MISSING MUM MYSTERY
People disappear all the time.
Last year 11,355 missing person reports were made across Victoria, with all but about 20 of those people located before New Year’s Eve.
The majority of those found were alive.
In some cases they weren’t.
But, for the friends, families and neighbours of the roughly 20 people who weren’t found, it is the unanswered questions that POWERBALL hold closure at arm’s reach.
For the past six days a single question has lingered over the quiet coastal town of Aireys Inlet. Where is Elisa Curry? After almost a week of searching, nobody has produced an answer.
We do know the Surrey Hills mother-of-three was last seen about 10pm on Saturday, September 30.
The 43-year-old had enjoyed drinks with at least one neighbour as they watched the AFL Grand Final during the day. She had texted her husband David about the game, as he and their three children cheered on Richmond from the stands of the MCG.
That night two neighbours, a husband and wife, went to Ms Curry’s house to speak with her. They left, but about 10pm the wife returned.
Police revealed the pair spoke about a “personal matter”, but have remained tight-lipped on the specifics of the conversation.
When David Curry returned to the holiday house about 9am on Sunday, his wife and their black Labrador were missing. That’s when the questions started.
The dog was found near a neighbour’s property that evening, but nobody is certain if it was let out by Ms Curry, or if it simply slipped through a fence and had gone for a wander, as some neighbours suggested it often did.
Volunteers and members of the police, SES, CFA, Parks Victoria and Bush Search and Rescue have combed through Aireys Inlet since the search for Ms Curry was launched on Sunday.
Helicopters, jet skis, horses, motorbikes, ATVs and boats have searched trails, bushes, waterways and everything in between, but have failed to find an answer. Police have conceded they’ve barely found a clue.
On Monday search crews focused on the immediate area surrounding the holiday house. On Tuesday the search for answers moved further out, to beaches and the running tracks she was known to use. Car parks and bluffs were scoured on Wednesday, before the search moved to a 300m radius of her Aireys St house on Thursday and Friday.
There are now few parts of Aireys Inlet that haven’t been searched by investigators this week, but the question remains; where is Elisa Curry?
Inspector Peter Seel has been the face of the search for the missing mum.
“At this stage it’s really about supplying answers to the family, giving them some closure,” the inspector said yesterday.
Every morning for the past five days he has faced the media at the front of the Aireys Inlet CFA headquarters to field a barrage of questions. He has had some answers. He said Ms Curry’s phone was the only thing known to
be missing from the house, but it appeared to have been turned off since Saturday night and had not ‘pinged’ any telco towers since.
He said police had found no sign of injury in the holiday house, and that foul play had not been ruled out — but also that there was no evidence to suggest something suspicious may have occurred.
Each morning Inspector Seel has also revealed the answers investigators did not have.
“We haven’t had a sighting of her leaving or a direction of travel, or any indication that she was going to do it,” he said yesterday. “That’s the uniqueness of it.” Each morning he has been asked about the plan for the day’s search, and what would occur if nothing was found. Yesterday morning he gave the answer nobody wanted to hear.
“After all the areas that we want looked at again today we will be withdrawing the ground searching,” he said. “The likelihood of finding a missing person alive, especially out in the bush is very remote.”
Of all the questions the inspector has fielded this week, there is one that threatens to remain unanswered.
Where is Elisa Curry?