A politician has warned the ‘worst serial killer in Australia’s history’, who may be responsible for 67 unsolved murders and disappearances, could still be at large.
Back in 1977, 21-year-old Narelle Cox suddenly went missing while hitchhiking from Grafton, New South Wales, to Noosa, Queensland.
According to witnesses, she was last spotted by a truck driver who dropped her in Brunswick Heads, which is around 18km north of Byron Bay.
She was never seen again, and the leads went cold.
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The young woman would go on to become the first of many between the 70s and 2009, where a large number of women would meet the same fate along the state’s northern coast.
Because of this trend, many believe that it’s the work of one person.
Jeremy Buckingham, a Green member of the state’s legislative council, brought up the cases last week, and stated that ‘the worst serial killer in the nation’s history has gotten away with it’.
Likening it to a killer known to police, he said: “Ivan Milat was convicted of seven murders. There is someone on the north coast that has murdered as many or more, and they are still amongst us, if they haven’t died or fled the country.”
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He shared that there is ‘every indication that someone operated in that area, travelled that area, lived across that area, and took women, destroyed their bodies, destroyed their lives’.
During his speech, he began to cry, adding: “It’s appalling that it’s taken so long for this matter to come before the house and to public attention.”
According to MetroUK, a police spokesperson claimed that there had been ‘no evidence to indicate a common offender was responsible’.
But Buckingham thinks differently.
He said he’s been called an ‘alarmist’ and said: “It is impossible to think that there are 67 murderers that have escaped justice in that area from North Coast to the Tweed Heads – all individuals. Someone has done these things repeatedly.
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“This week I met with senior police who confirmed… the most senior police in this state tell us there were causal links in some of these matters.”
That said, he advised on a motion for police to finally release files on some of the cases within 21 days, and this was then passed by the state’s upper house on Wednesday October 23.
Regardless of these ‘similarities’, Premier Chris Minns still doubts the crimes were committed by a single offender.
He said: “We’ve got a cold case unit within NSW police, we’ve got incredibly committed homicide squad detectives whose business it is to investigate this information and if it is provided I promise you they will conduct a full investigation.
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“Now if that parliament decides to go down a different route we’ll respond to that.”
Since his touching speech, women on social media have shared their own stories about fearing for their lives in the area.
@heykayley on TikTok claimed to have been nearly kidnapped whilst traveling to Byron Bay just last month.
She said: “The man just felt so experienced in what he was doing.
“I couldn’t believe how quickly he ran up on me and how quietly, and how prepared he was. It was like I was being hunted.”
Topics: Crime, True Crime, Australia, World News
Britt Jones