Julie Beyer was last seen in the Lavington
NSW area on 9 July 2004.
In 2004, Julie Beyer was working in NSW as a
legal secretary. Julie resigned and was planning to
move to Mackay, Queensland, where she had rented a
house. Julie had put some belongings in storage in
preparation for the move, but before she set out for
Queensland, she vanished while running an errand in her
car in Lavington.
Her car [a white Daewoo station wagon] was also never
found.
Police seek leads in missing woman
case
Posted
Tue Aug 4, 2009 7:00am AEST -
ABC
Albury police are using National Missing
Persons Week to renew calls to help find a missing local
woman.
Julie Anne Beyer, 47, left her Webb Street,
Lavington home on July 9, 2004.
She was last seen packing her belongings into her
white, Daewoo station wagon.
Albury police Inspector Tony Moodie says Ms Beyer's
family are anxious to find out where she is.
"Well the family are obviously concerned for her
welfare. For the police investigation we're not sure if
she's gone missing of her own accord or if there's been some
foul play involved in her being missing," he said.
"What we're after is information about her."
Beyer kept phone for missing mum
Cheating was not the reason evicted MasterChef
contestant Mat Beyer hid a mobile phone while on the
show.
The 24-year-old, from Melbourne, said his missing
mother was why he smuggled in a smartphone, and he
admitted he found it hard to cope being away from
his loved ones, the Herald
Sun reports.
Viewers were shown the anticipated boot-out last
night after news Beyer had been kicked off the show
leaked.
According to the Herald
Sun,
Australian Federal Police files show Mat's mother
Julie Beyer, who would have been 50 this year, was
last seen in Lavington, near Albury in NSW, in 2004
and has been registered missing ever since.
Beyer denies cheating, but accepted he broke the
rules, only because he was feeling emotionally
vulnerable.
"My mum is a missing person and when someone is a
missing person for seven years, she can potentially
be declared dead," Beyer said.
"I knew it was going to come up to Mother's Day and
then her birthday. I was feeling a bit emotionally
vulnerable and one 10-minute phone call a week
wasn't really cutting it."
As widely predicted, popular contestant Billy Law,
who was eliminated on Monday night's show, was
recalled to replace Beyer.
Matt Preston delivered the news to Beyer and the
other contestants after their latest challenge had
been revealed.
"Mat, you made a mistake," he confirms.
"You had use of a personal phone which is against
the rules of the competition. Because you have
broken the rule the fairest thing for all the
contestants and to yourself is to make an honourable
exit from the competition."
IT tech support worker Beyer admitted straight away
that he "did the wrong thing" and deserved to go.
"I feel really guilty. I did it as a rash decision,"
he said.
"I made a stupid mistake and I guess I'm paying for
it now.
"It wasn't to cheat. It wasn't to have one up over
the other contestants. I've just been really
struggling. I've been missing my girlfriend.
"I'll always regret bringing my phone, but I won't
regret coming on here. I know this is the best thing
I have ever done for myself."
Mat Beyer was told of his eviction by judge Matt
Preston.
*MasterChef* Mat: The day my mum disappeared
JUL 11, 2011 7:00AM Woman's Day
Mat Beyer explains how a painful family secret was
the real reason for keeping his mobile phone in the MasterChef house,
resulting in his early exit.
As contestant Mat Beyer left the MasterChef house
in disgrace, he had no regrets about the smartphone
scandal that engulfed him and made him “infamous” –
because Mat knew the real and deeply private reason
he needed a direct line to the outside world. On
Friday, July 9, 2004, when he was 16, his mother
Julie, 47, went missing from her home in Albury,
NSW, and was never seen again.
“She was a normal, everyday mum,” recalls Mat, who
was living in Melbourne with his father when his
mother vanished. Although Mat’s parents separated
when he was nine, the family remained close and in
constant contact. “I spoke to her every day. We were
so close. I was a mummy’s boy, totally. I loved my
mum – I still love her.”
Mat remembers his mother as a loving woman who was
content in her life, and who made fabulous burritos
and baked goods after shifts working as a dental
nurse or, in later years, in the office of a law
firm. In 2004, Julie was working in NSW as a legal
secretary but had resigned as she was excitedly
planning a move to Mackay in Queensland, where she
had rented a new home and had begun processing a new
lease. She had put some belongings in storage in
preparation for the move and the beginning of a
brand new start. But before she set out for
Queensland, she vanished while running an errand in
her car to Lavington, NSW.
“The last conversation we had was about the new
house she had found and how excited she was to
move,” Mat says. “Out of nowhere, she just
disappeared.” Mat and his father were forced to call
the police when Julie failed to answer her phone for
two days in a row, unusual behaviour for the
normally chatty redhead. “She just stopped answering
our calls, and eventually her phone switched itself
off,” Mat says. “Her bank account was never touched
again. Her car [a white Daewoo station wagon] was
never found. She never renewed her licence.”
Inquest hears missing woman probably dead
Updated June
28, 2012 14:15:21 - ABC
A coronial inquest in Albury has found a woman who went
missing almost eight years ago is likely to be dead.
Julie Beyer of Lavington was 43 when she was last seen by
her son packing her car at her home in July 2004.
There were various cash withdrawals from her account up
until September 10.
Deputy state coroner Paul MacMahon says thousands of
dollars remained in Ms Beyer's account after this last
transaction, indicating there was not a third party using
the account to drain her funds.
Mr MacMahon says it is likely Ms Beyer died while
travelling to the Northern Territory to meet her other son
in Katherine.
On the day Ms Beyer left Albury she had been discharged
from hospital where she was an involuntary patient being
treated for mental illness.
Mr MacMahon said if Ms Beyer was still alive, she would
have needed medication for her suspected schizophrenia.