Graham CRAIG aka McCRACKEN
Graham CRAIG aka McCRACKEN
Graham Craig, 33, born Graham McCracken, was last seen at a party at Coobowie Street, Broadbeach Waters Queensland on 15 July 1978. He left the party alone at about 3am driving his olive-green Datsun 240Z two door sedan, Queensland registration 219NFC. Graham’s direction of travel is unknown however at the time he lived at an address at Ferry Road, Southport. Graham and his Datsun sedan have never been located.
Anyone with information which may assist in locating the whereabouts of Graham Craig are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on their website or free call 1800 333 000.
A granddaughter has launched a final search to solve the 48-year mystery of Graham Craig’s disappearance after he vanished from a Gold Coast birthday party in 1978.
The family of missing Southport resident Graham Craig have begun a final search to solve the mystery of his disappearance almost 48 years ago.
The 33-year-old concreter, a popular player with the Broadbeach Cats AFL club, vanished after attending a friend’s 30th birthday party at Broadbeach Waters on July 15, 1978.
His granddaughter, Shannon McManus, 23, a Bond University honours graduate who specialised in psychology, has spent months investigating what occurred in the lead-up.
“It’s a challenging process, in trying to put together details from old reports. Some of my older relatives are still praying for answers,” she said.
Ms McManus has contacted police which led to detectives recently interviewing key witnesses, friends and relatives of Mr Craig.
“What I do know about my grandad is he was a good bloke who loved playing footy and
riding his motorcycle – plus having a drink and a catch-up with mates at the Broadbeach
Hotel,” Ms McManus said.
“He was living his best life on the Gold Coast — and then he just vanished.”
Coast crime writer Greg Fox, who has researched missing person cases, reached out to help Ms McManus after reading her post in January on a Facebook page.
“Most of these missing persons we tend to know about — but this one sort of slipped through the cracks,” Mr Fox said.
Ms McManus said she had begun her search 12 months ago because older family members did not have answers.
Mr Craig moved to the Coast from Melbourne in 1974 but remained a loving dad to two young daughters who would visit him.
Some relatives believed his disappearance from the Coast was to start a new life.
“That had just never really sit well with me. So it was always something I kind of found intriguing and also wanting answers for closure,” Ms McManus said.
The Bulletin, almost a month after Mr Craig disappeared from the party in Coobowie Street, ran a front-page story on him saying there were fears he had been killed.
The report said Mr Craig was last seen alive slumped over the steering wheel of his new car with the motor running and lights on.
He had only eight dollars with him and no extra clothes.
He had been suffering migraines but other than drinking at the party, those people there saw nothing unusual in his behaviour.
He drove off from the cul-de-sac about 3am leaving his long-term partner at the party.
A key witness speculated that Mr Craig may have been “hit over the head and killed for his new car” or buried in concrete at Pacific Fair where he had been working.
But detectives found no evidence to support those theories — their strongest suspicion was he may have lost control of the new Datsun 240Z and drove into a canal.
He could have been confused when leaving, took the wrong direction on Rio Vista Blvd, and instead of returning to Southport drove where the road then exited on a park fronting a canal.
His car could be in canals off Broadbeach Waters or Florida Gardens.
Police said a search of the waterways around Florida Gardens and Rio Vista areas at the time found nothing. A coronial inquest was held at Southport in 1990 and gave an open finding.
Ms McManus believes her grandfather, if alive, would have reached out to his mother, Mona Ida Craig, who lived at Varsity Lakes.
She died in July last year at the age of 101.
“I believe someone knows something. And it’s time they stepped up and unburdened themselves,” she said.
“When a person vanishes in this way the traumatic effects ripple into the following
generations. I do feel I am getting closer to figuring out what happened and I won’t stop until I find answers”.
A Facebook page called Missing: What happened to Graham Craig was started this week.