Australia’s worst serial killer could still be on the loose and could be linked to dozens of dead or missing women, a politician has warned.
Jeremy Buckingham, member of the NSW Legislative Council, gave an impassioned speech in Parliament between 1977 and 2009 about the large number of unresolved cases on the NSW north coast.
An emotional Mr Buckingham took some time to collect himself as he pleaded on Thursday for police to investigate the cases more thoroughly.
“We have to recognize that this is an absolute anomaly, a disgusting anomaly and that there is every indication that someone has operated in that area, traveled through that area, lived in that area, taken women, destroyed their bodies and destroyed their lives,” he said.
“It’s a stain on our society.”
Mr Buckingham’s investigation into 35 cold cases led police to state that 67 similar cases had actually been identified in the period in question.
The MP quoted Coffs Harbor Detective Inspector Gary McEvoy’s opinion that the cases were linked.
“Some of these were individual incidents; there’s no doubt about that. But many are connected, and there is a single perpetrator,” Buckingham continued.
Narelle Cox, 21, who was last seen in Grafton in 1977, is among the unsolved cases of missing women
NSW Legislative Council Member Jeremy Buckingham believes a serial killer could be behind 67 cases of dead or missing women
“It is impossible to imagine that in the area from the North Coast to the Tweed Heads there are 67 individual murderers who have escaped justice.
“Someone has done these things repeatedly.”
While Mr Buckingham admitted some cases were likely individual and isolated incidents, he believes many cases were linked
he believes there is one perpetrator who has killed many more people than the ‘backpacker killer’ Ivan Milat, who had seven victims.
“Some of these were individual incidents; there’s no doubt about that. But many are connected, and there is a single perpetrator,” Buckingham said.
“It is impossible to imagine that in the area from the North Coast to the Tweed Heads there are 67 individual murderers who have escaped justice.
“Someone has done these things repeatedly.
“The worst serial killer in the country’s history got away with it.”
Next month will mark 30 years since 16-year-old Gordana Kotevski was last seen alive
Narelle Cox, 21, who was last seen in Grafton in 1977, is among the unsolved cases.
She left a note for her family saying: ‘Going to Noosa to see Faye, come back on Monday.’
A truck driver later said he picked up and dropped off Mrs Cox in Brunswick Heads but was never seen again.
Rose Howell, 18, is also a woman who went missing in 2003 and was last seen in Bundagen, about 25km from Coffs Harbour.
Next month will mark 30 years since Gordana Kotevski, 16, was last forced into a car as she walked from the Charlestown Square Shopping Center to her aunt’s house in the NSW Hunter Valley.
Robyn Hickie, then 18 years old, was last seen at a bus stop on the Pacific Highway in Belmont North in 1979.
Despite extensive investigations and the offer of a $1 million reward, Gordana was never located.
Another unsolved case concerns 33-year-old Susan Maree Kiely, whose body was never found after she went missing in Bellingen in 1989.
Mr Buckingham said Ms Kiely’s brother broke down as he called for more to be done.
he also accused NSW police of ‘failing these women’.
NSW Police told Nine News there was ‘no evidence to suggest a habitual perpetrator was responsible for the disappearances’.
“The cases remain under investigation by the State Crime Command’s homicide team for unsolved murder cases and the missing persons register,” the spokesperson said.
“As part of the recent recommendations of the Special Commission of Inquiry, all unresolved cases will be reviewed every two years.
“All recommendations regarding the trials of unsolved murder cases have been accepted.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Police for comment.