WEBVTT - The long weekend | 1 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:09.160 Here we have Rachelle Childs suiting up for qualifying stint. 0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:10.800 Is it going to be a blinder? 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:12.400 Get the hell? 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:17.279 We're on language loved and this is the beginning lesson. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.960 We're gonna watch Rachelle goes, who oh where are carding now? 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:22.279 And here we go. 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.560 It's a sunny day at Wakefield Park Raceway, about a 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:34.040 two hour drive south of Sydney. Rochelle is wild about cars, 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:37.519 and she's wearing her favorite sports sonnies and gear up 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.520 in a racing suit. Her blonde hair is pulled back 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:45.959 in a ponytail and she's beaming with excitement. She's moments 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.040 away from jumping behind the wheel of a hotted upholder. 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:53.479 Can you lask rus before we go? 0:00:54.120 --> 0:00:54.320 Yeah? 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:56.560 Hey girl? 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.759 That driving experience was a gift for her twenty first birthday, 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.760 and it's the final recording. Rochelle's family has to hold 0:01:08.800 --> 0:01:09.039 on to. 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:12.000 The death of Rochelle Child. 0:01:12.200 --> 0:01:14.600 Twenty three year old disappeared from a pub in Bargo. 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:17.480 She planned to meet someone there whose burnt body was 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.080 found on a lonely South Coast road. Her body was 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:21.480 found in bush in GIRoA. 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:22.400 She was murdered. 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:24.560 The worst thing you could say to any individual, is 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:26.200 you're a murder and you kill my daughter. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:28.400 Rochelle was killed by someone she knew. 0:01:28.600 --> 0:01:30.480 We'd like to find out who did it and why. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:34.560 Evidence points to a crime cleverly planned, but still the 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:36.280 killer wasn't caught. 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:45.840 My name is Christie Child's and this story is about 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:52.600 my beautiful sister, Rochelle Child's. She was violently taken from 0:01:52.680 --> 0:01:58.280 us when I was just eighteen. Shechelle was vivacious, hilarious 0:01:58.720 --> 0:02:05.560 and kind. She was everything to me growing up, my mentor, 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:10.200 my protector, my best friend. I looked up to her 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.080 so much, and now I know she's looking down on me, 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:17.639 willing me to find the person who killed her. 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.440 I'm Ashley Hanson and this is Dear Rochelle, a podcast 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:31.440 about a popular twenty three year old who was adored 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:35.280 by her family and friends. Nobody has ever been charged 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:38.240 over Rochelle's murder. From True Crime Australia. 0:02:38.560 --> 0:03:07.760 This is the untold story of Rochelle Charles. 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:04.639 Hi, how are you? For the past year, I've been 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:09.480 working closely with Christy to reinvestigate her sister's murder. We're 0:03:09.520 --> 0:03:13.600 on a mission to finally expose who killed Rochelle. For 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:18.920 more than two decades, Rochelle's family has been fighting for justice. 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.880 This case should never have been left to run cold. 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:28.959 I've been covering crime for over twenty years in Australia 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:31.880 and my job as a reporter has taken me around 0:03:31.919 --> 0:03:36.480 the world. I thought I was prepared for anything until 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:41.560 I started investigating this case. The chilling fear that surrounds 0:03:41.640 --> 0:03:45.320 Rochelle's murder has made this story the most challenging of 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:49.680 my career. I've even been warned by former cops to 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:55.800 tread very carefully. Any advice for me following this story 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:58.920 you were suggesting you're going to do, I wouldn't carry 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:00.320 that out you. 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:02.480 That's thought that you should be aware of what you 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:02.880 were doing. 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.520 Sometimes you get lost in your work and you don't 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.160 realize what you've done until it's too late. Well, as 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:11.560 I said to you before you're poking a beer. 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:19.159 I do take that advice seriously. But while a cold 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:23.080 bloody killer and suspected rapist is walking free, no woman 0:04:23.200 --> 0:04:26.560 is safe and I just can't let Rochelle's family down. 0:04:27.400 --> 0:04:32.360 Our investigation is uncovered damning new evidence, Innocent people who've 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:35.800 been too afraid to speak out for decades are breaking 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:39.960 their silence for a shell. You'll hear from friends and family, 0:04:40.240 --> 0:04:44.760 investigators and key witnesses who've never spoken before. Some of 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:48.000 the brightest minds from our criminal justice system are helping 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:52.520 to reinvestigate her murder. Is it possible the killers through 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.320 the investigation so far off course it was impossible to 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:01.160 solve was the acting alone? Were there the darker forces 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:01.680 at play? 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:07.919 When you're dealing with sex offenders it takes years of 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.960 experience to realize how clever they are. 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.800 Fucking Blame on me because I'm in a by plot. 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.800 My worst fear is that person who killed Rochelle has 0:05:16.880 --> 0:05:17.360 killed again. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:29.880 Over the years, police identified nine persons of interest or pois, 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.680 and the coroner comprehensively examined Rochelle's death, which still didn't 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:38.440 lead to anyone being charged. But what really gets to 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:41.279 the families the lack of action by police to reopen 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.919 her case. Here's Christie Child straight after a meeting with 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:48.400 the New South Wales Unsolved Homicide Squat in early twenty 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:52.400 twenty four. Christy's an assistant principal at a primary school, 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:54.719 so you know she's taken notes. 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.159 It is that I don't know and I said so 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:00.320 you're not across this case and he said no, I'm not. 0:06:00.360 --> 0:06:03.080 And I said who is and he said no one. 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.360 He said, so no one in unsolved form societies across 0:06:06.400 --> 0:06:07.560 this case and already said no. 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:12.279 Christine Omman have been let down so many times. This 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.800 podcast could be their final shot through it all. They've 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:18.280 held on tightly to their memories. 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:26.120 Talking chins that were completely different personalities. She was just 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.760 out there more, you know. She was lovely and loud, 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.040 and Christy was just this soft little mouse. 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:33.360 It was sweet. 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:41.359 That's part of the dancing days. She looked up to 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:43.400 Chrissy looked up to the show. She really did. She 0:06:43.400 --> 0:06:50.520 thought she were Ant's pants. Now they'll find they'll find together. 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:51.360 Right up through Prime. 0:06:51.480 --> 0:06:53.680 It was lovely. It was a really good relationship. 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.120 My name is Lisa and I was Rachelle's best friend 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.120 for her entire life. 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:07.000 We owned horses together. 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:09.440 You know. We were dancing five days a week when 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:11.320 we were young, so that was a lot of time 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.440 we were spending. We removed a little a moving panel 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.800 in between our fences. You know, we'd jump over the 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:18.200 fence to jump. 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:18.960 In each other's pools. 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:20.840 And to have her in my life, to navigate the 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:23.400 good and the tough times. There were some tough times 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:27.520 where we grew up in Glenfield, particularly for myself being 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:31.320 of a Mediterranean background, and I got bullied and she 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:32.960 was my saving grace. 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:34.200 She was amazing. 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.200 She had away with people and away with the bullies 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:39.800 and had a lot of power, you know, and she 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.840 could stop them from hitting me. But she made something 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:47.960 that could have been utterly horrific manageable from opening barb 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:50.160 wide fences and helped me run through so I could 0:07:50.360 --> 0:08:02.160 escape before they caught me to distracting them. 0:08:02.440 --> 0:08:05.200 CHRISTI just turned eighteen when she moved in with Rochelle 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:08.200 in Bargo, an hour south of the hustle and bustle 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:11.320 of Sydney. It's a one pub town, the kind of 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:13.240 place where you run into your neighbor when you pop 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.720 out to grab the milk. There's a small strip of 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:19.560 shops with a bakery, a supermarket, an a vet. They 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:22.360 were renting a modest three bedroom brick home on a 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:27.000 small farm in town. If Rochelle wasn't restoring Holden's, she 0:08:27.160 --> 0:08:30.520 was with her animals on the idyllic six acres That 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:34.679 was her happy place. Sheelle needed the space mostly of 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.640 the horses, but she also had a cat and an 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:42.840 enormous Australian bulldog named Rolfe. By her early twenties, she 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.040 was selling used cars at a dealership in Camden, a 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:50.040 quaint town about half an hour away from Bargo. One 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.240 of the biggest perks of Rochelle's job a license to 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:55.480 borrow shiny cars off the lot. 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:02.360 We had big plays for the weekend and she was 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:06.680 supposedly getting a veal ss group A otherwise known as 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:09.840 a walking straw, because there was one coming into the 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.800 car that her boss had told her about and she 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:14.880 was so excited because she got to take it home 0:09:14.960 --> 0:09:18.240 for I believe she was having the Friday off, so 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:20.760 she was going to have this walk control for four days. 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:22.839 So we had big plans about where we were all 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:27.080 going to go in this car because it's such a rare, 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:30.600 beautiful car that not many people get to drive around in, 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:32.440 so we're all very excited. 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.800 My name's Fierra Anda. I knew Rochelle for about two 0:09:38.840 --> 0:09:40.880 years when we worked to Camden Holden together. 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:41.360 Well. 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.880 I was the hired as the receptionist and registration's clerk 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:49.560 and she was in used cars. Work was just funny, 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:53.880 we'd smoke, we'd have lunch together. Sometimes. It was just 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.280 a good place to work. But you know, like I 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:01.360 enjoyed it, she enjoyed it. She loved the talking to people, 0:10:01.400 --> 0:10:04.920 and that was her gab. Anyone who came on the yard, 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.160 she'd be there talking to them. She didn't care if 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:09.559 they bought a car. She was just happy talking to them. 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:13.520 Really, locals, remember the dealerships used car office because it 0:10:13.559 --> 0:10:17.400 was pretty iconic. They did business from inside a refurbished 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:18.520 red train carriage. 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.120 So my office was in the showroom and to get 0:10:22.160 --> 0:10:24.920 to the train station you had to walk along a platform. 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:27.959 It was a train platform. It was basically as if 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.520 a train had pulled up. It was an old red rattler. 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:36.320 Ruschall's office was, you know, not too far in, but 0:10:36.400 --> 0:10:37.920 it was pretty much there. 0:10:38.280 --> 0:10:40.319 So did you ever come here and see Rochelle? 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:42.520 And she was like, oh, yeah, yeah, I was here 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:47.080 quite often for whatever reason, pick up things, pick her up. Yeah, now, 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:49.280 I was here quite often. I used to watch her 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.760 move the cars around. So here was you know, all 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.360 of the used cars, and to watch her move the 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.040 cars around to get them into the right spot. It 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.880 was like watching in ballet like it was such a 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:04.880 precision where it's just such a good driver. 0:11:06.559 --> 0:11:08.719 She used to do a Caf and Kim dance, you 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:11.920 know the CAF dance where Cat does the donkey. She'd 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:15.000 do that going down the platform of Camden. I would 0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:17.320 not just stand at the showroom just laughing all the 0:11:17.360 --> 0:11:20.839 way as she do a little dance down the platform 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:22.040 back to her Offen. 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:35.120 The Fi owner Lisa Rochelle and her little sister Christi 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:40.120 were a tight crew until the seventh of June two 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:43.800 thousand and one, the Thursday ahead of the long weekend. 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:45.040 Here's Christie. 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:47.840 I was at Mum and Dad's house because they were away, 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:52.080 so I was at their house. I remember she called 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:54.520 me on her way home from work. I was on 0:11:54.960 --> 0:11:56.600 you know when you used to have like the second 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:59.000 line on the landline. I was on the phone to 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:02.360 my best mate from school and I heard the call 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.400 come through and I said, I'll just answer this quickly. 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:07.520 So I jumped over to the other line and it 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:09.280 was Rochelle and she was driving. 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.839 Because she always spoke so far. She just said hey, Chris, Michelle, and. 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:15.080 I said, hey, I'm on the other line. Erin and 0:12:15.120 --> 0:12:17.319 she went, oh, right here, call me back. I say okay, bye, 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:17.920 and that was it. 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:20.760 I hung up. That was the last time I spoke 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:21.079 to her. 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:28.120 That was at exactly five point fifteen pm on Thursday, 0:12:28.200 --> 0:12:32.000 the seventh of June two thousand and one. A minute later, 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:35.080 it's believed Rochelle flicked a cigarette butt out the window 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:39.000 of her blue nineteen seventy eight Holden Commodore as she 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:42.800 drove along the Old Hume Highway through Camden, heading towards 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:48.000 her home in Bargo. A council ranger happened to be 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:52.160 driving behind her and noted down the daytime and number 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:57.480 plate GV two thousand. The officer didn't see the driver, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:02.080 but Rochelle was a smoker. Fine for littering was later issued, 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:07.520 but of course it would never be paid. Rochelle's exact 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:17.599 movements over the following nine hours remain a mystery. In 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.920 the early hours of Friday morning, security guard Craig Duck 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:23.920 is on duty and heading to his next job. He's 0:13:23.960 --> 0:13:27.800 passing through seven Mile Beach, one hundred kilometers south of 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:31.640 Bargo in the coastal town of GIRoA, when he suddenly 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:32.800 compelled to stop. 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:39.960 So off I get I'm driving through I've seen this 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.719 fire on the right hand side, and I've gone in. 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.560 This is where I don't forget anything because it plays 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:50.200 on my mind all the time. I've walked in and 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.120 I didn't think much of it. I'm trying to kick 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.480 this fire out and as I'm kicking scend onto it, 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.840 it's coming back at me. Fee I said, it's ain't right, 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:02.679 and I thought, okay, I'm only grab my torch because 0:14:02.720 --> 0:14:06.559 this is not normal. So we went back out the 0:14:06.559 --> 0:14:08.920 same way I went in, grabbed me a torch and 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.559 all of a sudden, I got this flash of a 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.040 gold in the face and I'm going back and there 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.680 was a Bengal on a hand. 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:20.960 And I'm going Wow. 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:25.040 Made that phone call again a triple A in saying 0:14:25.760 --> 0:14:30.440 this is Craig Duck again. I need police here as well. 0:14:30.560 --> 0:14:35.160 I've got a crime scene. 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:38.200 At this stage. 0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:41.800 Rochelle's family and friends have no idea she's even missing. 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:46.440 Fiona recalls canceling her plans to meet Rochelle that night. 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:50.880 We'd organized for these drinks on the Thursday to go 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:51.880 and have a drink, and I. 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:53.160 Said, I'm not going to go. 0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.160 I've been on the phone all night. I'm just going 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:58.240 to go home, and we had that conversation down in 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.160 the train carriage where anybody could have heard that conversation, 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:06.040 that the plans had changed, that she was just going 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:06.760 straight home. 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:11.000 And what was the moment that you realized something was wrong. 0:15:12.000 --> 0:15:15.600 I got a phone call from Fiona. It was a 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:21.000 Friday morning, or around lunchtime, and Fie said, I can't 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:23.840 get hold of Rochelle and I don't know where she is. 0:15:29.280 --> 0:15:32.400 Rochelle's rosted off on the Friday, but she tells Fiona 0:15:32.480 --> 0:15:35.200 she's going to be popping into work anyway, but she 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:36.160 never turns. 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:39.920 Up the Friday night. When I got down to her face, 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:43.040 I'd been trying all day for her. Not to have 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:46.320 a mobile on was really unusual, and she knew I 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:47.680 was coming on the Friday. 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:50.280 I can't find her. She's not answering her phone. 0:15:50.320 --> 0:15:53.240 When I arrived at her house, the lights were. 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.200 All on, the car's not here, Ralfi hasn't been fed, 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:59.120 and the telly was still on, and I went, oh, okay, 0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.160 So I tried to call. 0:16:00.880 --> 0:16:03.440 And the windows were like, the blinds were open. I 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:07.160 could see it looked like she'd literally just left, gotten 0:16:07.240 --> 0:16:08.120 changed and left. 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:11.560 It was Friday night that we realized something was seriously 0:16:11.600 --> 0:16:13.760 wrong because no one had heard from her all day, 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:20.720 and that was very unusual. She would talk to multiple 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:24.120 people multiple times a day, so to not be able 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.200 to get hold of her, it was very strange. So 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.520 that's when that's when it started to get real. Friday afternoon. 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:39.240 That night, we called police stations. We called all of 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:42.600 the hospitals. We traveled around up and down the road 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.960 to see whether we could find maybe she had an accident, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:45.800 because we. 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:49.640 Were just trying anywhere to say as anything happened, is 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:53.600 there any police stations, you know, like just frantic. 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.480 My best friend's missing and I'm really worried. 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:02.600 And then the next day I'd printed out posters that 0:17:02.720 --> 0:17:06.760 said missing and her picture and I can't even remember 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:09.280 where I went, but giving it to everyone in the community. 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:10.720 I had a. 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:12.800 Job where I used to cook the barbecue. I had 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:15.159 three jobs, but one of them while I was at union. 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:18.359 One of them was to cook the barbecue at the 0:17:18.440 --> 0:17:20.919 markets on a Saturday morning, and she was supposed to 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:23.679 come there and she was going to bring her friend's 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:26.840 daughter today with her. So I went there because I 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:28.840 thought she said she was going to come, So I 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.760 just waited for her for hours and hours and hours, 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:35.200 and I can't remember the beautiful lady I worked with there. 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:38.520 At about ten o'clock, she said, you need to call 0:17:38.560 --> 0:17:41.159 your parents, and that's when I called Mama dad and 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:42.040 said she's missing. 0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:42.800 I can't find her. 0:17:45.160 --> 0:17:48.159 The everyone was just very displaced, and Christie rang us 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.199 on the Saturday and said that I can't find Michelle. 0:17:51.440 --> 0:17:53.720 I thought, what he mean, you can't find that? She's somewhere? 0:17:53.760 --> 0:17:55.720 Maybe she stay did her friend's place last night? 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:59.480 And what was that drive like back to Bargo. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.960 I don't remember. It was just a big blur. I 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:05.720 went straight to Bargo and Chris was there. I just 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.639 remember getting all fliers and taking it out to local 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:11.760 pubs and places around to sif anyone has seen or 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.720 heard of her, and rang with her work and know 0:18:14.880 --> 0:18:16.159 what they didn't know where she was. 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:20.320 The search engers its second day, and then a breakthrough 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.000 on Saturday. The family is told Rochelle was supposed to 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:29.720 meet someone at the Bargo Hotel on Thursday night. The 0:18:29.760 --> 0:18:38.040 pub's almost two kilometers away from her place. It's a 0:18:38.040 --> 0:18:41.320 typical country pub on the main drag Back in two 0:18:41.359 --> 0:18:44.960 thousand and one, It's painted red and green. Upstairs. You 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.960 can find a cheap room downstairs as a bistro, a 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:52.400 sports bar, pokies and a jukebox. Every Thursday is Paul 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:57.640 Competition night and also topless Waitress Night, so most punters 0:18:57.640 --> 0:18:59.600 on a Thursday are typically men. 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:04.560 I haven't been able to figure out why and why 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.400 at Bargo Pub did she go? If she did go there, 0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.160 why did she meet someone there? If it was someone 0:19:11.240 --> 0:19:12.920 she knew, why didn't she meet them at home? 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.760 Had you ever gone to the Bargo Hotel with Rachelle? 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.760 No? Never, never. I didn't really even know she'd gone. 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.080 I'd never heard of the Bargo Hotel. If she'd mentioned 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:25.000 the Bargo Hotel, it would have been one of the 0:19:25.080 --> 0:19:27.160 first stops on that Friday night. 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:31.159 She would never walk into a new place alone, and 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:34.640 she would never go and meet someone new alone. She 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:38.080 used to drag me around to parties, and as soon 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:40.160 as she was in there and felt confident, she'd forget 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:44.040 I was there. So she was a little shy in 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:45.280 that sort of respect. 0:19:45.560 --> 0:19:47.720 She knew too many people to walk into a place 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.960 on her own. She didn't have to ever walk anywhere 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:51.600 on her own or go anywhere. 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:53.200 On her own, and she wouldn't go and meet someone 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.520 that she didn't know, and if she was going to, 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:57.840 she wouldn't go alone. 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:01.680 While the families desperately search for any trace of Rachelle, 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.200 police are trying to make sense of Craig Duck's shocking 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.440 discovery at Seven Mile Beach. 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.480 I don't know what I was going through. I don't 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:19.360 really know. I was just going through, okay, the sort 0:20:19.400 --> 0:20:22.800 of bengle that flashed up in my eyes, so I 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:26.040 knew that I knew it had to be a female. 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:29.760 The operator asked me a few questions, and I was like, well, 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:33.040 there's all this noise, and there's cars, and there's something 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:35.199 going on outside. My dog won't stop barking, and I 0:20:35.240 --> 0:20:36.879 can't go to sleep, and now I think there's a 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:38.800 fire and I don't know what's going on, but somebody 0:20:38.840 --> 0:20:41.440 needs to get down here because we're quite isolated. But 0:20:41.480 --> 0:20:44.560 then it was a fairly short time after that that 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:46.159 I'd started hearing sirens. 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.880 Next thing you know, as a police are coming, why 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:57.440 are we going to get there? Or walked up beside 0:20:57.440 --> 0:20:59.760 their truck and I said, guys, you can't tell me 0:21:01.040 --> 0:21:04.600 this is a crime scene area. 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:07.800 My name is Carmen and in two thousand and one, 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:11.359 my husband and I were the on site managers of 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:16.640 seven mob Beach Holiday Park, which is approximately five hundred 0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:20.439 or so meters from where Rachelle was found. 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:24.720 Once the police got there, the officer's dawning of taking 0:21:24.720 --> 0:21:28.240 the officer in showing her situation. 0:21:28.720 --> 0:21:30.680 And it's a long weekend. I've got three little boys 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:34.600 asleep in bed, my dog's going crazy. There's horrible noises outside. 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:37.080 Something's not right. 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:41.040 How big was the fire at this stage? 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:45.520 It was conforming to one area, but it was quite high. 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.120 I can sense my emotions, you know, taking me back 0:21:49.160 --> 0:21:52.280 to that moment and that sort of fearful moment and 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:56.640 not knowing what I was hearing. And I could hear yelling, 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.240 and then I could hear a few sort of like 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:00.720 awful noise, says. 0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:05.080 What was that twenty minutes? Like for you standing at 0:22:05.080 --> 0:22:09.639 this crime scene, knowing what was burning. 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:10.680 It was horrific. 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:15.639 If I was the last person to ever hear her, 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.320 or you know, it was the last place she was 0:22:19.359 --> 0:22:22.119 ever alive, I feel some sort of connection and I 0:22:22.200 --> 0:22:24.160 feel so sad for her family. 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:26.440 That's so emotional. 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:28.400 After August time. 0:22:35.240 --> 0:22:38.439 Back in Bargo, Rachelle's family and friends are rushing to 0:22:38.520 --> 0:22:41.679 the local pub where her car has been found parked 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:42.280 out the back. 0:22:47.200 --> 0:22:49.480 We got into the car and I remember sitting in 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:51.840 the car and going, there's something wrong. 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:53.880 The club block was on upside down. 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:56.320 And she had a specific way that she used to 0:22:56.320 --> 0:22:58.919 put the club block on the hand or that people 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:02.320 used to point down. She would point up and jam 0:23:02.359 --> 0:23:04.840 it in the corner of the windscreen and then she'd 0:23:04.880 --> 0:23:05.840 lock the steering wheel. 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:08.359 And that wasn't done. It was upside down. 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:13.520 She would sit like hanging back the sort of cruisy 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:15.840 arm and you know, like she'd have the smoke and 0:23:16.040 --> 0:23:19.480 you know, like but it wasn't sort of positioned like that. 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:22.280 She did used to have her seat really far back, 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:26.919