Cold cases New leads
Crime e They They’re re the bafflflfling baffling cases that haunt Australia, crimes that send a shiver down the spine. Now, with new stateof-the-art forensics, former detective Duncan Mcnab hopes the killers will fifinally be brought to justice
Aripped shopping bag could be the key to catching a serial killer who is feared to have murdered Newcastle teenager r Gordana Kotevski and up to 19 other women who vanished over two decades.
Gordana, 16, was returning from an evening shopping trip to Newcastle’s buzzing Charlestown Mall, which was just 500 metres from her aunt Sonia Simonovic’s home, when she was snatched. Her aunt heard piercing screams through her living room window and saw a white Toyota Hilux leaving her driveway just before 8.45pm on November 24, 1994. She put the disturbance out of her mind but when her niece still hadn’t arrived home by 9.30pm, Sonia went outside to investigate. There she found Gordana’s wallet and a ripped shopping bag on the ground – but t no sign of her niece. “That shopping bag is key evidence,” says former NSW detective Duncan Mcnab. “A partial print was found which, with new forensics, could throw fresh new light.” ” Duncan says it’s possible Gordana was snatched by
‘Someone, somewhere knows something’
a serial killer who was active in the area at the time, and former State Coroner John Abernethy recently went public with his belief she was one of at least four women who fell victim to a serial killer. r.
“Strike Force Fenwick was set up in 1998 to investigate the e disappearance of an estimated d 20 young women from the Newcastle region over a two-decade period,” he says.
The potential victims include e Leanne Goodall, 20, Robyn Hickie, 18, and Amanda Robinson, 14, who disappeared from Lake Macquarie from 1978 to 1979. A woman’s body was found in bushland in the area in 1987 and then in April 1994, Margaret Howlett, 85, was raped and murdered in her Singleton home.
“The investigators will look for similarities between the cases and see if there are any clues pointing to a serial killer,” says Duncan.
The cold case reviews will use tthee kindd oof Dna-matching atc g processes that led to charges
against an infamous US serial killer in April this year.
A reward of $100,000 for any information leading to an arrest in relation to Gordana’s disappearance is on offer. “Someone, somewhere knows something,” says Duncan.