`Tweety Bird' on right breast, `BlueBird' on left shoulder.
Last Heard:
Joanne Butterfield was last seen at 9am 24 June 1998, in Mossman, North Queensland. A few days after she went missing Joanne's dress, bag and passport were
found on a railway line 2 hours south of Mossman.
Joanne Butterfield went missing from her
Mossman home and was last seen at 9am on June 24, 1998.
At the time she went missing, Ms
Butterfield was described as being of Caucasian appearance,
37-years-old, 160cm tall, medium build with a fair complexion, blue eyes
and red hair.
Ms Butterfield would now be 51-years-old.
She has a ‘Tweety Bird’ tattoo on the
right side of her chest area and a ‘Bluebird’ tattoo on her left shoulder.
It has been 14-years since Joanne was last
seen and she may still be living in Far North Queensland.
Please take the time to let the police
know where she is.
Anyone with information which could
assist police with their investigations should contact Crime Stoppers
anonymously via 1800 333 000 or
www.crimestoppers.com.au
24hrs a day.
Police open cold case into hitchhiker Joanne Butterfield who vanished 23 years
ago
Two men could hold the key to solving the mysterious disappearance of a woman in
Far North Queensland more than two decades ago, police say.
Joanne Butterfield was 37 and living in the small town of Mossman, north of
Cairns, when she went missing in June, 1998.
She told friends she intended to hitchhike to Sydney and set off from a house at
Mowbray, near the Captain Cook Highway, about 7:00pm.
Three days later, her bag was found near a cane train railway track near
Innisfail and an envelope containing her Medicare card and bank cards posted
anonymously to her home.
Acting Detective Inspector Kevin Goan said police had reopened the cold case
following several new tip-offs that had been made to CrimeStoppers over the past
18 months concerning her disappearance.
"An inquest in September, 2014, found that Ms Butterfield had died shortly after
last being sighted on the 25th of June in 1988, that it was unlikely that she
had taken her own life and more probably that she was killed by a person or
persons unknown," Acting Detective Inspector Goan said.
"We suspect that she might have been collected in a vehicle and that her
personal belongings were discarded in that area."
Men could hold clues
Acting Detective Inspector Goan said they had begun re-interviewing people in
the Mossman area about Ms Butterfield's disappearance.
He said they were particularly interested in speaking to those with information
about two men.
"We have an interest in the two men who might have had recent dealings with
Joanne at that time in the Mossman area," he said.
Police also want to hear from anyone who may have seen a woman hitchhiking
between Port Douglas and the South Johnstone area between Thursday, June 5 and
Sunday, June 28, 1998.
They're also interested in speaking to anyone who travelled along Henderson
Drive, Pin Gin Hill and saw any cars or people near the lookout during those
dates.
Ms Butterfield was last seen wearing a short, black dress and black flat shoes
and is described as 160 centimetres tall with blue eyes and long auburn hair.
Acting Detective Inspector Goan said while it had been 23 years since Ms
Butterfield's disappearance, he was hopeful people would remember her.
"We have been in continued contact with Joanne's family and the ideal scenario
is that we can, with the public's assistance, recover Joanne's remains and give
some closure to the family by prosecuting those persons we suspect are
responsible for her disappearance," he said.
