‘She wouldn’t just leave us’
$500k reward to solve 30-year mystery
The family of a mother who disappeared without a trace on the Gold Coast have issued an emotional plea as they continue to search for answers three decades on.
Tamela (Tammy) Menzies, also known as Tammy Dyson, was last seen at Currumbin on July 20, 1995.
The then 23-year-old had travelled from Melbourne, leaving her children with their grandmother and saying she would be back.
Tammy contacted her mother days later and said she would be staying in NSW for a couple of months before returning home. She hasn’t been seen since.
On Wednesday, Tammy’s sons Jyles and Rainy Lebler revealed the toll their mother’s disappearance had taken on the family and again appealed for public help to bring them “closure”.
“We were only little boys when our mum disappeared and we have wondered what happened to her for all our lives,” Jyles said.
“I was 3 and Rainy was 1 so we were both pretty young... I just remember playing with her when I was little and just being loved. Mum has missed all of our important milestones in our lives that she should have been there for ... Mum will never be at our weddings and she will never get to meet her grandchildren.”
In the hope of finally closing the decades long cold case the Queensland Police Service announced a new $500,000 cash reward for information.
Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell of the Homicide Cold Case Investigation Team said she believed “irrespective of the passage of time”, Tammy’s disappearance could be solved.
“We do believe that with public assistance, irrespective of the passage of time, this crime can be solved, offenders can be brought to justice and we can provide some answers for Tammy’s family and friends,” she said.
Detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell said Tammy had been working in the adult entertainment industry at the time of her disappearance and that she had been “associating with known Brisbane criminals and using drugs”. She appealed for any person who collected or knows who collected Tammy from a rehabilitation clinic at Currumbin on July 20, 1995 to come forward.
Jyles Lebler said Tammy’s 74-year-old mother was still holding on to hope that she may one day find out what happened to her daughter.
“Someone obviously knows something, she hasn’t just walked off the face of the earth ... we have grown up with no mum our whole life. It’s not right,” Jyles said.
“Our grandma who raised us has never given up in trying to find out what happened to her daughter.”
Jyles said the person who collected their mother from the Currumbin clinic, claimed to be Tammy’s sister Olivia.
“If you were the woman that picked mum up from the Currumbin clinic can you please come forward, if you knew mum back in 1995, please contact Crime Stoppers because even if you think your information doesn’t matter it could be the piece of the puzzle that helps us find out what’s actually happened.
“It hurts every bloody day. She wouldn’t just disappear and leave us both behind, she really loved both of us, would have done anything for us.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Kentwell said: “I believe Tammy’s lifestyle at the time has resulted in us being here today”.