$100K reward offered in Vaughan case

December 8th 2008 - ABC

A $100,000 reward is being offered for information about the disappearance of a Bathurst woman in central western New South Wales.

Janine Vaughan vanished seven years ago and police believe she met with foul play.

Police Minister Tony Kelly says the 31-year-old was last seen entering a red vehicle in Keppel Street, Bathurst, on December 7, 2001.

The State Government has now announced a reward in the case.

"Police are interested in any information that will lead to the discovery of Ms Vaughan's whereabouts or the disclosure of the tragic circumstances of her disappearance," he said.

"Ms Vaughan's family deserves the closure of knowing what has happened to their daughter."

Mr Kelly said investigators hope the significant reward will encourage someone in the community to come forward with something that they might know, even after seven years.

"Of course memories fade, but we hope that this significant reward will encourage someone to remember something that might assist the police with their investigation," he said.

"Anyone with information, however insignificant, should contact police."

The Member for Bathurst, Gerard Martin, welcomed the Government's offer of a reward and encouraged anybody with information to come forward.

"It may not seem like much, but if anybody has any piece of information, however small, it could prove to be the vital link police need to find out what happened to Janine Vaughan," he said.

An inquest will be held into the disappearance of Ms Vaughan next June

Inquest to probe woman's nightclub disappearance

June 22nd 2009 - ABC

The family of a woman who disappeared from outside a nightclub in 2001 say they are hoping to finally get some answers at a coronial inquest, which begins today.

31-year-old Janine Vaughan was last seen by her friends getting into a red car after a night out in Bathurst, in the New South Wales central west.

Police have been unable to find any trace of her since.

Strikeforce Mountbatten was formed to investigate the case in 2006, while the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) looked at how the original investigation was handled.

The PIC found that the Detective Inspector in charge of the case, Paul Jacobs, failed to properly investigate claims that a local policeman, Brad Hosemans, had an association with Ms Vaughan.

It also found that there was no reliable evidence linking Brad Hosemans to her disappearance.

This week, several members of Ms Vaughan's family have travelled to Bathurst, from the Upper Hunter Valley, to appear as witnesses at the inquest before Coroner Mary Jerram.

Her sister Kylie Curnuck says there is a sense of urgency to know what happened, as her mother is terminally ill.

"We're sort of going in there with mixed emotions as to what's going to come out of this," she said.

"We know that it's not going to be the result that we want but we want some answers."

Ms Curnuck says she wants the person responsible to come forward.

"We've lived through the other side of the eight years of not knowing where she is...this person, he or she, knows where Janine is and what happened that night."

Coroner to re-trace missing woman's last steps

June 22nd 2009 - ABC

The Coroner and witnesses in the inquest into a woman's disappearance eight years ago will retrace her final steps tonight.

Thirty-one-year-old Janine Vaughan was last seen outside a nightclub at Bathurst, in central western New South Wales, in December 2001.

At 7pm AEST, her last known movements will be re-traced - with the lighting in the streets and nearby park being dimmed to recreate what it would have looked like the night she went missing.

The inquest has been shown CCTV footage of Janine Vaughan leaving a hotel on the night she disappeared.

It has also heard that she was last seen walking along Keppel Street, Bathurst, before getting in to a red car.

The inquest has found no link between her disappearance and a former police officer who worked on the case.

Former Detective Sergeant Brad Hosemans has been listed as a person of interest Janine Vaughan's disappearance.

The inquest has heard statements from her family, claiming the 31-year-old told them she had seen him walk past the shop where she worked and at times waved to her.

Giving evidence, Detective Inspector Peter Houlihan also told the inquest some witnesses recall Janine Vaughan had expressed concerns about Mr Hosemans' actions towards her.

These concerns are alleged to have been written in a diary which has never been found.

Brad Hosemans has denied knowing or having any connection with Janine Vaughan.

Family appeal

As the inquest got underway, members of Janine Vaughan's family renewed calls for whoever is responsible for her disappearance, to come forward.

Outside the court, Janine's brother Adam Vaughan appealed for anyone with information to directly contact the family.

"Send a letter, make a phone call or come and see us it's that easy. Really we just want her home," he said.

The inquest has been set down for three weeks.

Officer danced with missing woman

TERRY JONES - JUNE 24 2009 - 10:45PM - Western Advocate
OFF duty police had been at a Bathurst hotel, one of them dancing with Janine Vaughan the night she vanished without a trace eight years ago.

Sergeant Andrew Holland told the inquest into Ms Vaughan’s disappearance and possible murder on Tuesday that he and other police from Lithgow Police Station had been dining out on the night of Thursday, December 6, 2001.

Sergeant Holland said he had lived in Bathurst but worked in Lithgow after his marriage to another police officer working in Bathurst had broken up in September, 2001.

On the night Sergeant Holland said he and five or six police from Lithgow had come to Bathurst to dine at the Golf Club before attending The Oxford Hotel from about 11pm when Ms Vaughan was drinking at the same hotel. “I didn’t know Janine Vaughan,” Sergeant Holland said. “But she was sitting nearby. We met her, she was a very attractive, single woman. We had a conversation at the bar and danced two or three songs.”

Sergeant Holland told Counsel Assisting State Coroner, Mary Jerram, Chris Ronalds how friends of Ms Vaughan arrived and she decided to go to another hotel, his group had also decided they would go to the Metro Nightclub.

Asked whether all six had gone Sergeant Holland said three or four at least. He had walked in and out of the Metro.

Sergeant Holland said he had seen Janine Vaughan in The Metro dancing with other girls. He had been above the dance floor and did not speak nor dance again with Ms Vaughan.

Sergeant Holland said that when he left Ms Vaughan was still there. He also told Ms Ronalds he knew Bradley Hosemans, who had been a person of interest but had since been cleared of involvement in the disappearance of Ms Vaughan. They had played golf and socialised together, Sergeant Holland said.

Mr Hosemans had not been in their group that night, Sergeant Holland told Ms Ronalds. He had not seen Mr Hosemans at The Metro that night. However, Sergeant Holl-and said he had attended the Bathurst Golf Club on the night Mr Hosemans who was a Detective Sergeant had been involved in an incident with a female bar attendant.

[The incident led to Mr Hosemans being charged and appearing before the court in a case that led to the Commissioner of Police dismissing Mr Hosemans].

Sergeant Holland said that when he heard Ms Vaughan had disappeared he made a statement to Strike Force Toko detectives because it was a case of “police being at the scene.”

Nightclub staff heard man brag about killing

June 24th 2009 - ABC

An inquest has been told that a man was overheard in a nightclub claiming he had killed someone, just weeks after the disappearance of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan.

The 31-year-old vanished after getting into a small red car in Bathurst city centre on December 7 2001.

A former security guard at Bathurst's Metro Tavern, Barry Gale, said a patron at the club had been heard talking about how he had recently killed someone.

Mr Gale has told the inquest that he and the other staff were not sure if the story was true, but when they reported it to police, he said they did not want to know about it.

When asked by the counsel assisting the coroner if he knew the name of the man, Mr Gale replied "no, not at the time, but I do know."

Woman stalked

Earlier the inquest heard that a woman was stalked by a man in a car similar to the one Janine Vaughan was last seen getting into.

Lynette Borland has told the inquest that she had been walking through Bathurst CBD early on December 7 2001, when a little red car began following her.

Giving evidence, Ms Borland said she knew she was in trouble and that this person was up to something.

She told the inquest she cannot remember the make or model of the vehicle, but she gave a brief description of the driver.

The inquest has also heard that Ms Vaughan lost her handbag the night she went missing.

Police urge Vaughan caller to phone back

Posted Wed Jul 29, 2009

Detectives investigating the disappearance of former Muswellbrook woman Janine Vaughan have been contacted by an anonymous man.

Ms Vaughan, 31, vanished in Bathurst nearly eight years ago.

Officers from Strikeforce Mountbatten will be back in Bathurst today.

They are using their visit to appeal to an anonymous caller who contacted their Sydney office to ring again.

The man spoke to investigators three weeks ago and he and his female friend are being urged to call back to discuss the information disclosed.

Ms Vaughan has not been seen since getting into a small, red car in the city centre in 2001.

The inquest into her disappearance is due to resume at the Bathurst court in September.

Janine Vaughan inquest continues

Posted Mon Sep 14, 2009 - ABC

A coronial inquest into the disappearance and suspected death of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan resumes today.

Ms Vaughan, 31, vanished after getting into a small red car after a night out in central Bathurst, in central western New South Wales, in December 2001.

The inquest last sat in June where it heard from a woman who said she was stalked by a man in a car similar to that Ms Vaughan was last seen getting into.

A former nightclub security guard also told the inquest in the weeks after her disappearance he overheard a man claiming he had killed someone.

Following those hearings, an anonymous caller contacted detectives from Strikeforce Mountbatten who returned to Bathurst in July for further investigations.

The inquest resumes today in the Bathurst Courthouse before state coroner Mary Jerram, and is set down for two weeks.

Vaughan inquest told blood-stained knife destroyed

Posted Tue Sep 15, 2009 - ABC

The inquest into the disappearance of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan has heard a blood-stained knife found in the Bathurst area was destroyed without further analysis.

The second week of the inquest before coroner Mary Jerram has resumed at the Bathurst Courthouse, in central western New South Wales, after it last sat in June.

Senior Sergeant Noel Paine has told the inquest that shortly after the 31-year-old, formerly of Muswellbrook, vanished in 2001, a knife was discovered in a nursing home driveway in nearby Kelso.

The inquest heard it had apparent blood stains, had hairs attached to it and was to be checked to see if was related to Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

When asked by counsel assisting the coroner, Chris Ronalds, what happened to the knife, Senior Sergeant Paine told the court he had later been informed it was never resubmitted for further analysis and destroyed.

Ms Vaughan was last seen getting into a small red car during a night out in the Bathurst city centre.

The police investigation into Ms Vaughan's disappearance will be scaled back next week regardless of the coroner's recommendations.

The head of Strikeforce Mountbatten, Detective Inspector Peter Houlahan, says several people have contacted officers in recent months with fresh information, but it has not provided any new leads.

He says police will still work on the case, but not full-time.

"There won't be a dedicated strikeforce continually working on ... the investigation as it is at this present time," he said.

"However, if information does come to light it will be fed onto us and we will exhaust those lines of enquiries again.

"Obviously there is some person out there who knows a little bit more, but whether that person is still in the local area, we don't know."

Closure

Meanwhile, Ms Vaughan's brother says the final week of the inquest into her disappearance is the hardest yet.

Adam Vaughan says it is difficult returning to the city and the family is looking for closure.

"I think it's a little bit more tough this time," he said.

"We know that it's going to be all over and we won't be coming back so hopefully something may come out while we [are] here, but everybody seems to keep together and ... this town holds a lot of secrets and we would hopefully like them to share them, but we don't really know."

Vaughan inquest hears doubt over alleged 'kill confession'

Posted Wed Sep 16, 2009 -ABC

An acquaintance and former girlfriend of a man who allegedly admitted killing missing Bathurst woman, Janine Vaughan, have told an inquest in central western New South Wales, they questioned whether he was telling the truth.

Coroner Mary Jerram has heard from 12 witnesses this week, including an acquaintance of Denis Briggs, who police initially identified as a person of interest.

Peter Barker met Mr Briggs about four months after the 31-year-old, formerly of Muswellbrook, vanished.

He told the inquest, when Mr Briggs confessed to stabbing Ms Vaughan to death, he told him he buried her body at an area known as White Rocks.

He said Mr Briggs' "eyes were fixed ... like he was reliving something".

But Mr Barker said he was not sure whether Mr Briggs was "making it up".

Mr Briggs later told him "he was only joking".

Julie Creave also testified. She said she knew her former partner had not taken his medication for bipolar disorder at the time he allegedly confessed to the killing and she did not always believe things he said when he did not take the medication.

Five more witnesses are due to give evidence on the eighth day of the coronial inquiry.

Detective Acting Inspector Guy Flaherty from Strikeforce Mountbatten is among four police officers who are due to testify today.

He will be providing an update of what has been happening as part of investigations since the inquest last sat in June.

The inquest continues in the Bathurst Courthouse.

'Persons of interest' face Vaughan inquest

Posted Thu Sep 17, 2009 - ABC

Three men named as persons of interest in the case of missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan are due to give evidence at the inquest into her disappearance today.

Andrew Donald Grant Jones, Denis James Briggs and Bradley Hosemans are the final three witnesses to testify at the inquest in central western New South Wales.

Each have been named by police as persons of interest in the investigation into the disappearance eight years ago of Ms Vaughan, formerly of Muswellbrook.

Since the inquest opened in June, coroner Mary Jerram has heard evidence from other witnesses about the men's alleged connection to the 31-year-old.

Mr Jones drove a red car, which has similar dimensions to the vehicle Ms Vaughan was last seen getting into, while Mr Briggs allegedly confessed to killing her before later denying it.

Mr Hosemans briefly dated Ms Vaughan before she went missing.

The inquest continues.

Janine Vaughan inquest: Hosemans denies contact

Posted Thu Sep 17, 2009 - ABC

A witness at the inquest into the disappearance of Janine Vaughan has denied having contact with the Bathurst woman before she vanished.

Bradley George Hosemans is the last person to testify at the inquest before Coroner Mary Jerram.

When asked by counsel assisting the coroner, Chris Ronalds, if he had picked up Janine Vaughan in a red car the night she went missing, her replied, no m'am, I did not.

He also denied knowing what happened to the 31-year-old after December 7 2001.

Mr Hosemans also told the inquest, that he never had any dates with Janine Vaughan, or sent her flowers.

Andrew Donald Grant Jones and Denis James Briggs each entered the witness box, but each on legal advice objected to giving evidence.

The inquest continues.

Janine Vaughan inquest wraps up

Posted Mon Sep 21, 2009 - ABC

The inquest into the disappearance of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan will close today.

State coroner Mary Jerram is due to hand down her findings and recommendations after hearing evidence from 36 witnesses since the inquest first sat at Bathurst courthouse, in central western New South Wales, in June.

No trace of the 31-year-old has ever been found, despite extensive police investigations.

Ms Vaughan was last seen getting into a small, red car during a night out with friends in Bathurst eight years ago.

Strikeforce Mountbatten, which is investigating the case, will be scaled back from today regardless of the coroner's recommendations.

Coroner admits no answers on cold case murder

Posted Mon Sep 21, 2009 - ABC

A coroner has ruled that Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan, who disappeared nearly eight years ago, was murdered by an unidentified person.

The 31-year-old has not been seen since getting into a small car during a night out with friends in the New South Wales central west town in December 2001.

Handing down her findings this morning, coroner Mary Jerram said that, based on her evidence before her, Ms Vaughan was murdered by a person or persons unknown and her body disposed in a way that it has never been found.

She also said there were flaws in the initial investigation into the woman's disappearance.

The coroner said that despite extensive investigations the trail has gone cold and she hopes someone will give way to the weight of their conscience and come forward.

The coroner offered her sympathy to Ms Vaughan's family, saying they have had to wait eight years for answers and sadly the inquest has not provided one.

Speaking outside the Bathurst court house, Janine Vaughan's brother Adam, says the family is still waiting for answers.

"[It's] very disappointing, we're not very satisfied," he said.

"We just feel that, had they done their job right in the first place, this may have been resolved a long time ago and we may have had a bit more closure, because we're walking away today with nothing."

Police say strikeforce Mount Batten will close, but officers will continue to pursue any new leads.

Detective Inspector Peter Houlahan says the outcome is very frustrating.

"We've exhausted all our lines of inquiry at this point in time and we're waiting on some new leads," he said.

"That's why the appeal is still current and that's why the reward is still sitting at $100,000."

Janine Vaughan's family hopes for closure from bones

Posted Fri Jan 28, 2011 - ABC

The sister of missing Bathurst woman, Janine Vaughan, says it'll be an anxious wait to find out if a skeleton discovered near Bathurst is the 31-year-old.

The human bones have been dug up on a property at Perthville and an anthropologist has been brought in to determine whether they're male or female.

Police say they're not ruling out the possibility the skeleton is Ms Vaughan, who vanished in Bathurst in 2001.

Janine's sister Kylie Curnuck says similar discoveries have been made before.

"It does take its toll when you sort of get phone calls.

"You know over the last nine years we've had a few different phone calls to say you know they've found different bones and you sort of have that waiting period of whether it is going to be Janine or not, " she said.

Ms Curnuck says she hopes the discovery of human bones provides closure for the victim's family.

She says while it'll be an anxious wait to find if the skeleton is Janine, the family's remaining cautious.

"No, you try and be as open minded really, because you just think well if it's not Janine, then somebody elses' case has been solved and they don't have to go through what we've been going through as well and it could be that this person has been there a lot longer than Janine," she said.

Bones not those missing Muswellbrook woman

Posted Fri Jan 28, 2011 - ABC

Bones discovered in the state's central west are not those of missing Muswellbrook woman Janine Vaughan, with tests showing they belong to a male.

The bones were found at Perthville, near Bathurst on Wednesday when a property owner was digging in a paddock.

Police say an initial forensic examination suggests the bones are male.

Janine Vaughan went missing from Bathurst in 2001.

Police say they are still not sure how long the human remains found at Perthville had been buried.

PIC used skewed evidence in Janine Vaughan case

EXCLUSIVE by Janet Fife-Yeomans
The Daily Telegraph
October 20, 2011

THEY rode in with all guns blazing thinking their officers could do what the state's top detectives in the homicide squad hadn't - solve the murder of Janine Vaughan.

But the Police Integrity Commission has been left with its tail between its legs after the latest damning report into its investigation found that it not only had the totally wrong culprit in its sights - former police officer and Bathurst deputy mayor Brad Hosemans - but also targeted Detective Inspector Paul Jacob without any justification.

The PIC Inspector Peter Moss QC has found that the PIC "abrogated its reponsibilities" to conduct a fair and impartial investigation and had engaged in a "reprehensible" course of conduct, skewing evidence to fit the conclusions it wanted to come to.Mr Moss upheld complaints by Inspector Jacob, one of the state's most respected detectives, that the PIC had been unfair and unjustified in recommending that he be dismissed from the police, a move Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione refused to carry out.

In his harshest criticism of the PIC so far, Mr Moss said his analysis of the commission's operation Rani inquiry into events surrounding Ms Vaughan's murder had uncovered a "situation so serious and so far removed from what is expected of a law enforcement body ... as to be well-nigh incomprehensible".

In his report tabled in parliament yesterday, Mr Moss said the PIC set out believing it could solve the murder of Ms Vaughan. The shop assistant, 31, was last seen getting into a car about 4am on December 7, 2001 after leaving a nightclub.

Mr Moss said the PIC report contained "entrenched and debilitating bias".

Mr Moss, who has already also upheld complaints made by Mr Hosemans against the PIC, said the PIC should remove its Rani report from its website.However in a report also tabled in parliament, the PIC rejected the criticism.

A spokesman for Premier Barry O'Farrell said he was considering the report.

Family still seeking truth

Date: September 16, 2012

Nick Ralston - SMH

Crime Reporter

Each time Kylie Curnuck and Adam Vaughan receive a tip-off about where their sister Janine could be buried, they drive to the spot, and start their own search. In some instances, they even start to dig.

Their mother, Jenny Vaughan, who has terminal cancer, sits anxiously in the car hoping that finally, after 11 years, they might finally learn what happened to Janine.

''Adam and Kylie have even dug up the ground with their bare little hands,'' Jenny Vaughan says.

''We've been everywhere, even on private properties. I sit up in the car while Adam and Kylie are searching. We go where people have told us. Whenever we go to Bathurst, we go to these places and look.''

It is a show of the dedication that Janine Vaughan's family has to finding out what happened to the 31-year-old after she vanished in the streets of Bathurst, in the state's central west, in December 2001. But it also demonstrates the lack of faith the family hold towards investigators trying to solve the case.

''Frustrated and angry'', the Vaughan family are for the first time speaking about what they believe has been a problem-plagued investigation.

''They say the best chance to solve a crime is very early. Well, a lot seemed to go wrong early on,'' Ms Curnuck said.

Jenny Vaughan added: ''As a family, we feel like we've failed too. I feel like I've failed because I haven't done as much as I could.''

Ms Vaughan's last known movements were caught on security footage at Bathurst's Metro Tavern nightclub. That night she drank and danced with friends until she left about 3.47am on a Friday.

There had been a charity golf day in town and, even though it was a week night, it had been a busy evening. Among those at the club were several local police. One patron is even heard on the security footage remarking that there were so many officers out on the town that you could ''get away with murder''.

Ms Vaughan lost her handbag that night but, as she left the club, she told two accompanying friends: ''I've gotta go. I'm getting more drink. Got to go to the Ox [Oxford Tavern].''

She walked no more than 40 metres ahead, when three witnesses watched as a small car drove past, turned around, then stopped next to Ms Vaughan. She got in and has not been heard from since.

Ms Vaughan was reported missing when she failed to open the menswear store she managed inside a Bathurst shopping centre the next morning.

''It was raining, she had no money, she had no phone, no key to get into her house,'' Jenny Vaughan said. ''If it was just someone she knew from coming into the shop or who she knew from around town she would have got in. It wouldn't have been someone that she met that night.

''I think it's someone that she knew and she trusted them enough to get into the car.''

Two police strike forces, a Police Integrity Commission inquiry and a 10-day coronial inquest have failed to provide any clues as to who was driving that car or what happened next.

Initially, police sought a salmon-pink Hyundai but now believe the car involved was a red sedan.

Ms Vaughan's work diary, where she would have logged unusual dealings with customers, went missing and there were allegations that evidence given by witnesses and friends in the early stages of the investigation was left out of statements.

Then, to add to the family's scepticism, the officer who oversaw the police investigation in its early stage was named as a person of interest in Ms Vaughan's disappearance at the coronial inquest eight years later.

Brad Hosemans, a sergeant at Bathurst police station, was one of three men (along with a local pharmacist, Andrew Jones, and an aged care centre wardsman, Denis Briggs) named as persons of interest at the 2009 inquest.

At that coronial inquiry, Detective Inspector Peter Houlihan said witnesses recalled Ms Vaughan had expressed concerns about Mr Hosemans's actions towards her. These concerns were alleged to have been written in the lost diary.

Mr Hosemans was interviewed by police and officers drilled through a concrete floor at his Bathurst home as part of their investigation.

The police, the Police Integrity Commission and the coroner have all cleared Mr Hosemans of any involvement in Ms Vaughan's disappearance. He has always denied any wrongdoing. But the whole situation has left the family wary.

It is something the NSW Police Force is conscious of: Ms Vaughan's case is in the hands of Detective Inspector Guy Flaherty, an experienced investigator who is based at Professional Standards Command.

A police spokesman said he continued to receive information and that the investigation into Ms Vaughan's disappearance was ''very much active and ongoing''.

''The decision to appoint the detective inspector was taken to address concerns about the integrity of the original investigation that were later found to be unproven,'' the spokesman said.

Police have also offered a $100,000 reward for information about Ms Vaughan's case.

But her family has opted to push on with their own investigation. Through a third party, they have been taking statements from potential witnesses and carrying out searches.

''Someone says to us she's buried out here, so we go out there and we see a tiny triangle of blue tarp sticking out of the ground, '' Kylie Curnuck said. ''Your heart is about to come out your throat. You think, if something pops out, I don't want to see this but I have to do it.

''We need to do it.''

'Trusting police hasn't helped': missing Janine's family takes out newspaper ad in bid to solve case

Date: November 1, 2012

Nick Ralston - SMH

Crime Reporter

The family of a woman missing for 11 years and feared murdered say that anyone with information on her fate should contact them – even if they've previously spoken to the police.

A family member told Fairfax that placing their trust in the police "hasn't got us anywhere".

Janine Vaughan was last seen getting into a car in the central western town of Bathurst early one morning in December 2001.

The advert taken out by the family.

Her family placed an advertisement in the town's local paper last weekend, asking anyone with information to get in touch.

"Even information previously given to police may be of assistance to the family in their search for Janine," the advertisement reads. The family's name appears to have been misspelt in the ad.

Ms Vaughan's sister, Kylie Curnuck, said the family had become frustrated by what they see as a lack of progress in the investigation, which at one stage was the subject of a Police Integrity Commission inquiry.

"We've got 11 years coming up and we still are not further ahead now than when we started," Ms Curnuck said.

"We want the public to come forward to us, tell us anything, it doesn't matter what it is, we will look into it."

The family said a number of people who lived in Bathurst at the time Ms Vaughan went missing have already got in touch with them after the advertisement appeared in last Saturday's edition of The Western Advocate.

"These people might feel safer coming to us than they would coming to police," Ms Curnuck said. "We have tried to trust the police for 11 years and that hasn't got us anywhere. I just want answers now."

Ms Vaughan's last known movements were caught on security footage at Bathurst's Metro Tavern nightclub. That night, she drank and danced with friends until she left about 3.47am.

Two police strike forces, the Police Integrity Commission inquiry and a coronial inquest have failed to provide any clues as to who was driving the car she got into, or what happened next.

The Vaughan family said there have been a number of flaws in the decade-long investigation. Initially, police sought a salmon-pink Hyundai but now believe the car involved was a red sedan.

Ms Vaughan's work diary, where she would have logged unusual dealings with customers at the menswear store she managed, went missing. There were also allegations that evidence given by witnesses and friends in the early stages of the investigation was left out of statements.

Then, to add to the family's scepticism, the officer who oversaw the police investigation in its early stage was named as a person of interest in Ms Vaughan's disappearance at the coronial inquest eight years later.

Brad Hosemans, a sergeant at Bathurst police station, was one of three men (along with local pharmacist Andrew Jones and an aged care centre wardsman, Denis Briggs) to be named as a person of interest at the 2009 inquest.

At that coronial inquiry, Detective Inspector Peter Houlihan said witnesses recalled Ms Vaughan had expressed concerns about Mr Hosemans's actions towards her. These concerns were alleged to have been noted in the lost diary.

Mr Hosemans was interviewed by police and officers drilled through a concrete floor at his Bathurst home as part of their investigation.

The police, the Police Integrity Commission and the coroner have all cleared Mr Hosemans of any involvement in Ms Vaughan's disappearance. He has always denied any wrongdoing.

Police declined to comment on the investigation when contacted.

Review for Janine case

By Jacinta Carroll - Western Advocate

Dec. 12, 2012, 4:30 a.m.

THE investigation into missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan has been referred to the unsolved homicide team for a full review.

Ms Vaughan, who disappeared 11 years ago, was last seen accepting a lift with a stranger at the corner of George and Keppel streets after a night out with friends at The Tavern.

Her family, who were in Bathurst for the anniversary of the disappearance, told the Western Advocate last Friday that they were pushing for the case to be reopened, adding if that happened the outcome “would be huge”.

And 48 hours later, Detective Superintendent Mick Willing of the Sydney-based Homicide Unit confirmed the case would be reviewed.

Ms Vaughan’s brother Adam yesterday welcomed the news that homicide were taking over the investigation from the Professional Standards Unit, saying he hoped something would come out of the development.

Since Janine disappeared 11 years ago two strike forces and a Police Integrity Commission investigation, which looked at allegations of police corruption in the case failed to find out what really happened to the vivacious store manager.

In September 2009, after 10 days of evidence over two hearings, State Coroner Mary Jerram found Janine Vaughan had been murdered by a person or persons unknown and her body disposed of in such a means that is has not been found.

However, refusing to give up, the family initiated their own investigation and in the last two years have spent countless nights talking to people and trying to find out what really happened to her.

The decision by police to review the case was announced on Monday.

At the same time it emerged a woman had contacted the family about a handbag she found two-and-a-half years after Ms Vaughan disappeared.

The woman told the family the bag, which she found in a drain near The Scots School contained documents relating to Ms Vaughan inside the bag.

While there is now no trace of the bag - which, as Mr Vaughan said, had gone missing like Ms Vaughan’s diary - the news has given the family a new hope.

“It’s massive,” Adam said of the development, adding it also raised many more questions.

“Was she alive longer than just that night [December 7, when she disappeared]?” he asked.

“And who put the bag there? Did she put it there to let someone know something had gone wrong?”

Mr Vaughan said the family had other explosive information, which could not be made public at this point.

He said the family was happy that homicide was taking over the case, but after their experience they were still wary.

Police review Janine Vaughan's disappearance

Posted Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:42am AEDT - ABC

The mother of a woman who vanished in the central west more than a decade ago says she is relieved police have agreed to review the case.

The Unsolved Homicide Squad is investigating the disappearance of Janine Vaughan, who was last seen getting in a small red car in Bathurst in 2001.

An inquest in 2009 found she had been murdered by an unknown person or people.

Janine's mother, Jenny, says she hopes that this time the family will get some answers.

"Extremely happy, very happy, we feel more positive this time.

"We've gathered up a bit of information and people are coming forward, so we are extremely happy, very excited and hopefully something will come of it it this time."

She says now is the time for anyone who knows anything about the case to come forward.

"If anybody has got any information, please come forward, don't keep it to yourselves any longer, because it must be tearing your hearts out I think, it must be driving you crazy.

"I know how it's driving us crazy not knowing and whoever has done this needs to pay."

Police probe red car’s driver over Janine Vaughan's disappearance

By Ben Weir and Sally Rawsthorne SMH

Updated March 29, 2019

The driver of a red car who allegedly “stalked” another woman in the minutes before the suspected abduction and murder of Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan is back in the frame under a new police investigation.

Also, as part of a new appeal for information, the NSW government has increased to $1 million the reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.

Ms Vaughan, then 31, went missing in 2001 and no trace of her has been found.

A coroner concluded in 2009 that Ms Vaughan was murdered, although the circumstances remained a mystery because "the trail has gone cold".

"The only available conclusion is that Janine Vaughan disappeared ... and that she was murdered by person or persons unknown and her body disposed of in such a way that it has not been found," State Coroner Mary Jerram said.

"We can only hope that one day, some evidence will emerge that can provide that answer."

In 2013, detectives from the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit established Strike Force Toko II to reinvestigate Ms Vaughan’s disappearance and suspected murder.

On Friday, Homicide Commander Detective Superintendent Scott Cook told reporters: "No one is ruled out; we're reinvestigating this matter from the beginning." That included Mr Hosemans, he said.

Ms Vaughan was last seen getting into a red car on Keppel Street in Bathurst after leaving a nightclub in the early hours of December 7, 2001. Police say the driver had stalked another woman a kilometre down the road immediately before to Ms Vaughan's disappearance.

"We're convinced it was probably the same vehicle," Superintendent Cook said.

"We think there are people in Bathurst who have been holding on to secrets," he said.

Police seized the car a decade ago, and now plan to use new technology to identify the DNA they have found in the back of the car that could not previously be analysed.

The car is not believed to have belonged to Mr Hoseman.

Ms Vaughan's family said on Friday they were "excited" about the $1 million reward, and hoped it would convince someone to come forward.

"I think it's great timing that the reward's come now, alongside the new DNA technology," Ms Vaughan's brother Adam said through tears.

"I hope that information given to police 18 years ago didn't get missed and we've gone through all this shit ... that's what we've gone back to today, the same car, the same woman [who was stalked]. Her family got lucky and we've lost our [sister]," he told reporters.

Police investigations have been inconclusive and, after the coroner's findings, Adam said his family had no trust in police.

He said he "had zero hopes", following 17 years of investigations that had failed to find his sister.

The family said they had analysed CCTV footage of the night. They argued there had been a number of flaws in the investigation with evidence going missing, including Ms Vaughan's work diary, in which she would have logged unusual dealings with customers at the menswear store she managed.

Meanwhile, there were also allegations that evidence given by witnesses and friends in the early stages of the investigation was left out of statements.

Ms Vaughan's sister, Kylie Spelde, said the past 18 years has been very tough on the entire family.

"Every day without my sister, who was so full of life, is unbearable, and 18 years is a long time without any contact and any answers," she said.

"It’s heartbreaking to know Janine was living her life, and then someone - or some people - took all of that away from her and from us.

In 2001, Janine Vaughan got into a red car in Bathurst. She hasn't been seen since.

BILLI FITZSIMONS Mamamia

News Writer

JULY 28, 2020

It was December 7, 2001, and Janine Vaughan, then 31, had been out drinking with her friends at the local nightclub, Metro Tavern, in Bathurst. She had lived in the small town, then with a population of about 27,000, for the past three years.

In the early hours of the Friday morning, she left the venue, as she strolled through Keppel Street, Bathurst.

Within minutes, Janine entered a bright red sedan. She hasn’t been seen since.

Janine was reported missing by her employer when she failed to show up for work in the Bathurst shopping centre in the morning.

For 19 years, police have been investigating what happened to Janine, so far to no avail. Her body has never been found. Her alleged kidnapper has never been brought to justice. So what do we know about the suspected murder case?

Janine is described as “blond, petite, immaculately presented and always smiling,” according to a 2002 Sydney Morning Herald article. She grew up in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley, before she followed her then-boyfriend to Bathurst. The couple split, but Janine remained, with a close friendship group and a job as a menswear shop manager.

Her best friend, Rebecca Medhurst, told the Sun-Herald at the time: "She was so fun-loving and outgoing, always there to lend a hand for anyone that needed it and always putting herself last. She was a social person, she liked going out to meet people, she liked to drink."

The same friend says she never would have entered a car with someone she did not know.

"I know she wouldn't have gotten into the car with a stranger, which means I probably know them as well, through her or a mutual friend, and that makes it so much worse, to think that it's someone connected with me.

“I think that someone out there must know more than they're letting on."

Janine’s mother, Jenny Vaughan, echoed this sentiment in 2012, telling Sydney Morning Herald, ''It was raining, she had no money, she had no phone, no key to get into her house. If it was just someone she knew from coming into the shop or who she knew from around town she would have got in. It wouldn't have been someone that she met that night.”

''I think it's someone that she knew and she trusted them enough to get into the car.''

Police know Janine didn’t have her belongings on her when she went missing, because a cleaner at the nightclub found her handbag jammed in the corner of the bathroom the next day. The cleaner told the police, and the media, that he remembers the bag because “it looked like someone had deliberately hidden it… Someone had put packets of chips in front of it.”

The investigation has been filled with leads and misleads, but ultimately no person has ever been convicted in relation to the suspected murder of Janine.

A 2009 coronial inquest concluded she had died and was most likely murdered.

"The only available conclusion is that Janine Vaughan disappeared ... and that she was murdered by person or persons unknown and her body disposed of in such a way that it has not been found," State Coroner Mary Jerram said at the time.

"We can only hope that one day, some evidence will emerge that can provide that answer."

During the inquest, 47 people were carefully examined, including Bathurst deputy mayor and Detective Sergeant Brad Hosemans, who initially led the investigation into Janine’s disappearance. Upon being named a suspect, Hosemans claimed he was in Newcastle on the day Janine disappeared. Police later found evidence that he was actually in Bathurst, and the former police officer said he made an error.

Hosemans has always denied any wrongdoing, and the Police Integrity Commission, as well as the coroner, have cleared him of any involvement in Janine’s disappearance.

In 2013, detectives from the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit established Strike Force Toko II to re-investigate Janine Vaughan’s suspected murder.

In 2019, the NSW Government announced a $1 million reward for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the disappearance of Janine Vaughan. Police said they hoped the reward would provide another opportunity to appeal to those who may have otherwise been uninclined to speak to them to come forward.

“Our investigators have been meticulously working through what happened to Janine in the moments leading up to and after she got into the red car that morning,” Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Scott Cook, said.

“We know about 10 minutes before Janine was seen getting into the car, another woman was approached about 750m away by a man in what we believe is the same vehicle.”

Kylie Spelde, Vaughan’s sister, said it was hard going through life without her.

“Every day without my sister, who was so full of life, is unbearable, and 18 years is a long time without any contact and any answers,” Spelde said.

“It’s heartbreaking to know Janine was living her life, and then someone – or some people – took all of that away from her and from us.

“Someone knows what happened to her and on behalf of our family, I’m asking for anyone who has information to come forward and contact police.”

Now, the suspicious disappearance of Janine is subject to The Australian’s new true crime podcast, The Night Driver, which will be hosted by walkley-award winning journalist, Hedley Thomas and will premier today.

Hope renewed for sister of missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan seeking answers to suspected murder

ABC Central West

By Luke Wong and Kathleen Ferguson ABC

Posted

The sister of missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan says she feels renewed hope that answers will come after a major breakthrough in an unrelated case at a nearby town.

Kylie Spelde said she was excited when news broke of a man being charged in the two-decade-long unsolved murder of Gulgong teen Michelle Bright.

"It sort of gave me that boost to think, well, that these things can happen."

But Ms Spelde said she felt disappointed a $1 million reward for information solving her sister's case had yet to bring an outcome.

"It has been very disheartening," she said.

"It still hasn't solved Janine's murder and we still don't have Janine's body."

In the early morning of December 7, 2001, Janine Vaughan was last seen getting into a red car on Keppel Street, Bathurst, in central-western New South Wales.

The investigation into her disappearance was the subject of two Police Integrity Commission inquiries.

A 2009 coronial inquest concluded Ms Vaughan was suspected to be murdered by an unknown person.

Searching for answers

Ms Spelde, who lives in Muswellbrook, NSW, said her family had relentlessly pursued answers to her sister's disappearance.

At times they had taken matters into their own hands.

"It does consume me and there are times when I have to step away," she said.

Recently, her family commissioned a roadside billboard in Bathurst that features a photograph of Ms Vaughan appealing to the public for any clues.

Ms Spelde said she had been involved in a documentary film about the case, which has been in production for two years.

The mystery has also been the focus of a new podcast by investigative journalist Hedley Thomas, creator of the true crime series The Teacher's Pet.

Ms Spelde said she was "very hopeful" The Night Driver podcast would shed new light on the case.

But while some listeners may treat the podcast about Ms Vaughan as entertainment, Ms Spelde wanted to remind people of the serious nature of the story.

"Remember that it is a human being, a person's life that you're getting entertainment from," she said.

"Just remember that it's somebody's sister, somebody's daughter."

Hidden cellar, horrendous smell and swarms of bugs provide fresh leads in cold case murder hunt

After two decades, three police strike forces and a coronial inquest, the trail has gone cold in the hunt for Janine Vaughan’s killer. Now startling revelations from new witnesses raise fresh questions.

By Carrie Fellner SMH
OCTOBER 22, 2021

The summer months in Bathurst are usually uneventful as the university students who are the lifeblood of the NSW Central Tablelands town head for home, emptying out from pubs and share houses.

But in the summer of 2001, the mood was tense.

Janine Vaughan – a pretty and vivacious shopkeeper with a trademark mop of blonde hair – had vanished after a night out. As rain pounded down on Keppel Street, the 31-year-old stepped into a red car and was never seen again.

Within days, police feared the worst. Homicide detectives were dispatched from Sydney to Bathurst, interviewing dozens of witnesses, making pleas to the public for information and swarming over the rugged countryside in the hunt for clues.

Two decades later, the identity of the car’s driver remains elusive. Three police strike forces, a coronial inquest and a police integrity commission inquiry have all raked over the case, but failed to unravel the mystery.

Now, an eight-month investigation by The Sydney Morning Herald has unearthed compelling new lines of inquiry that appear to have been missed in the long-running murder probe.

Multiple new witnesses tracked down by the Herald have spoken for the first time of a foul smell, buzzing sound and plague of insects around the time of Janine’s disappearance at a property connected to one of the police’s 47 persons of interest.

The Herald has also uncovered the existence of a hidden cellar within metres of the spot where the odour and insects were identified.

Past associates of the person of interest described troubling encounters with him.

The identity of the person of interest cannot be published for legal reasons, but the Herald has shared the findings of its investigation with detectives assigned to the cold case.

NSW Police did not respond to the Herald’s detailed questions about whether they have ever searched the property or intend to do so in the future on the basis of the new information.

However, the new witnesses confirmed they had been contacted and interviewed by detectives for the first time in recent weeks after the Herald passed their details to police.

The small red car

In late 2001, Janine Vaughan was managing the Ed Harry menswear store in Bathurst, 200 kilometres west of Sydney. The immaculately put together shopkeeper was warm, funny and unpretentious. Customers immediately felt at ease around her.

Janine was a relative newcomer to the town, having relocated there from her hometown of Muswellbrook in 1998 to move in with her then boyfriend.

Janine’s otherwise happy childhood – in a loving household with extended family – was marred by her estrangement from her biological mother, who abandoned her at birth.

By early adulthood, Janine yearned to settle down and form a family of her own. She felt adrift after her relationship broke down in 2000.

She flung herself back into Bathurst’s social scene, spending the night of Thursday, December 6, 2001, drinking and dancing with friends Jordan Morris and Wonita Murphy.

At 3.47am on Friday, revellers spilled out of the Metro Tavern, the trio among them.

CCTV footage captured a lover’s quarrel between Jordan and Wonita, while Janine was visibly distressed after losing her handbag.

However, Janine rallied the group to push on to the nearby Oxford Hotel, a few blocks away, for a last round of drinks.

As Janine strode 40 metres ahead of the bickering couple onto Keppel Street, a drizzle of rain became a downpour.

A car appeared, performing a U-turn before pulling alongside Janine, who entered and was never seen again.

Grainy CCTV footage indicated the car stopped for around 27 seconds, while multiple eyewitnesses recall it was red.

Family insist Janine was security conscious and wouldn’t have entered the vehicle unless familiar with the driver.

The alarm was raised when Janine failed to open the menswear store on Friday morning.

Locals were warned her disappearance could be at the hands of a serial attacker, following a string of unsettling incidents around town.

Trail goes cold

Three police strike forces – Toko, Mountbatten and Toko II – have investigated Janine’s disappearance, the last of which is still actively pursuing the case.

The investigation by the first team, Strike Force Toko, began to lose momentum after the first six months.

Its lead investigators, Inspector Paul Jacob and Senior Constable Ritchie Sim, were frustrated at “delays, the fragmentation of resources and the lack of progress” including cancelled trips to Bathurst, a police integrity commission report noted.

“The investigation appears to have been initially well resourced but as time went on resources were deployed to other investigations,” the report said. “The lack of resources contributed to the lack of progress.”

The investigation was diverted in 2005 to deal with allegations that a local detective had shown a romantic interest in Janine before leading the investigation into her suspected murder.

Multiple inquiries exonerated him of involvement and Strike Force Mountbatten was formed in late 2006 to “resume the investigation”.

A list of searches it conducted, obtained by the Herald, showed it looked extensively around Bathurst for Janine’s remains – however, the person of interest’s property is not included on the list.

Lead investigator, Detective Superintendent Peter Houlahan, told reporters he was handed a “contaminated case”.

“We’ve had to reinterview people again, there has been a fair element of contamination of content in statements,” he said at the inquest in 2009.

The same year, state coroner Mary Jerram said she feared the trail had “gone cold” as she handed down a finding that Janine was murdered by a person or persons unknown.

All three of the persons of interest named at the inquest have denied responsibility for Janine’s disappearance and were cleared of any involvement by Ms Jerram.

Horrendous odour

The Herald has since delved into the past of one of the original 47 persons of interest presented by police to Ms Jerram.

The investigation tracked down dozens of witnesses who knew the person of interest, worked with him or who had been to his property, many of whom now live interstate and have never spoken to police before.

Two witnesses still had vivid recollections of strange happenings at or within metres of the person of interest’s residence between late 2001 and 2002, the same period in which Janine vanished.

They did not want their identities disclosed over concerns for their personal safety.

One man described a “horrendous odour” in an indoor area that lasted for at least several weeks.

“I distinctly remember saying this place stinks,” the man recalled. He said the smell was accompanied by a “beehive” sound.

“There was a lot of buzzing,” said the man, who formerly lived on a farm. “Surely a dead animal wouldn’t be large enough to draw that many flies.”

During a visit to the residence the witness noticed something unusual written on the person of interest’s fridge and quizzed him about it. Details cannot be published for legal reasons.

A woman who came to the property in early 2002 did not recall a smell. However, she pinpointed the same area where the smell had been as being “insanely full” of insects at the time. They looked like bees or wasps, she recalled.

“I distinctly remember saying this place stinks. There was a lot of buzzing. Surely a dead animal wouldn’t be large enough to draw that many flies.”
A witness’ vivid recollections of strange happenings at or within metres of the person of interest’s residence

None of the insects were flying around; but hundreds of them were crawling all over the floor or “laying there dying”.

“I’d sweep them up and go back and then there would be a hundred more,” she said.

“At first glance it looked like they were all dead but if you looked closely, they were still running their legs,” the woman recalled.

The woman said the infestation lasted for months.

The Herald put the witness’s account to internationally renowned forensic biologist Dr Paola Magni, who is based at Murdoch University in Western Australia and acts as an expert witness in homicide cases.

Dr Magni said it was possible that what the woman had observed was two species of hoverflies that can be found at the site of decaying corpses and bear a striking resemblance to bees or wasps.

“So they are actually black and yellow, they really look like wasps,” Dr Magni said of the species, Eristalis tenax and Syritta pipiens.

Dr Magni said that in biblical times people mistakenly thought that honey bees would colonise the decomposing remains of certain noble animals – when it was likely they were actually observing hoverflies.

She said it was possible to detect remnants of the insects and DNA inside them centuries later, under certain circumstances.

The Herald obtained historic development applications from the local council which referred to the existence of a cellar at the person of interest’s property.

A man who owned the property in the 1980s marked the rough location of the cellar on a floor plan for the Herald – placing it within metres of where the odour and insect infestation were identified.

The man said the cellar was accessible via a trapdoor and he used it to store building supplies during a renovation project.

“We only covered the access for safety purposes and the cellar was never filled in,” he said.

After police did not respond to requests to search the property, the Herald sought the assistance of a specialist forensics investigator to organise a private search of the property, its sub-floor and the cellar.

The owners initially gave permission for the property to be searched but reneged on Monday, before the search could be carried out.

Janine Vaughan’s sister, Kylie Spelde, said the family felt a search of the property “had to be done” to rule it in or out of the investigation.

“We as a family won’t leave any stone unturned,” she said.

Interviews with people who knew the person of interest over the years painted a picture of a man with a Jekyll and Hyde personality. To some, he seemed caring, decent and genuine. To others, he was arrogant, imposing and nasty.

One former co-worker recalled the man could fly into fits of rage, leaving other workers feeling “very scared”.

“He had that temper that was quite volatile … he shouted,” the woman recalled.

“We as a family won’t leave any stone unturned.”
Janine Vaughan’s sister, Kylie Spelde

She said the man tried to be on his best behaviour at work, but in a “simpering” kind of way. There was something “seething” below the surface, she felt.

Another male employee from the same workplace got along with the man himself, but remembered he was in constant conflict with female workers.

“My impression [was] he’s not such a bad person, but I could be wrong,” the man said.

“When you see him fighting with the women he was a nasty person, no doubt about that … the confrontation was real.

“Why that was so, I don’t know.”

Another former co-worker said she was in “shock and disbelief” after she was the subject of unwanted sexual advances from the man. Staff remembered the man turning up to work dirty, dishevelled and sweating profusely.

Ms Spelde said she would chase to the end of every rabbit hole until she finds out what happened to her sister.

“She just had this vibrant personality that everyone was attracted to,” Ms Spelde said.

“Male, female, children, old people, young people.”

“She was absolutely beautiful. I just want the world to keep remembering those things about her.”

Janine VAUGHAN
DOB:	1970
HAIR:	Blonde	BUILD:164cm tall	Thin	EYES:	Green
CIRCUMSTANCES: Janine Vaughan was last seen around 4am on Friday, 7 December 2001 in Keppel Street, Bathurst, NSW. At this time she was seen to enter the front passenger seat of a bright red four door medium size sedan similar to a Mitsubishi Magna or a Toyota Camry. Janine has not been seen or heard from since and fears are held for her safety and welfare.

Reported missing to: Bathurst Police Station.

$1,000,000 reward to help solve disappearance and suspected murder of Janine Vaughan

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How to claim your reward

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Officer danced with missing woman

TERRY JONES - JUNE 24 2009 - 10:45PM - Western Advocate

Nightclub staff heard man brag about killing

Woman stalked

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Closure

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'Persons of interest' face Vaughan inquest

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Janine Vaughan inquest wraps up

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Bones not those missing Muswellbrook woman

PIC used skewed evidence in Janine Vaughan case

Family still seeking truth

Nick Ralston - SMH

Crime Reporter

'Trusting police hasn't helped': missing Janine's family takes out newspaper ad in bid to solve case

Nick Ralston - SMH

Crime Reporter

Review for Janine case

By Jacinta Carroll - Western Advocate

Police review Janine Vaughan's disappearance

Police probe red car’s driver over Janine Vaughan's disappearance

By Ben Weir and Sally Rawsthorne SMH

In 2001, Janine Vaughan got into a red car in Bathurst. She hasn't been seen since.

Hope renewed for sister of missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan seeking answers to suspected murder

The sister of missing Bathurst woman Janine Vaughan says she feels renewed hope that answers will come after a major breakthrough in an unrelated case at a nearby town.

Searching for answers