Matthew Leveson

Ten years on, the missing man’s parents can finally lay him to rest

AFTER DAYS OF SEARCHING IN dense bushland for the remains of their son Matthew, who was last seen 10 years ago, Mark and Faye Leveson knew time was running out. “We were speaking to the detectives and thinking there’s probably less than three-quarters of an hour to finish off and walk away— again,” Mark said, fearing yet another unsuccessful search effort. “And then they found Matt.”

For the Levesons, the May 31 discovery of Matt’s remains under a cabbage-tree palm was bittersweet—the culmination of years of searching not only for his remains but for the truth about his death. And although the “where” part of the puzzle has now been solved, questions surrounding the “why” and “how” are likely to remain unanswered.

Finding their son, who was 20 when he went missing, has come at a massive cost for the Levesons. Last year, in consultation with police, they agreed to co-operate with Matthew’s former boyfriend, Michael Atkins, who in 2009 was acquitted of his 2007 murder. After being granted immunity from perjury and contempt-of-court charges, Atkins led police to the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, where Matthew’s skeletal remains were eventually found. (DNA testing confirmed the match three days later.)

At the time, Faye told WHO their decision, made with authorities, to co-operate with Atkins had been “torturous and heartbreaking ... We forfeited justice because as a mum you just want your boy back.” Forfeiture or not, the hope of justice remains in the Levesons’ hearts and minds. Dismissing the term “closure” as offensive, Mark Leveson told a media conference on June 1: “Please don’t use that C word—we’re looking for justice, for resolution, but not closure.”