http://goo.gl/maps/XJCwk
^ The above link is to a view of a small creek crossing Wallman's Road, which I believe might be the area mentioned here:
"When I turned up on the site my brother David went back home to get mum and I stayed on the roadside and heard noises down on the other side of the cane paddock
muffled screams," he said. "When mum got back to us we all took off, David and I in one direction and mum in another.
"The little headland
between the paddocks, there was a little creek bed. At that time of the year it was nice, green, fresh grass and we could clearly see where two people had walked through very recently.
--- Looking at this stretch of road on Google, you can see the big farmhouse right at the end - I'm assuming this was the Wallman's farm? - then another large farmhouse, then in the middle of the road a white-ish car parked right where that little creek that divides the paddocks is. So I'm assuming this is the stretch of road on which Marilyn went missing. Her bike was found some ways *back* from the creek if I have it right, coming from the Wallman place.
http://goo.gl/maps/9t22Y
I imagine that very few of those houses were there in 1972. Probably just the farm houses, back then. I'd love some locals to chime in on that!
If you follow that road along you can see where there's a track of some kind veering off Wallmans Road near the end closer to town, leading across vacant land to where Eimeo Road is. I'm wondering if this a route still taken by locals to get to the bus stop?
Anyway, back in 1972 it would have been a much more rural area, very few houses. Marilyn's bike was found closer to home than to town.. it would have been very isolated, not a thoroughfare of any kind. This makes me think that her killer was either very local to the area and knew very well when and where to find his victim, or he wasn't local but had been watching the kids going to school, getting the bus and targetted Marilyn days before, got the timing worked out and was sitting on that road waiting for her to come along.
Though how he'd know she'd be alone that day instead of riding with her brothers, idk.
I just think presently that it's a bit off the beaten track for a random predator out looking for a victim on that particular morning- it'd be a piece of remarkable 'luck' for him, and why would someone who was not local (or there for a dedicated purpose) be going down that dead end road anyway? There's just few and far between farmhouses, no reason for him to assume he'd find a child alone along there unless he'd been watching or was a resident and knew. To me it's more likely he's scoped it all out beforehand and Marilyn was a marked victim for some time before he took her.
Being that in these small places, everyone knows everyone (MW's brother states as much in an interview) a strange car parked along the road for any time or frequency would surely be noted by *someone*. Also, if there was any men of dubious nature in the area, rapey types, rumors of child molesting, etc, I am sure everyone would know exactly who those were. Even if it wasn't openly discussed, people would know who they were.