Deceased/Not Found Australia - Rachel Antonio, 16, Bowen, Qld, 25 April 1998

[PrimeSuspect]

Former Bowen pool manager’s knowledge a mystery

The first call was made to Rachel’s home at 4.51pm but was not answered. Seconds later a call was made from the pool to Robert Hytch’s home and lasted 38 seconds.
Mr Pate, who had the lease for the pool, was the only person working but says he does not know who made the calls.
He told Rachel’s inquest: “All I can think of is that I was doing a water test or out of the office at that time.”
Coroner O’Connell found: “To me it was very clear that Mr Pate knew who made those telephone calls, and he wished to place himself the furthest distance possible from the kiosk when those calls were being made.”

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...lSF&utm_source=CourierMail&utm_medium=Twitter

Why do people withhold information that is crucial to a disappearance or murder? smh

 

[PrimeSuspect]

David MurrayVerified account ‏@TheMurrayD Dec 12
Queens Beach Esplanade, Bowen. The last confirmed sighting of #RachelAntonio was here at 7pm on Anzac Day, 1998. Pic from brief of evidence

David MurrayVerified account ‏@TheMurrayD Dec 12
The historic Summergarden Cinema. #RachelAntonio was dropped off here, but didn't make her movie. Pic from the brief.

David MurrayVerified account ‏@TheMurrayD Dec 12
Two cousins left the bowls club on the left and saw 16yo #RachelAntonio near the tennis courts. Last confirmed sighting.

 

[Fence Sitter]

Former Bowen pool manager’s knowledge a mystery

The first call was made to Rachel’s home at 4.51pm but was not answered. Seconds later a call was made from the pool to Robert Hytch’s home and lasted 38 seconds.
Mr Pate, who had the lease for the pool, was the only person working but says he does not know who made the calls.
He told Rachel’s inquest: “All I can think of is that I was doing a water test or out of the office at that time.”
Coroner O’Connell found: “To me it was very clear that Mr Pate knew who made those telephone calls, and he wished to place himself the furthest distance possible from the kiosk when those calls were being made.”

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...lSF&utm_source=CourierMail&utm_medium=Twitter

Why do people withhold information that is crucial to a disappearance or murder? smh

Without giving away too much about my personal identity i know the local pool setup very well. Its a huge area. If he was in fact out of the office doing water tests, mowing or up in the pump room it is a long way from the kiosk where the phone is located. A simple reach over the counter and anyone could have used the phone IMO. These days staff take the cordless phone with them when they leave the kiosk. What the phone setup was back then i wouldnt know.

That being said. It seems pretty unlikely. Local whispers on what happened are very varied.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

 

[ms madge]

http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...l/news-story/06105f9e6d103b22b0c5aa0847107961

Queensland police are considering whether to excavate at the north Queensland rubbish tip where the family of missing schoolgirl Rachel Antonio believes her body has been dumped.

Mackay District Detective Inspector Nikki Colfs inspected the Bowen dump on Wednesday along with the former manager of the site and a forensic officer, ahead of a possible excavation at the site.
Police say the move comes following "information" provided to them about the case.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Almost 20 years since Bowen teenager Rachel Antonio disappeared, her parents are hoping for a "miracle" after police dug up the local tip.

The 16-year-old was last seen walking along the Queens Beach Esplanade on Anzac Day 1998, and last year her secret boyfriend Robert Hytch was found responsible by a Coroner for killing her.

http://www.9news.com.au/national/20...antonio-cold-case-police-to-excavate-landfill

 

[PrimeSuspect]

Rachel Antonio case: Senior police officer suspended

Mackay-based Detective Inspector Nikki Colfs is understood to have been suspended over issues associated with promotional panels, in a shock for officers in the Central Police Region.
It leaves the high-profile Antonio investigation in limbo, with police yet to announce their findings from an exploratory dig at the Bowen dump in July.
The Courier-Mail can reveal that before she was suspended, Insp Colfs told Rachel’s parents Ian and Cheryl Antonio she had no plans to conduct a further dig at the tip.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...d/news-story/9db995d5c8533e71d2d301820c3e3d25

 

[Bohemian]

Rachel Antonio's likely killer loses court case
9news.com.au
4:39pm Apr 18, 2018

‘Robert Hytch has lost his bid to overturn coronial findings identifying him as the person who likely killed Queensland teenager Rachel Antonio.’

‘Rachel's likely killer attempted to overturn the findings earlier this year, with his legal team arguing Mr O'Connell should have acted under the 1958 Coroners Act, not the 2003 iteration.

They also claimed the evidence did not meet the standards of proof.

But Mr O'Connell's findings were upheld in the Brisbane Supreme Court today when Mr Hytch's request was dismissed.

Justice Peter Applegarth found Mr O'Connell applied the appropriate standard of proof and had jurisdiction to investigate Rachel's death under the 2003 Act.

"He diligently evaluated a large body of circumstantial evidence, including evidence which was not available to the juries at either of the applicant's criminal trials," he said in his judgment.’

‘Justice Applegarth said Mr O'Connell was aware of the fact a "high degree of satisfaction" was required before he could make the findings against Mr Hytch.

"A reasonable decision-maker in the coroner's position was entitled to reject key aspects of the applicant's evidence, and to conclude that the applicant gave deliberately false evidence," he said.

Justice Applegarth also found Mr O'Connell had used enough evidence to support each of his findings.

"Each finding had an evident and intelligible justification," he said.

"Each finding was one which a reasonable decision-maker could reach on the evidence which the coroner accepted."’

To read more click on the headline (above).

 

[Pi Thoughts]

Police are considering whether or not they should charge the secret boyfriend of suspected murder victim Rachel Antonio for lying about their relationship.

Robert Hytch, 25, was in a relationship with the 16-year-old when she disappeared on Anzac Day in 1998 after her mother Cheryl dropped her at the movies in Bowen, in North Queensland.

The same night, Hytch was at a party and is understood to have disappeared for 45 minutes.
Police re-examining evidence in Rachel Antonio cold case

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Came across a podcast called Searching for Rachel Antonio. Had never heard of the case before, but am now fascinated with it.
Here's the podcast link if anyone's interested.
‎Searching for Rachel Antonio on Apple Podcasts

 

[Itsapuzzle]

The inquest Findings, popping it up here if anyone wants to have a read of it.
https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/476843/cif-antonio-r-20160728.pdf

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Former Bowen pool manager’s knowledge a mystery

The first call was made to Rachel’s home at 4.51pm but was not answered. Seconds later a call was made from the pool to Robert Hytch’s home and lasted 38 seconds.
Mr Pate, who had the lease for the pool, was the only person working but says he does not know who made the calls.
He told Rachel’s inquest: “All I can think of is that I was doing a water test or out of the office at that time.”
Coroner O’Connell found: “To me it was very clear that Mr Pate knew who made those telephone calls, and he wished to place himself the furthest distance possible from the kiosk when those calls were being made.”

Category: | The Courier Mail

Why do people withhold information that is crucial to a disappearance or murder? smh

Yes indeed, why withhold information. The Coroner seems to think SP is not being entirely truthful, hiding something. Spontaneous theory, could the first call to Rachel have been dialed in error, the second call was to let RH know that he could bring Rachel to the swimming pool, he could have the key as he was going out, perhaps RH had asked earlier if he could? RH meets Rachel down the beach and brings her to the pool where there's an argument over the money he had given her for the fake pregnancy and things go wrong from there. That's all I can think of at this point.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

The mystery over the two phone calls. So the coroner found that it was most likely that Rachel made the calls from the Bowen pool. Robert says he was phoned from the pool by Sid asking him to close up the swimming pool so he could go to the movies. Now, if Robert and Sid made their statements to the police separately, as is usual, and without speaking to one another beforehand and at the beginning of the investigation, how on earth would Robert have known that Sid wanted to close early to go to the pictures that night if he didn't phone him? That would seem to indicate that Sid made the calls. Just my thoughts at this point.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

REWARD: The Minister for Police and Corrective Services has approved a reward of $250,000 be offered for
information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the
disappearance of Rachel Joy ANTONIO at Bowen on 25 April 1998.

INDEMNITY FROM PROSECUTION: In addition, an appropriate indemnity from prosecution will be
recommended for any accomplice, not being the person who actually committed the crime, who first gives such information. The allocation of the $250,000 reward will be at the sole discretion of the Commissioner of the Police Service.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

In the podcast it was mentioned that RH still lives in the Bowen area. And yet not long after the disappearance of Rachel, SP up and left the area and moved over 1000 k's away. That's pretty interesting.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

The makeshift diary found hidden in Rachel's room. H'mm, you'd have to say if she ran away, as has been suggested by some, she would have taken this with her. No 16 year old back in the day would have left this behind for her parents to find and read, that's 100 per cent definite. And who would go to the bother of writing about events with their 'secret boyfriend' if it weren't true .... the diary entries aren't written as though it's a fairytale/fiction, it's real life events, the nitty gritty .... and then to bundle it up like this, like it's going into a time capsulte .... err, no-one would, especially as all the other events in the diary have been verified and checked out by the police. The only conclusion to come to is that RH is lying about their relationship, there's no other possibility. That's not to say that he has caused the disappearance of Rachel, but it does say that he can very calmly and coolly tell untruths and hide information. Why the diary wasn't presented to a jury is enough to blow anyone's mind, hey .....
PS: Does anyone know where we can read the Matthew Fynes-Clinton article he wrote (not published though), about RH; would be keen to have a read of it and see how he reached his conclusion, would be completely interesting.

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Interesting quote from the Searching for Rachel Antonio podcast, Episode 5, around the 17.25 timestamp:

" ….. a few days ago I also received a call from someone who listened to the podcast and who knew Sid. They said he turned up at their Brisbane home just days after Rachel went missing. They were very surprised to see him. His divorce had been nasty and he hadn't been in Bowen for long. Hours after he arrived a report came on the news about Rachel's disappearance. The caller said they immediately wondered whether Sid might know something about it, given he'd just come back from Bowen."

Sid didn't have a car apparently, so he's either got the train or bus (maybe plane) down to Brisbane, over 1,000 ks away. Could this trip in fact have been to dispose of some item, article, far far away from the Bowen search area? The visit merely an excuse for heading down there?

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Here I go again .... Episode 4 of the podcast "Searching for Rachel Antonio". So, we have a family friend of the Hytch family who has read through thousands of hours of transcript and witness statements, and believes Robert Hytch is innocent of the disappearance of Rachel .... okay, so .......... here's a snippet of what he had to say:

"I felt that the police investigation was very shallow and that a number key persons of interest were never followed through, you know, followed through with examination by the police". Okay .......
H'mm, and then we have this:

"One felt the police investigation was very shallow and that a number of key persons of interest were never followed through, you know, never followed through with determination by the police".

And then we have the family friend adding:

"I suspect the other view was that - should have been that - and again there's no evidence for this - that Robert did go down to Queen's Beach and basically tell her that he was done with her and told her to get out of his life, I suspect. I have no evidence for that, but I suspect the subsequent sightings of the girl re-affirm that as a more likely outcome than the one the Coroner came up with."

Does anyone else have a problem with this??? What in the world ....... err, he's basically saying that Robert is telling lies to the police about the relationship, but hey, the police are focusing too much on Robert and should be looking elsewhere ..... h'mmm

 

[Itsapuzzle]

Hence .... the truth and only the truth absolute/undiluted will lead to the truth in the end.

 

[wrestlingpigs]

Police are still considering a perjury charge against former surf lifesaver Robert Hytch, five years after a coroner found he had lied to an inquest about the nature of his relationship with missing schoolgirl Rachel Antonio.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/true...ws-story/deb2c4015dc9fa28eb733fa69c871650?amp

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Twenty-five years after her murder, Rachel Antonio's parents are still without answers, or a place to mourn

The day 16-year-old Rachel Antonio disappeared is etched in her parents' minds. But they have nowhere to mourn.

www.abc.net.au

For 25 years, Cheryl and Ian Antonio have had no place to mourn their daughter.

There was no funeral, no memorial and no goodbye.

And there won't be until they have a body, or at least answers.

"We couldn't bring her home, we couldn't have a memorial service and put a real plaque so we could put some flowers there," Ms Antonio said.

Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Rachel Antonio is believed to have been killed.

The day she disappeared is etched in her parents' minds.