed the cold-case investigation, described Sam as the “common denominator” in the Bridge and Glassop cases.
Sam has never been charged in relation to either disappearance and has denied involvement.
Want more free local news? Follow Sunshine Coast News on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up for our FREE daily news email.
Ms Gaudie said she had long believed the cases could be connected.
“I’ve always felt that if we can find one victim, we will most likely find all three,” she said.
For Ms Gaudie and her sister Kell, however, the most basic question remains unanswered: where is Jessica?
Anyone with information, regardless of how insignificant it might appear, should contact Crime Stoppers.
“Some people don’t feel comfortable going to the police,” Ms Gaudie said.
“The police aren’t going to make fun of you, though. They are going to listen. They might not think it’s plausible, but at least give them the information to listen and follow.
“It can be the smallest thing. It’s that simple.”
Crime Stoppers can be contacted anonymously on 1800 333 000.
