Final Episode 5 - sorry paywalled again
In this gripping final episode, two bombshell revelations finally confirm the ‘real’ reason Raelene and Yvonne attended the White Sands Hotel that fateful afternoon. WATCH NOW
It was always believed the cousins went to The White Sands to see a band, but new information uncovered by the docuseries sheds new light on why they ventured so far from home.
In this final episode, a close friend of Raelene’s reveals for the first time the cousins had a pre-arranged meeting.
A 50-year investigation into the disappearance of teenage cousins from Scarborough has been upended by a shock claim about a car considered a critical clue to the murder mystery.
Detectives have focused on a white panel van with Queensland number plates seen outside the White Sands hotel on the day Raelene Eaton, 16, and Yvonne Waters, 17, disappeared from the pub in 1974.
The car was believed to have belonged to three men seen talking to the teenagers at the April 7 Sunday session.
None of the men — who stood out because they did not look like typical Scarborough surfies — have contacted police despite a nationwide appeal for information about them.
The final episode in the docuseries that probes the disappearance — Vanishing Cousins: Evil by the Beach — puts the spotlight on the car through new claims about its registration plates.
“I’ve never believed they were Queensland number plates,” the Perth woman, who is now in her 70s, tells Vanishing Cousins.
“I’ve always believed they were NSW plates, always. I can see it in my head — N-S-W. To this day, I still think they were NSW plates.”
The witness also casts fresh light on the mystery trio of men, who have been described as rough-looking.
She says she saw “three scruffy strangers” at a Scarborough house which Raelene and Yvonne visited because Raelene’s brother lived there. The white panel van was at the address.
“I remember Raelene Eaton,” the woman says. “I saw her a couple of times at Hastings St. A girlfriend of mine lived there.
“I did see three scruffy strangers. They were in the kitchen at Hastings St. They were just standing there with a beer in their hands — quite loud, rough, obnoxious and cocky.
“They say the three men were strangers but I don’t believe that. I think Raelene and Yvonne met those boys at Hastings St.
“One day we came home and the house was trashed. It would have been within a day or so of Raelene and Yvonne going missing.
“I don’t know who introduced them to the house
, but I do believe they were invited in.”
It is not known whether the three men that the witness saw at the house were the same people at the pub.
“It all seemed to happen at the same time — relatively quickly,” the woman said.
“The girls disappeared. They did.“
Raelene Eaton, 16, and Yvonne Waters, 17, disappeared after a Sunday session at the White Sands hotel in 1974. Credit: Supplied/Unknown
Det-Sen. Const. Peter Shanahan, who led a cold-case review into the disappearances, says understanding the nature of the relationship between the two girls and the three men is critical to cracking the case.
“There was a male friend of Raelene’s who was at the White Sands Tavern that night,” Det-Sen. Const. Shanahan says.
“This male describes Raelene as a nice type of girl, and so he wondered as to why Raelene would be associating with these three guys.
“A bad type — that was just a thought that ran through his head. And that’s consistent with a school friend of Raelene’s that saw them there.
“She described them as labouring-slash-fishermen types and they were out of place. She wondered why Raelene and Yvonne especially would be talking to them.”
The importance of knowing more about the men is underscored by another revelation in the final episode of Vanishing Cousins.
The white panel van seen outside the hotel on the day Raelene and Yvonne went missing. Credit: Supplied/Unknown
Part five of the true-crime series questions the long-held belief that the cousins went to the White Sands to watch a specific rock band — Fatty Lumpkin.
Music historian George Matzkov says that band was not playing at the White Sands on April 7, 1974 — the day Raelene and Yvonne went missing.
Mr Matzkov used an old gig guide to prove that Fatty Lumpkin was playing at the Kewdale Hotel.
“So the band at the Sunday Session at the White Sands hotel was in fact Orange, a totally different looking band to Fatty Lumpkin,” he says.
“So this is new information for the first time in 50 years and it’s great to shed new light on it.”
The twist gives some credence to the theory that the teenagers went to the pub to meet someone or some people, rather than to see a gig.
Det-Sen. Const. Shanahan says he is surprised none of the three men have ever come forward.
“I would like to think that at least one of them would have come forward but there might be a reason for that,” he says.
“There’s always been a connotation that one of these three guys — if not all three guys — had some involvement in the girls’ disappearance.
“Well I want to take the opportunity to say as far as I’m concerned you’re going to be treated like a witness.”
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Main points -
*Band was 'Orange' - not a band they would usually go to see, so points to them not attending Whitesands specifically to see the band.
New Witness 1- Never interviewed before
*Friend, spoke to Raylene the day she went missing.
*Felt Raylene had pre arranged meeting with the three guys at the White Sands - remembers name 'Gary' or "Gazza' mentioned and believed they were 'out of towners'
New Witness 2- never interviewed before
*Was a neighbor & friend
* Had a friend living at Hasting ST so visited house frequently
*Remembers three scruffy guys who would visit hasting st around this time.
*Days after girls went missing, Hasting st house was trashed and guys never visited house again
*Remembers they had a white panel van with NSW plates.
