Family’s search in 50-year mystery

THE quest for answers into the disappearance of his beauty queen sister has led John Butterworth to physically dig in the hope of finding her remains.

Lucille Butterworth vanished from a Claremont bus stop in August 1969. The case has long troubled the Butterworth family and puzzled police, media and members of the public for five decades.

In 2016 a coroner found that a key suspect in the case of her death, Geoffrey Charles Hunt, killed 20-year-old Lucille but the prosecutor said there wasn’t enough evidence to press charges.

Mr Butterworth, who now lives in Queensland, flew to Tasmania last week to begin digging at a new site in the state’s South where he believes Lucille may have been buried.

In 2015 police dug up an abandoned riverside car park between Granton and New Norfolk, but the two-week excavation found nothing.

Over four days this week Mr Butterworth dug with a shovel in an area close to the 2015 dig site.

He said the new site, which was once known as “Lovers Lane” — a roadside lay-by near New Norfolk, was “worth a shot” based on a premonition.

“No one else has dug there and I was mainly interested in why there are a couple of manferns there. It’s the only area in the Murphy’s wetlands with man-ferns and I woke up one morning with something telling me that’s where Lucille was,” he said.

“It was just something else that had to be explored in my opinion.”

Mr Butterworth this year dived in the River Derwent near New Norfolk following a tip-off to him that Lucille could have been dumped in the river.

He has previously expressed disappointment over Tasmania Police’s handling of his sister’s disappearance.

He said despite police investigations slowing, his efforts to find his sister will never cease.

Tasmania Police yesterday said it would continue to remain in contact with the Butterworth family.

“Tasmania Police periodically receives information in relation to the Butterworth case from time to time,” a police spokeswoman said.

“All information that is received is assessed as to whether further police inquiries are conducted.

“The inquiry remains open and police are still seeking information from the public regarding the disappearance of Lucille.”