Disappearance of Trudie Adams

Trudie Jeanette Adams disappeared in the early hours of 25 June 1978 after attending a dance at the Newport Surf Life Saving Club, New South Wales, Australia. She left the event early before hitchhiking home, at which point she entered a vehicle on Barrenjoey Road, and has not been seen since. Her disappearance is significant in that it sparked New South Wales' biggest missing person search at the time,[3] sparked extensive and ongoing national media attention, and eventually a $250,000 reward.[4][5]

Trudie Adams
Born
Trudie Jeanette Adams

(1959-09-19)19 September 1959
Disappeared25 June 1978 (aged 18–19)
Newport, New South Wales, Australia
StatusMissing for 42 years, 7 months and 9 days[1][2]
NationalityAustralian

Disappearance and investigation

Adams' ex-boyfriend, Steven Norris, and parents reported her missing on 25 June 1978 after she failed to arrive home from the dance.[6] Although police initially believed that the car she entered was a green Kombi van, Norris, as the main eyewitness, stated that he saw her enter a light-coloured 1977 Holden panel van.[7][8] Police who investigated the case originally cast suspicion on Norris. Eventually he was cleared, and suspicion widened to those involved in the drug scene.[9]

In the days after the attacks, a number of female rape victims, who had been assaulted by two disguised men, began to report a series of then-unknown crimes to police. Investigators then suspected that Adams' disappearance was linked to the 14 now-known violent rapes that had occurred in the Northern Beaches between 1971 and 1978,[10][11] and may also be related to an attempted attack on a hitchhiker earlier that same evening.[12] On 16 August 1978, a reward of $20,000 was offered by the New South Wales Government,[3] and over the years, her suspected murder has been investigated by police four times.[3][11]

Developments
  • In 1992, the case was reopened based on a refocused interest in the possible involvement of the green Kombi van.[13]
  • In 2008, the reward was raised to $250,000 for information which would lead to the conviction of her murderer(s).[14]
  • In 2009, the case's prime suspect, a convicted drug dealer and sex offender known as Neville Brian Tween, who was identified by some of the rape victims, was finally interviewed by police regarding the disappearance.[11] Tween, who had also been a police informant,[15] however, denied any involvement in the Adams and rape cases (despite circumstantial evidence), and died in 2013.[16]
  • In 2011, an inquest was held in order to further investigate the disappearance of Adams, which resulted in the Coroner declaring that Adams died of "homicide or misadventure."[17]
  • In 2018, interest in the case was reignited by the airing of the second series of the Australian crime podcast Unravel[18] and TV documentary Barrenjoey Road.[19][20] A number of non-reported crimes and previously unknown victims have also come forward due to the airing of the podcast.[21]

See also

References
  1. "TRUDIE JEANETTE ADAMS—MISSING: REWARD OF TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS ($20,000)". Government Gazette Of The State Of New South Wales (109). New South Wales, Australia. 8 September 1978. p. 3806. Retrieved 29 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. Twist to 30-year mystery of missing Trudie Adams, By Malcolm Brown and Nick Ralston, January 29, 2011, Sydney Morning Herald
  3. Jones, Ruby (30 October 2018). "Trudie Adams acted in this long-lost 1970s surf film — then vanished a year later". ABC News. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  4. Disappearance of Trudie Adams, NSW Police Online, ...Reward of $250,000 to solve disappearance of Trudie Adams...
  5. Summers, Anne (29 July 1978), "The Trudie Adams case", National Times (29 July 1978): 17, retrieved 29 May 2018
  6. "Disappearance of Trudie Adams - NSW Police Online". NSW Police. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  7. "Cop suspicious about men in disappearance". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. 21 March 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  8. Minus, Jodie (5 February 2011). "After 30 years, the truth about what happened to Trudie Adams is hard to prove". The Australian. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  9. Who killed Trudie Adams?, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 10 October 2018, retrieved 26 December 2018
  10. "$250k reward to solve 30yr mystery". Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 29 July 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  11. "Trudie Adams missing: 'Unholy' clues of infamous Sydney cold case". www.news.com.au. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  12. Davies, Lisa (31 January 2011). "Hitchhiker attacked just hours before Trudie Adams disappeared, inquest hears". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  13. Brown, Malcolm (21 March 2011). "Green van link emerges in case of missing teen". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  14. Morcombe, John (3 April 2011). "Trudie Adams: the mystery that has haunted us for 33 years - Crime - News - The Manly Daily". Manly Daily. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  15. Jones, Ruby; Mercer, Neil (14 November 2018). "Corrupt cop provides more details of relationship with Trudie Adams' murder suspect". ABC News. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  16. Jones, Neil Mercer and Ruby (5 November 2018). "Mark Standen had close ties with Trudie Adams murder suspect, jail letters show". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  17. Dale, Amy (30 March 2011). "Father speaks of pain of losing teenager Trudie Adams". news.com.au. News Limited. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  18. "Unravel Season 2 | Barrenjoey Road". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  19. Jones, Ruby; Mercer, Neil. "Barrenjoey Road". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  20. Dennehy, Luke (25 October 2018). "Documentary series Barrenjoey Road uncovers shocking new details about Trudie Adams' disappearance". Archived from the original on 25 January 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  21. Jones, Ruby (29 October 2018). "Trudie Adams vanished here in 1978 — and police think 14 assaults nearby may be linked to her case". ABC News. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
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