Ian and Cheryl Antonio met with police at the dump early this morning to discuss the delicate operation and are optimistic about the dig.

“We met up with (Mackay Detective Inspector) Nikki Colfs out at the rubbish dump this morning and she explained a bit more of what they’re doing and how they’re going about it,” Mr Antonio said.

“We haven’t got our hopes up high at all, we are well and truly prepared that it is a longshot, but as one bloke said, if the body is there, they’ll find it.

“We can only hope, it’s a longshot … with the forensic scientists that are around today and the technology, they’ve been digging up old clothing and old things they’re going to get the barcodes off of things to try and date it that’s where they’re at, at the moment.”

He said the family had always thought Rachel might be at the dump and were glad the police were looking into their long held belief.

“Originally we thought if her body was at the dump it would have been very deep, like 60 metres deep, but then when Hughie (Hugh Smith the former tip manager in 1998) looked at his diaries he found out that it wasn’t as deep as he thought it was.

“We felt pretty good that there was a chance we might find something, that’s the last place we’ve got to look.

“We’ve looked everywhere else, there’s not a place we haven’t looked in Bowen, we have spent years and years and years, searching every square inch of Bowen.”

Mr Antonio said the couple want to find out what happened to their daughter, give her the burial she deserves and try to move on with their lives.

“We want to find out what happened to Rachel as much as anyone else wants to find out and they’re doing it.

“We could get on with life again (if we could bury Rachel), and get living again, that’s what we need to do, we need to put it behind us and we can’t put it behind us at the moment.”

Earlier, forensic crews are scouring a section of the Bowen dump in an attempt to locate material from 1998, the same year schoolgirl Rachel Antonio went missing.

At this point police are calling it an exploratory dig, in a section of “interest”, to gain an insight into what the waste of the time currently looks like.

Police began the dig early this morning, using a backhoe, along a pond in the Bowen dump, digging out a trench in a section that is believed to have held rubbish from that era.

Forensic officers are then painstakingly sifting through the waste, to try and find indications of rubbish from 1998.

Mackay Detective Inspector Nikkie Colfs said the dig comes on the back of maps received from a worker who previously worked at the site, but wanted to make it clear, they weren’t searching for remains.

“We’re not actually looking for anything at this stage, it’s an exploratory examination around the age of the refuse during that time that Rachel Antonio went missing,” Det Insp Colfs said.

“We have a scientific officer here that is gauging the age of the actual rubbish and that will be done through a whole heap of different scientific examinations.

“It (further digs) will depend on what they find, how long the refuse has been here, whether the refuse (has) decontaminated through the last years.”

Det Insp Colfs could not say whether there would be any further digs down the track, but said they would await the examination of the forensic officers following today’s findings.

“At this stage we’re not looking at any further locations, at the end of the examination today, scientific officers will provide us with some information and we will have a look at that information that’s given to us.

At this stage I can’t tell you if there will be further digs, what I can tell you is at the end of the exploratory examination we will have much more of an insight in what that’s actually produced.

She said police had spoken with Rachel Antonio’s parents about their dig and this would not be the final step in their near two decade search for her body.

“They’ve (Rachel’s parents) actually been advised of what’s occurring today, they’re happy that police are conducting these examinations.

Officers were this morning using a drone to survey the dump. The exploratory dig will attempt to verify that rubbish in a specific location is from the period when Rachel disappeared.

Rachel, a 16-year-old lifesaver, vanished on Anzac Day in 1998 after her mother dropped her off at the local cinema.

She is believed to have been murdered and her disappearance is one of Queensland’s highest profile investigations.

Today’s dig comes after a Courier-Mail podcast series revealed former tip manager Hugh Smith had kept detailed diaries of where he put the town’s rubbish at the time Rachel disappeared.

Mr Smith was able to give police a hand-drawn map leading them to the site of today’s dig.

Rachel’s parents, Ian and Cheryl Antonio, believe their daughter’s body was left in a skip bin because of the short amount of time available to hide her.

Detective Inspector Nikki Colfs said 10 officers, including forensic officers from Brisbane, would be on the one-day exploratory dig.

“We will endeavour to undertake a scientific evaluation of the refuse and the environmental conditions that were present in 1998,” Insp. Nikki Colfs said.

“The Antonio family deserve to know what happened to Rachel, and the Queensland Police Service remains committed to finding her,” Insp. Colfs said.

Mrs Antonio said she and her husband were glad police were beginning their search of the tip. “It’s good news,” she said.

“I think if they find anything, they’ll go back to the drawing board and make a new plan.”

Mrs Antonio said they would not travel to the tip for tomorrow’s exploratory dig, but would wait by the phone for news. “It doesn’t get any easier,” she said.

“It would be great if we could find her, give her a funeral, put her to rest.

“It would mean so much to us.”

Mr Hytch is appealing the coroner’s findings and has long denied any involvement in Rachel’s disappearance.

A shirt he wore on the night she disappeared — when his movements cannot be verified for a period of 30 minutes — has never been found and is among items police would seek to recover from any search.

Rachel’s parents, Ian and Cheryl, believe her killer could have hidden her body in a skip bin.

But experts have told police there would be no value in a dig at the dump because acidity levels are too high.

The 16-year-old schoolgirl vanished on Anzac Day after her mother dropped her at the cinema. A coroner last year ruled that it was likely Bowen Surf Life Saving Club captain Robert Hytch killed Rachel during an altercation and hid her body.

Mr Hytch was 25 at the time and had been in a secret relationship with the teen. He has always maintained his innocence and has asked for the coroner’s findings to be reviewed.

In July, police undertook an exploratory dig at the tip – which was not searched at the time of Rachel’s disappearance – in an attempt to date the rubbish as being from the right period. It involved 10 officers, including forensics specialists from Brisbane, and heavy machinery.

But The Sunday Mail can revealthere are no plans to explore the site further after police were told a further dig would be very costly and was unlikely to lead to the discovery of any remains due to high acidity levels.

“The Antonio family deserve to know what happened to Rachel, and the Queensland Police Service remains committed to finding her,” Detective Inspector Nikki Colfs said at the time.

A further blow to the search came when Det Insp Colfs was stood down from the QPS over an unrelated internal investigation.

Ian Antonio yesterday said the family was not surprised there wouldn’t be any further searching.

“Really, there’s not much they can do,” he said. “It’s disappointing, but we worked out that if she’s there, she would be 60m deep.

“If there was anywhere else to search, we’d be there digging tomorrow.”

Mr Antonio said the family’s focus was now on the outcome of Mr Hytch’s application to review the coroner’s findings about Rachel’s disappearance.

“This is never-ending for us,” he said. “How long is it going to go on for? Everyone is broken hearted for us.

“Really, all we want is the truth.

“I would have him go scot-free for the truth.”

Rachel Antonio’s ‘likely’ killer wants inquest findings overturned

THE man a coroner concluded was probably responsible for the disappearance and death of 16-year-old Rachel Antonio is trying to have the record scrubbed.

A MAN found likely responsible for the death of missing teenager Rachel Antonio wants the Supreme Court to overturn the findings of an inquest.

The inquest was held under the 2003 Coroners Act but Mr Rice has told Justice Peter Applegarth it should have been conducted under the previous iteration of the act, which was from 1958.

“There was jurisdictional error from the outset,” he said.

Further, Mr Rice argued, the coroner’s findings were not reasonable, based upon the evidence heard during the inquest.

Rachel vanished after her mother dropped her off at a Bowen cinema on Anzac Day, 1998.

An inquest into her disappearance was held after former surf lifesaver Robert Hytch was acquitted of her manslaughter at a retrial in 2001.

The coroner found Ms Antonio was in a clandestine sexual relationship with Mr Hytch, despite his repeated denials.

The teenager died after a physical altercation with Mr Hytch on the night she went missing, with a “fake pregnancy” possibly causing him to become enraged, Mr O’Connell found.

However, the coroner was unable to conclude the exact cause of Ms Antonio’s death or where her body was.

“Ultimately I cannot determine what Mr Hytch did with Rachel’s body unless her remains are located,” Mr O’Connell said.

Last July forensic police searched a tip at Bowen looking for the teenager’s remains.

Police have offered a $250,000 reward for information that leads to the recovery of Ms Antonio’s remains and investigations are ongoing.

The hearing continues before Justice Applegarth.

Rachel Antonio: ‘Secret boyfriend’ has 28 days to appeal court ruling on coroner’s findings

HE has fought every step of the way to clear his name. Now the ex-boyfriend of slain schoolgirl Rachel Antonio has just 28 day left.

THE clock is ticking on how long Robert Hytch has to appeal the bombshell ruling that upheld findings that he is the likely killer of Queensland schoolgirl Rachel Antonio.

But it was later overturned and in June 2001 he was acquitted following a retrial at Townsville Supreme Court.

Fifteen years later, Coroner David O’Connell found Rachel had been in a sexual relationship with Mr Hytch — despite his denials — and died after an altercation with him.

He also found Mr Hytch then likely hid and disposed of her body. Police excavated the Bowen tip in search of her remains last year, but failed to find any clues.

Mr Hytch’s team also claimed the evidence did not meet the standards of proof. But Coroner David O’Connell’s findings were upheld in the Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday when Mr Hytch’s application was dismissed.

Justice Peter Applegarth found Mr O’Connell applied the appropriate standard of proof and had jurisdiction to investigate Rachel’s death under the 2003 Act. “He diligently evaluated a large body of circumstantial evidence, including evidence which was not available to the juries at either of the applicant’s criminal trials,” he said in his judgment.

Justice Applegarth said Mr O’Connell was aware of the fact a “high degree of satisfaction” was required before he could make the findings against Mr Hytch. He also acknowledged Mr Hytch had lied about the nature of his relationship with the girl along with details about his car breaking down.

“A reasonable decision-maker in the coroner’s position was entitled to reject key aspects of the applicant’s evidence, and to conclude that the applicant gave deliberately false evidence,” he said.

Justice Applegarth also found Mr O’Connell had used enough evidence to support each of his findings.

“Each finding had an evident and intelligible justification,” he said. “Each finding was one which a reasonable decision-maker could reach on the evidence which the coroner accepted.”

Rachel faked a pregnancy with Mr Hytch to get back at him for having sex with someone else, the inquest was told. Around the time she was last seen alive, Mr Hytch left his brother’s 18th birthday party and had no one to corroborate his whereabouts for about half an hour. When he returned he was not wearing his Nike shirt. Tiny drop of Rachel’s blood were later found on his sandals.

People on the Rachel Antonio Facebook page begged for information that would see her body returned to her family after two decades of torment.

“Rachel deserves justice,” one person wrote. “He needs to give up fighting, admit his wrongs and show her family her location,” another implored.

Rachel Antonio: Secret diary may bring closure to family of missing schoolgirl