A warning was issued by a politician on the fact that the “worst serial killer in Australia’s history,” who may have been responsible for 67 murders and disappearances, was still on the loose and continuing to commit the same crimes.
The unsolved murders and disappearances of women that this killer is believed to have instigated date back to the year 1977.
A woman had gone missing
The first case in a series of unsolved murders and disappearances of the same nature was 21-year-old Narelle Cox’s disappearance.
The hitchhiker had gone missing in 1977 while traveling from Grafton, New South Wales, to Noosa, Queensland.
Witnesses testified in the case
At the time and while the police were investigating Cox’s disappearance, witnesses testified that she was last seen with a truck driver who had dropped her off in Brunswick Heads, around 18 km north of Byron Bay.
But the case wasn’t solved and the girl has not been seen since.
She was not the only victim
Cox would turn out to be the first in a line of 67 victims of murder and disappearance in Australia between the years 1977 and 2009.
All of the female victims would meet the same fate similarly, and thus, some believed the same person committed all cases.
A politician recently warned of the killer’s return
Green member of the state’s legislative council, Jeremy Buckingham, recently mentioned the cold cases, stating that the serial killer has gotten away with his crimes.
He said that there were strong indications that a person regularly operated in that area and took women.
Buckingham compared it to an already-known killer
He compared the cases to a killer already known by the state police, “Ivan Milat was convicted of seven murders. There is someone on the north coast that has murdered as many or more, and they are still amongst us, if they haven’t died or fled the country.”
The politician was increasingly upset
Buckingham began to cry during his speech saying, “It’s appalling that it’s taken so long for this matter to come before the house and to public attention.”
He was worried because it felt too obvious to him that the cold cases involved the same criminal.
The cases had gone cold
MetroUK reported that a police spokesperson said there was no evidence to indicate that the crimes were the responsibility of a common offender.
Despite being labeled as an alarmist, Buckingham disagrees with the statement, saying the lack of connection was impossible.
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Buckingham continued to explain
He said, “It is impossible to think that there are 67 murderers that have escaped justice in that area from North Coast to the Tweed Heads – all individuals. Someone has done these things repeatedly.”
Buckingham reiterated by stating that police had found causal links between some of the cases.
He prompted police to release some of the cases
Buckingham then advised a motion to release some of the unsolved case files. The upper house of the state passed it on October 23.
Despite the links in the cases, Premier Chris Minns remained doubtful that there was one perpetrator.
Women reacted to Buckingham’s speech
Following the politician’s speech, many women on social media shared horrific stories about feeling unsafe in the area, one claiming that she had once almost been kidnapped on her way to Byron Bay.
The 67 cold cases and their perpetrator remain an important topic for the area.
