Revelle Balmain: Breakthrough in cold case murder of a glamorous young model who vanished 30 years ago
Revelle Balmain: Breakthrough in cold case murder of glamorous young model who disappeared 30 years ago
Revelle Balmain’s former boss claims he has new evidence that police ‘never found’ that could clear up the case about the missing model.
Mrs Balmain was just 22 when she disappeared from the Kingsford area on November 5, 1994. The young dancer’s make-up bag, keys and a shoe were later found scattered near Ainslie St.
She was reported missing that same evening and has not been seen or heard from since.
A coronial inquest in 1999 found that Mrs Balmain died at the hands of an unknown person or persons, after which the case was referred to the unsolved homicide unit.
Photo of model and dancer Revelle Balmain is missing, presumed murdered since 1994
Following an anonymous tip in 2021, police have discovered a new person they believe is connected to the case, and are urging the public to come forward with anything that can help.
‘We want to identify that person and speak to everyone who knows him. And hopefully they can come forward and provide that information to us, not anonymously,” Chief Inspector Stuart Bell told Nine’s 60 Minutes on Sunday evening.
The new information, along with other police breakthroughs they continue to investigate, has led to the case being reopened, which will be examined by the coroner in February next year.
The 22-year-old had been working as an escort on the night of her disappearance and only joined the agency of Jane King and her husband Zoran Stanojevic six weeks before she disappeared.
Ms King also claims she has new information, claiming Ms Balmain was booked to meet Mr Stanojevic’s Serbian friends later that evening.
Former boss Jane King claims there was another client who met Ms Balmain before she went missing
Mr Stanojevic is not the man police are trying to identify, nor is there any indication he is being investigated by police.
She claims that he then left for Thailand the day after that meeting.
“Zoran arranged a ticket for that customer to leave Australia the next day, through a travel agent we always used,” Ms King said.
It is understood that the police are not investigating Mr Stanojevic in their new line of inquiry.
The focus of initial investigations was on her latest client, Gavin Samer, who denies any involvement and claims he dropped Balmain off at a nearby pub after his appointment.
Mr. Samer has never been charged and there is no indication that police still consider Mr. Samer a suspect.
Ms King now claims she has evidence he should be excluded as a person of interest in the investigation.
“I have been presented with evidence that takes Samer out of the picture to some extent, evidence that the initial police never found,” she said.
“I can tell you that his whereabouts have been verified, but that has not been verified by the first group of police officers who investigated,” she added.
A 1999 inquest concluded that Balmain had died at the hands of an unknown person
Police are urging anyone with information about Balmain’s disappearance to call Crime Stoppers.
A $1 million reward has been offered for information about her disappearance.