Police seek help to find family murder suspect
STUART Pearce allegedly killed his wife and three children in Adelaide, and now police want the public’s help in tracking down one of South Australia’s most wanted fugitives.
There has been no trace of Pearce since the 1991 house fire that killed Meredith Pearce and their children Adam, 11, Travis, nine, and two-year-old Kerry.
Another sibling, then aged eight, was sleeping over at a friend’s house the night of the murders.
Despite a $1 million reward for information, no one has seen Pearce in 25 years.
Brevet Sergeant Bob Sharpe says there is a great deal of evidence to suggest Pearce was responsible for the death of his wife and children.
“Whether he’s been able to go into hiding for so many years or whether he’s taken his own life when he’s realised what he’s done are the two more likely options police have to consider,” Bvt Sgt Sharpe said yesterday.
Bvt Sgt Sharpe said police gave some credence to sightings in Mt Gambier early in the inquiry by people who knew Pearce, although he was not located.
“It would be very difficult for someone to live off the grid for this length of time – we have his fingerprints plus a DNA profile and he’s the subject of an Interpol red notice but he hasn’t come to our attention,” he said.
“My feeling is that he’s committed this terrible act, tried to shift blame on to someone else by deliberately dumping his car in a particular location, but when that hasn’t worked he’s taken his own life and we just haven’t found his body yet.”
Pearce, who would now be 59, had several distinctive tattoos, including a naked woman with a rose on her back on his upper right arm, and a red and green rose over a Maltese cross on his lower left leg, but it’s possible he’s had them removed or altered.
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