Australia Australia - Melissa Brown, 15, Blair Athol, SA, 13 May 2000

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https://www.police.sa.gov.au/sa-pol...ther-and-daughter-to-be-reviewed#.WMU3mnDnLG4

Disappearance and murder of mother and daughter to be reviewed

The mysterious disappearance and murder of mother and daughter Rosemary Brown and Melissa Brown (aka Trussell) in 2000 will be subject to a review as part of Major Crime Investigation Branch’s Operation Persist.

The 33-year-old and her 15-year-old daughter disappeared after leaving a property in Dover St, Blair Athol early on 13 May 2000, and never reaching their intended destination in Klemzig.
The body of Rosemary Brown was found in mangroves at Garden Island about seven weeks later, and her daughter, who has never been seen again, is presumed by police to also be dead.
Major Crime Detective Brevet Sergeant Jodie O’Brien said Rosemary went to work on the afternoon of Friday 12 May 2000 at a Windsor Gardens school where she was a cleaner.
After work she was at the Windsor Gardens caravan park along with a number of associates and both her children, Melissa and Nathan, then aged 11.
Her son went to stay with friends, while Melissa and Rosemary went to the Dover Street address where they had been staying in a caravan in the back yard of the address.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, (13 May 2000) Rosemary left the caravan and Melissa followed her. That was the last time they were seen.
Rosemary’s handbag was later found by a member of the public at a Northfield address – on 14 May – but was not handed to police until media coverage of the case on 23 May.
Detective Brevet Sergeant O’Brien said Rosemary had been evicted from the Windsor Gardens caravan park where she was living on 7 May and that night she stayed, with an associate, in the caravan in a car park at Garden Island.
On Sunday 2 July, Rosemary’s body was found in vicinity of where the caravan had been parked that night.
Her associate, who was the owner of the caravan, has been interviewed by police, but Detective Brevet Sergeant O’Brien said he is not the only person of interest to investigators in relation to this matter.
“He had contact with Rosemary in the days leading up to her death, but police have an open mind in relation to what has occurred in this matter,” she said.
“We still don’t know where Rosemary was murdered, and we have never found Melissa although we suspect she may have been murdered and disposed of in the same area.
“Children fishing with their family found Rosemary and a police search of the area subsequently failed to find any sign of Melissa.”
The case was reviewed in 2004, will be subject to fresh analysis as a result of the long-running police cold case campaign, Operation Persist and was featured in the Sunday Mail today in a bid to elicit new information from the community.
Also as part of the operation the mother and daughter were featured on a set of playing cards distributed in SA prisons (pictured below) which highlighted unsolved matters.
The cards are intended to highlight rewards offered by the State Government in connection with unsolved matters to those within the prison system.
A reward of up to $1 million is available for anyone providing information leading to the apprehension and conviction or a person for Melissa Brown’s suspected murder, or for the recovery of her remains.
A reward of $200,000 is available for anyone with information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of a person in relation to the murder of Rosemary Brown.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online athttps://crimestopperssa.com.au/ - you can remain anonymous.
 
No one has seen Melissa Brown since she and her mother Rosemary left their home at 1.30am on May 7, 2000 to find her brother.

Two months later, on July 2, the 33-year-old mother's body was found in the mangroves of Garden Island, 15 kilometres north west of Adelaide CBD.

Police fear the 15-year-old girl was also murdered and a $1 million reward has been offered for information leading to a conviction.
1693954474277.jpeg
Melissa Brown before she disappeared from Adelaide in May 2000.

The mother and her two children had been evicted from their caravan at the Windsor Gardens Caravan Park in Adelaide and were staying with a friend named Mark Nicholls.

Mr Nicholls had a neighbouring caravan at Windsor Gardens and invited the family to move in. But then all four tenants were evicted from the park three days later, on 7 May 2000.

They slept at the Garden Island boat ramp in Mr Nicholls' caravan and had arranged to move the caravan to a friends backyard in Blair Athol.

Ms Brown would be 38-years-old.
 

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