Australia Australia - Michaela Godau, 15, Elizabeth Field SA, 19 December 1982

50shadesoflisa

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Description : Caucasian, 170 cm tall, slim build, fair complexion, brown hair and blue eyes.
Last seen: Sunday, 19 December 1982
Year of birth: 1967

On 19 December 1982 Michaela was at home in Elizabeth Field, South Australia with her family. At around 10:00pm that night she went to bed. Her family were returning to Germany (where they originally came from), but apparently Michaela did not want to return with them. The next morning members of the family awoke to find she had gone. Cash, Michaela’s passport, and some of her personal items were missing. She has not been seen since. She would be around 44 years of age now.

This is a picture of Michaela: http://www.australianmissingpersonsregister.com/Godau.htm
 
I know someone that looks so like Michaela. Everything I know of the woman seems to tally with the information about Michaela, except I'm not sure of the eye colour of the woman. How do you interact with someone who is an acquaintance and get up close to them to see their eye colour? Easier said than done, I've already failed at it once. Will have one more chance soon. Wish I'd never seen Michaela's picture. Does anyone know if Michaela expressed an interest in working in any particular line of work or occupation when she was at school? Or, whether she got poor / good / very good results at school? Also, does anyone know which police department in South Australia is handling this case?
 
A reward is now offered and here is some more information about Michaela:

"Michaela was born in Germany in 1967, but in November 1981 her family, including her mother Emmi and adopted father Herwarth moved to Adelaide's north. In July 1982 the 15-year-old's mother returned to Germany to work leaving Michaela, her brother Axel, and Herwarth at the family home.
About 10pm on 19 December, Michaela went to bed, and by the morning of 20 December she was missing.
Her father reported her missing at 5.35pm that day and she has not been seen since.
Some of her personal items, cash and her passport were missing, but Detectives who investigated the circumstances of the case believe that Michaela may have met with foul play.
A reward of up to $1 million is offered for information in this case leading to the apprehension/conviction of the person or people responsible for her disappearance and suspected murder; or leading to the location and recovery of her remains. - See more at: http://www.sapolicenews.com.au/more-news/22807-reward-offered-regarding-disappearance-of-michaela-godauq.html#sthash.o5CjyNL3.dpuf"

http://www.sapolicenews.com.au/more...garding-disappearance-of-michaela-godauq.html

http://article.wn.com/view/2014/03/24/Reward_offered_regarding_disappearance_of_Michaela_Godau_SAP/
 
Well. The family wasn't yet returning to Germany. According to the links above, her mother Emmi was working in Germany. She was still living in Adelaide with adoptive father (name given is Herwarth) and her brother Axel.
 
This case puzzles me. On the surface it is a classic runaway, yet the Adelaide police are treating it as murder. Whilst it is tempting to think that their only basis is that it fits into the spate of child abductions and murders in Adelaide from 1970-2000, I assume that they have stronger reasons to think that Michaela was murdered. I can find no trace of those reasons in the various articles, all of which seem to repeat the same basic information issued as part of the reward offer. So why do the police think she was murdered? Can anyone shed light on their reasons?

One obvious possibility is that the police have unearthed evidence providing a link to individuals or locations linked to the 'Family' investigations, even though Michaela would not fit well into this group (although that has not stopped the attempted links with the Beaumont case). This would mean someone like Bevan Spencer Von Einem, Harry Phipps, Trevor Peters, etc. Does anyone know if this is the case?
 
Sounds like a prime target for Christopher Wilder if he was in his native born country at the time.
 
Sounds like a prime target for Christopher Wilder if he was in his native born country at the time.

Good thought. He was in the country at the time. He arrived in early December 1982 and was arrested at the end of December for an assault on 28 December. The only problem is that this was in Manly, near Sydney, where he was visiting his parents. It is also established that he spent a lot of his time there in December as the police issued warnings (before the 28 December assault) about a man approaching girls in Manly with modelling offers (his modus operandi). Whilst it is not impossible for him to have visited Adelaide on 19/20 December I can find no evidence of it or of any connection with that city. It would have to have been a brief visit (given his other activities putting him in Sydney). The distance is nearly 1000 miles, too far for a short visit by car or even train and I would guess an air trip would have been noticed and investigated by the police given his arrest at the time. On balance he looks unlikely to me, but not impossible.
 
I do wonder about Mark Erin Rust, jailed for two murders of young women in Adelaide in 1999, and other offences. He would have been 17 at the time of this case and had a record of deviant behaviour with girls from the age of 13. I find it hard to believe he restricted himself to indecent behaviour for over 20 years and suddenly escalated to rape and murder in 1999. There is very limited information about his life before his conviction (although he was married twice) and I cannot find out where he was living in 1982. So this name is completely speculative, but seems to have the profile to be of interest.
 
$1m reward to help catch Michaela Godau’s killer

It sounds like the police strongly suspect the stepfather....

‘Police say it appeared that Mr Godau was not coping well with looking after the three children and he also had difficulty obtaining work.’

‘In early December 1982, the prospective buyer had come to the house to negotiate the purchase of some furniture and during a conversation with Michaela they noticed she had an injury to her eye. It remains unclear as to how that injury occurred.’

‘During the investigation one of Michaela’s friends had flagged relationship difficulties between her and her stepfather. The Department of Child Welfare were also involved.’

‘As part of the investigation, a formal approach was made to Michael’s stepfather to assist in the inquiry, but after initially cooperating, questions in relation to his Land Rover saw him seek legal advice.’

‘Investigations have found that the vehicle was sold to a Northern Territory tourism operator in the late 1980s and it then disappeared, ending hopes of having that vehicle forensically examined.’

‘Police believe she has been murdered and suspect that the circumstances of Michaela’s disappearance may have been created to try and fool the investigation.’

‘A reward of up to $1,000,000 is on offer to anyone who provides information that leads to a conviction for the suspected murder or the recovery of Michaela’s remains.’
 

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