Prayers for Elisa
Fears for missing mum Elisa Curry have grown after the discovery of suspected human remains on a beach near Anglesea.
ABOUT noon on Monday, February 20, the body of missing woman Karen Ristevski was stumbled on in bushland near Mt Macedon.
The bushwalker who stumbled across the Melbourne mum’s remains, cruelly dumped under a log, contacted police who passed them on for forensic testing.
By 5pm on Tuesday — less than 30 hours later — police had their answer. It was Karen.
The eight-month search for Mrs Ristevski was one that had gripped Victorians, and the 30 hours between the discovery of a body in bushland not far from the Calder Freeway and its identification has been the suspenseful high-water mark of the saga.
Seven months later, the small coastal town of Aireys Inlet has been obligated to endure the same nervous wait, with the same core components: a missing woman, an unsuccessful search and the discovery of suspected human remains.
Elisa Curry was first reported missing on Sunday, October 1.
The 43-year-old Surrey Hills mum had been at the family’s Aireys Inlet holiday house, where she had watched the AFL Grand Final with at least one neighbour the day before. Her husband, David, and their three children, aged between seven and 12, were in Melbourne watching the AFL Grand Final from the stands of the MCG.
When the family returned to their Aireys Inlet holiday house about 9am on Sunday, they soon realised Mrs Curry, her mobile phone and their black Labrador were missing.
Nothing else was missing, there was no sign of injury in the house and no sign of foul play.
The dog, which neighbours reported had a habit of wandering, turned up near a neighbour’s house that night.
Mrs Curry did not turn up. As of yesterday, she had not been seen since about 10pm on Grand Final night, when a neighbour saw her getting in to bed following a personal discussion.
In the days since that final sighting police, SES, CFA, and search and rescue crews have used almost every means available to them to scour Aireys Inlet for a sign of Mrs Curry.
They always returned emptyhanded.
It was left to Surf Coast Inspector Peter Seel to face the media each morning last week, as interest continued to grow in the mysterious disappearance of Mrs Curry.
Speaking to the Advertiser on Tuesday, the 10th day of the search, the inspector repeated a line he had had the distinct displeasure of uttering most days of the previous week: “Nothing else is new.”
Insp Seel had a more extensive chat with the newspaper last Friday, the day he had announced the “large scale on-ground search effort” for Mrs Curry had ended, and would be replaced by more ad hoc search efforts.
“(It has) disappointing that we haven’t been able to locate her,” he said from a quiet corner of the Aireys Inlet CFA headquarters, where he had spent five days leading search efforts. “It’s difficult to accept that we can’t find her, and it’s difficult because we can’t give the answers to the family. That’s the biggest issue.
“At this point we’re thinking more recovery than anything else.
“The best scenario is that she’s alive somewhere and doesn’t want to be found, that’s an option, but it’s more probable that if she’s out in the bush she won’t be alive.”
The search for Mrs Curry has left unpleasant questions hanging over Aireys Inlet: Where is Elisa. Is she alive. Will we ever find out.
When suspected human remains were found on Point Roadknight yesterday, senior police involved in the search for Mrs Curry locked down a 200m stretch of the beach. They may have found an answer.
Now a pathologist will examine the remains to establish the identity of the person and the cause of death.
Many will hope it again takes less than 30 hours to identify the remains discovered on the coast, but there is no indication of how long it will be until police can say for sure if they belong to Mrs Curry or not.
Until that result is delivered the once-sleepy town of Aireys Inlet will hold its breath, hoping to turn a difficult page on its mostly simple history.