Vanished West

Magdeleen “Maggie” Dempster has been missing from Western Australia since 1998. Almost 28 years later, her disappearance remains unsolved. The 27-year-old Aboriginal woman left Perth with her de facto partner in August 1998, travelling through Western Australia in a white Datsun touring bus with a distinctive blue side door. According to the account later given by her partner, Maggie left during t...

Justyna Kozioł was nearing the end of six months in Western Australia when a family trip took her more than 800 kilometres north of Perth to Shark Bay. On a Monday morning in March 2014, the 28-year-old Polish woman disappeared from the small coastal town of Denham. More than twelve years later, one question remains: what happened to Justyna? Vanished West examines the known timeline, the search t...

In April 2022, 75-year-old Jeanne D’Arcy disappeared fromCottesloe, Western Australia, after leaving the Ocean Beach Hotel late at night. But Jeanne’s connection to Cottesloe began almost sixtyyears earlier, when she was one of a small group of young women finding their place in WA’s emerging surf culture. On the day she disappeared, Jeanne was trying to change herlife. She had sought legal advice...

In August 2015, Rigby Fielding spent a Saturday afternoon in East Perth. He called his mother and said he was heading home to Rockingham. He never arrived. Months later, some of Rigby’s belongings were found in bushland south of Perth. Rigby wasn’t with them. More than a decade later, questions remain about where he went after leaving East Perth, who he may have spoken to that day, and how his bel...

In February 2021, 57-year-old Kichae Kwon left his home in Kenwick for what appeared to be an ordinary walk. Witnesses saw him heading along Kenwick Road before turning into Belmont Street. After that, no verified sighting of him has ever been made. Follow Vanished West wherever you're listening, and on social media, so you never miss a new episode. Vanished West is independently researched and pr...

In May 2010, 41-year-old Dean Pollard disappeared from Perth, Western Australia. More than sixteen years later, he has never been found. His final weeks left behind a complicated trail, but one moment remains remarkably precise: at approximately 3:15 one morning, Dean made a phone call. It went unanswered. His phone was never used again. What happened after 3:15?Follow Vanished West wherever you'r...

Something a little different from Vanished West today. I'm stepping away from the usual case format to answer six questions about the podcast, the cases that stay with me, what happens behind the scenes, the strange messages and tips that sometimes find their way to me... and, somehow, snakes. We talk research rabbit holes, the realities of making Vanished West, the emotional weight of telling the...

Paul Murphy was 24 years old when he disappeared from Western Australia in 1986. Living in Perth at the time, Paul was quiet and independent, with an interest in prospecting and gold mining. Then contact with his family stopped. For years, very little was known publicly about where Paul had gone. But the full story of his disappearance stretches far beyond his home in Wembley. This episode follows...

Joseph da Silva was 34 years old when he disappeared from Perth in April 2017. In the days before he vanished, he returned several times to City Beach, a place he knew well. When his family realised something was wrong, they found his apartment untouched, with his phone, wallet, passport and keys still inside. This episode follows Joseph's final known movements, the investigation that followed, an...

Rebecca Anne Delalande was 23 years old when she disappeared from Perth in November 2001. For more than sixteen years, her family believed she had left Western Australia. Then Cold Case detectives investigating the disappearance of Lisa Jane Brown went looking for Rebecca as a witness and discovered she was missing too. This episode follows Rebecca's final known movements, the investigation that e...

In 2013, Alfred Keith Crozier walked away from his Perth home and was never seen again. More than a decade later, a coronial inquest uncovered the extraordinary events leading up to his disappearance. What really happened during those final weeks? Follow Vanished West wherever you're listening, and on social media, so you never miss a new episode. Vanished West is independently researched and prod...

In January 2013, Michael Keith Graham travelled to Western Australia's remote Goldfields for a prospecting trip. Days later, he vanished. Searchers eventually discovered two handwritten messages in the dirt: "Walking very weak" and "Help". Despite an extraordinary search involving police, specialist trackers and aircraft, Michael was never found. .Follow Vanished West wherever you're listening, an...

A mother and her baby disappeared. Decades later, questions remain. In 1998, Veronica Lockyer and her baby daughter Adell vanished in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. This week on Vanished West, we retrace the known timeline, the investigation that followed, and the unanswered questions surrounding their disappearance. If you have information about Veronica and baby Adell's disappearance, pleas...

On a warm December night in 1977, 21-year-old Lorraine Kessey left friends after a night out in Perth and began the short journey home to Maddington. She never arrived. Nearly five decades later, Lorraine remains one of Western Australia's oldest unsolved missing persons cases. In this episode of Vanished West, we retrace her final known movements, explore the investigation, and examine why her fa...

In February 2006 John left Perth and travelled east through regional Western Australia. He spoke with police, called his insurer and stayed in contact with the people who cared about him. Then the calls stopped. John's car was recovered near Menzies, but John was never found. In this episode, I retrace John's final known journey, explore the life he built after leaving South Dublin for Western Aus...

In April 1997, Josephine Jennings gave evidence against a man she had accused of rape. It was the last confirmed time she was ever seen. In this episode of Vanished West, we explore the life ofthe proud Wangkai and Wongi woman from Western Australia's Goldfields, the courage it took to speak, and the unanswered questions surrounding her disappearance nearly three decades later.⚠️ Content warning:...

In June 2003, 25-year-old Simon Gurrier-Jones left Perth alone. By the following morning, he was more than 1,000 kilometres from home, travelling east along the Eyre Highway. What happened on that journey — and what happened after he reached Cocklebiddy — has never been fully known. In this episode of Vanished West, we look at Simon’s disappearance, the private distress that may have preceded it,...

On 22 October 1959, 31-year-old Winifred Peace disappeared from her home in Bentley, Western Australia. She left behind two young children, an unhappy marriage, mounting financial pressures and a trail of unanswered questions that would persist for decades. In the days that followed, there were reported sightings across Perth. Some people were convinced they had seen her. Others believed she had n...

In December 1997, 24-year-old William Maddison French travelled north through Western Australia hoping for a fresh start. After a final call from Carnarvon, he vanished. What followed would become one of Western Australia's most unusual missing persons investigations. A case spanning multiple states, borrowed identities and decades of unanswered questions. Some stories feel stranger than fiction....

In 1994, Richard Milgin and Julie Buck left Looma together, hoping to build a future on their own terms. Months later, Julie's remains were found. Richard was never seen again. For more than three decades, rumours, allegations and unanswered questions have surrounded this Kimberley case. Was it a tragic accident? A deliberate act of violence? Or is the truth still known only to those who have neve...

In August 1987, 28-year-old Sally Greenham failed to arrive at a work meeting in Geraldton, Western Australia. At first, there appeared to be a simple explanation. But as days turned into weeks, and weeks into years, Sally vanished not only from public view, but from every part of her life. Nearly four decades later, she has never been found. In this episode of Vanished West, we explore Sally's li...

On December 15, 2020, Ian Tolli went kayaking off Point Peron in Western Australia. He never returned. His kayak was found drifting offshore. His paddle was recovered the following day. Ian has not been seen since. Follow Vanished West for more stories from across Western Australia. Support the show via Buy Me a Coffee .

In January 2017, Hendrick Oosterbaan abandoned a hire car in the remote Western Australian town of Menzies and disappeared into the Goldfields. A respected communications consultant, father and trusted family friend, Hendrick appeared to be living an ordinary life. But as serious allegations emerged, a far darker picture began to unfold. In this episode of Vanished West, we examine trust, deceptio...

Parbhat came to Australia to study, work and build a better future. By August 2024, he was alone in Albany — living in his car, far from home, and carrying pressures few people around him fully understood. Last seen at The Gap, his story raises powerful questions about isolation, expectation, and the hidden struggles many international students face in Australia. If this episode has affected you,...

Sharon Fulton disappeared from Perth in March 1986 after dropping off her young son. She was a mother of four and before she vanished, she told people she feared for her life. What followed was decades of unanswered questions, shifting explanations, and a case that would eventually become one of Western Australia’s most significant no-body murder convictions. This episode of Vanished West explores...