Debra Campbell: Cold case breakthrough as man is charged over the murder of RAAF woman who vanished 40 years ago

An elderly man has been charged with the murder of a RAAF member who disappeared from her home in Victoria nearly 40 years ago.

Debra Campbell disappeared from her south Melbourne home on February 25, 1984, after a disagreement with her fiancé.

Ms Campbell’s mother, Jean, reported the 21-year-old missing to police when she failed to report the following Monday.

In a major breakthrough, police revealed on Wednesday that a 65-year-old man in NSW had been charged with the murder of Ms Campbell.

The man, from Cardiff South, was arrested in the port city near Newcastle in a joint operation involving NSW and Victorian officers.

He appeared in Belmont local court on Wednesday and will appear in court again on Friday for a request to extradite him to Victoria.

The arrest follows a public appeal from police in April this year for information about Ms Campbell’s disappearance.

That same month, NSW and Victoria Police executed a search warrant and spoke to a 65-year-old Cardiff South man.

Mrs Campbell was last seen leaving her home in High St, Windsor, on the night of 25 February 1984

Debra’s mother, Jean, said she was “desperately hopeful” that a new investigation could shed light on her daughter’s disappearance

The order came after an investigation of the case last year by detectives from the Victoria’s Missing Person Squad, which led to new leads.

Mrs. Campbell’s disappearance had been investigated by the Air Force, of which her fiancé was also a member at the time.

Her mother, Jean, said in April she remained “desperately hopeful” that a new investigation could yield answers for the family.

An investigation into Mrs Campbell’s disappearance in 1998 found that she was probably deceased.

However, the inquest was unable to establish the circumstances of Mrs Campbell’s death.