Well.. I had 2 hours free today in the city.. So.. I went to the State library! What did I learn? Not much Im sorry to say. I was hoping to come away armed with a picture of the car in the surf as I remembered, but I was surprised to find that the first picture I found of the car was published 12 years after she disappeared by the Sunday Times in an article questioning whether she was the 1st victim of CSK. I also learned that one would need at least 2 days to get anywhere at all. Also, the library's catalogue doesnt have most of the articles about JC logged & the lady working there had no idea how to use the microfiche with the printer attached. Not a good start.... However, with limited time, I thought Id start with the local papers in the days following her disappearance & I whilst I dont have any better idea of the "facts", it is overwhelmingly clear that the police at the time had absolutely zero clue about what really happened, including the route the car took into the sea, with reports all stating it was either driven off the groyne or down the access road in front of the clubrooms and across a "small" amount of sand. I did find a picture of the beach at that time with an arrow pointing to where the car was found which was exactly as I posted before. Forward and to the left of the pylon. The water was right into the bay and the sea looked pretty murky & rough. Its not that hard to see why the car wasnt noticed immediately IMO.
What was perfectly clear is that the reporting of the "facts" were completely dependant on the newspaper telling the story. Ie. The daily news consistently reported the car was FLOATING with both front doors unlocked, drivers window down and the drivers door was OPEN. 19 days later, 08Jul88, they reported "they are now convinced the car was driven off the end of the Cottesloe groyne". The West was the ONLY paper to publish the car was UPTURNED. One article mentioned the seat being found on 20th and handed to the ranger. Another article had a police officer stating the back seat floated out of the car after being driven off the groyne. One further article claimed they found a rubber mat they believed came from the boot located close to the groyne. One said they couldnt work out how it didnt have any scratches if it went off the groyne. One stated the roof was completely caved in from being smashed against the groyne. None consistently reported all the info nor the same details. I took photos of all the articles, but I cant attach them - still having the same manage attachment problem. I'll keep trying.
One other interesting article written in the daily news 23Jun88, right next to the first article I came across regarding JC "Police fear foul play", was an article about another lady that had left the sheraton on 28May, just got into her car & was dragged out by her hair and beaten for 3 hours by a man wearing gloves who ended up bounding her like a mummy in tape before driving her to Wilson in a small yellow car and dumping her out, throwing plastic over her, saying "Right *****, your dead " before driving off and leaving her.
The next interesting article was about another women found murdered in her bedroom in Maddington called Vanessa Devlin, 23, whom they were not ruling out could be linked to the death of Victoria Clarke, and that IF it was all the work of "the Southside rapist" his tally was now 18 rapes and 2 murders in 2 years.
Admittedly, I havent looked into any of those cases so have no idea of the outcomes, if any, besides knowing that someone is in jail for VC murder. Apologies if those stories are of no interest or not new to anyone. Also, there would be plenty more to find on JC if I had the time, which I didnt. If I can work out how to attach all the articles in the meantime, I will... Phew, feeling somewhat defeated now & reeling from the amount of seedy things that seemed to be happening around Perth at that time. Not the mention the other 16? missing girls to follow. There are some really vile people in the world & they just make me sick!
