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[Music] on the 23rd of July 2008 young mother Helen Munnings disappeared from the port
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city of Burnie on the northwest coast of Tasmania Australia she was last seen by
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the father of her child Adam Taylor who picked her up for a drive that afternoon
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his actions later that night were described as interesting extensive searches have been conducted but no
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trace of Helen has ever been found a few different theories were raised at the colonial inquest held into the case did
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Helen run away did she commit suicide or was she murdered [Music] Helen Manning's was born on the 15th of
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March 1988 little is known about Helens father she had no contact with him during her life she was raised by
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another Carrol Monique's felon has an older brother mark and two younger sisters Linder and
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Catherine Helen lived in Burnie her entire life Burnie is a port city on the northwest
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coast of Tasmania it has a population of about 20,000 people the Burnie port along with the forestry
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industry provide the main source of revenue for the city it is Tasmania is the largest general cargo port in 2004
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Helen met Adam Taylor Helen was 16 at the time and Adam was 30 they had a sexual encounter the night
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they met Adam tried to pass off the blame for this encounter by saying he was heavily affected by alcohol and it
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was Helen who came on to him he really didn't know what he was doing who couldn't even remember really what
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happened Helen instantly fell in love with Adam and thought of him as her soul mate they remained friends after this
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initial encounter but when Helen turned 17 Adam so she started pressuring him to
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commence a full-blown relationship Adam says he only agreed to a sexual relationship with Helen because she
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threatened to go to the place about their initial in Kiana when she was only 16 Adam said you were scared so he
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agreed to Helens wishes the age of consent in Tasmania is 17 years of age [Music]
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not long after Helen fell pregnant and in 2006 she gave birth to her son Tom tom is not her son's real name
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that has been changed for this story Helen was 18 years old at the time Adam was 32 Adam at first denied that he
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was the father but a paternity test said otherwise this presented a problem for Adam
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he was already in a long-term de facto relationship with his partner Karolina and they had two children together
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he told Karolina that Tom had been conceived with Helen whilst they were on a break in their relationship a man who
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had a child with missing Burnie woman Helen Munnings has told an inquest she blackmailed him into having sex Adam
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Taylor admitted first having sex with Miz Manning's when she was 16 years old Helen Munnings disappeared in July 2008
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when she was 20 years old she had a two-year-old son with Adam Taylor a man fifteen years her senior the inquest has
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heard about mr. Taylor's sexual history with his Mullings mr. Taylor told the court he had sex
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with her once before she was 17 and then about a dozen times between 2004 and 2007
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mr. Taylor said after Ms Manning's 17th birthday she threatened to tell police about their sexual encounter when she
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was underage if he didn't leave his partner when she turned 17 that's when she started getting all crazy about it
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mr. Taylor said he slept with his Munnings after that to keep her happy because he was scared he'd go to jail
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for having sex with a minor the counsel assisting the coroner Simon Brown asked mr. Taylor you had sex with
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her because you were scared mr. Taylor replied yes mr. Taylor said he was not attracted to MS Munnings and had
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contemplated suicide after sleeping with her he said Ms Munnings had also threatened to harm his partner who was
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pregnant too mr. Taylor given they now had a son together the relationship between Cullen and Adam had
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to continue on some level Karolina was of the understanding that there would be no ongoing physical relationship between
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them and they would only remain in contact over issues concerning Tom but the evidence suggests Adam lied to
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Karolina and continued his relationship with Helen Adam described Helens behavior towards him as its harms
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demeaning unpredictable aggressive and antagonistic helen constantly sent text messages and made phone calls to Adam
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about Tom this obviously created difficulties in Adams long-term relationship with Karolina they were
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already difficulties due to what had happened but now Helen wasn't making it any easier it led to a deal being made
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whereby all contact from Helen was to be sent to Adams mother Judy Taylor Karolina was of the belief that there
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would be no personal contact between Adam and Helen at all but the spot professing his wish to maintain his
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relationship with Karolina he continued his relationship with Helen he took active steps to try and keep her quiet
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such as buying a second phone Adam tried to deny that he maintained an intimate relationship with Helen but text
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messages between them revealed otherwise caryl money's Helens mother strongly disapproved of Adam Taylor their main
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concern being the big age difference between them but she had concerns about Adams treatment of Helen and his motives
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for continuing the relationship she did everything in her power to prevent the relationship from continuing she made
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several complaints to the police adamant that Adam had broken the law Helen Manning's mother Carol has been
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representing her family in court during her questioning of mr. Taylor ms Manning's made heated accusations about
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him controlling her daughter she said you were the cause of Helens problems you were the adult Helen was the child
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mr. Taylor said Carol money's had made threats and allegations against him over the years they'd known each other but
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Helen only had eyes for Adam and Carole's actions were the cause of some conflict between them they had numerous
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arguments and it actually got so bad that at one point they each had restraining orders yet against each
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other at the time of the disappearance Helen was living in a block of units owned by her mother Carol in Boerne
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Helen lived in unit 3 and Carol lived upstairs in unit 1 Helen and Tom had only been living there for a few weeks
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having stayed at various other places prior to that tom was being cared for in a split week by week basis Helen would
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have him for one week then Adam would have him for the following week and so on Helen owned a car but didn't have a
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driver's license so she usually walked wherever she wanted to go or relied on leaf spot family and friends on the 8th
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of July 2008 only a few weeks before she disappeared Helen dropped the bombshell
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on Adam she told him she was pregnant again together they went to a local pharmacy in Burnie where Helen purchased
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a pregnancy test she took the test and then showed Adam the result Adams strongly denies he was the father and
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says Helen told him that she was pregnant as a result of a drunken one-night stand
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with a nail that she didn't name but Helens friends and family say there was nobody else that Ellen had always fought
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and that Adam definitely would have been the father the coroner later found Adams story
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about the drunken one-night stand with an unnamed male to be untrue and said he was most likely the father after
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initially being anxious and uncertain about the second child Helen made the decision to keep it Adam didn't support
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this the reason he gave was that a second child would place additional demands on Helens already tight
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financial situation and it would compromise her ability to adequately look after Tom that's the reason he says
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he was against it but it's doubtful there would have been a way to keep her quiet that Helen was pregnant even if he
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wasn't the father as he claims Helen was going to name him the father this wouldn't be good news remember his
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mother and his current partner Karolina were of the belief Adam wasn't even speaking to Helen on the phone at this
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point on Wednesday the 23rd of July 2008 Helen spent the day at home most of her
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time was actually spent up in Carol's unit Tom was in the care of Adam at the time in the early to mid afternoon that
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day Helen left and walked into the center of town she left the keys to a unit with Carol and she didn't take a
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handbag with her either she left that in her unit her handbag contained her mobile phone her purse and her
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medication her purse contained her bank cards in her Medicare card her mobile phone was left at home but the SIM card
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had been removed due to problems she was having with a phone it was common for Helen to remove her SIM card and use
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other people's phones when she left the unit Helen told Carol that she had a doctor's appointment
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but checks with the medical center revealed that she didn't have an appointment she also left some Medicaid
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card at home she didn't go to the Medical Center at all instead she met up with Adam Taylor
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Adham it have been at work all day and arrived home at about 2:45 p.m. Tom was at home being cared for by his partner
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Karolina when he arrived home he swapped cars he left his car at home and got into his mother's holding you he left
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home about 3:30 p.m. Karolina so she thinks doesn't put a saw into the rear of his ute before he left Adam says he
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and Helen had arranged to meet up during the day he picked her up in his mother's
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u near the center link building about 4:20 p.m. this was actually captured on security
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camera footage so it could be verified but as for what happened next we only have Adams version he says they went for
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a drive Ben talked for a while they drove around until about 6 p.m. during the trip he says that he and Helen
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talked about matters concerning their relationship that were distressing for Helen
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he says Helen became upset and started crying however by the time he dropped her off
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he said she appeared off calm down Helen nicely talked about her pregnancy and said she didn't want to have an abortion
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after they were finished Adams says he dropped Helen off on the southern side of the bass highway in Burnie near the
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old paper mill he says he dropped Helen off here as she said she wanted to go for a walk along the beach to clear her
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head the coroner later made comment at the inquest that this was an unusual thing
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to do drop a young girl off at that location when it was getting dark and it was some distance away from her home it
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was roughly just over a 20-minute walk after dropping Helen off Adam says he had at home which was about a 10-minute
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Drive away from that location but before getting home he pulled over to have a think about what he and Helen had just
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discussed he then sent a text message to Helen the message was sent at 6:08 p.m.
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the message said keep your chin up there was no response but remember Helen didn't have a phone
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with her she just had a SIM card Adam returned home shortly after sending the text message to Helen when he got
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home he commented that he thought someone had tried to steal a small boat that they kept in their yard the boat
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belonged to Carolina's brother Adam said somebody had dragged the boat from the yard where he's usually kept down to the
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water's edge he told Karolina that he was going down to drag the boat back up but he first
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put it in the water started motor up and drove it out a short distance before turning around and bringing it back in
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Borneo it was dark Adam then spent some time he had in his back shed but Karolina said that wasn't unusual and he
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would often do that at night on the water's edge that Adam lived on at the time was actually the best rate the
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large stretch of ocean that separates Tasmania from the rest of Australia that next morning Adam loaded the boat onto a
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trailer and took it back to Carolina's brother's house Carol became concerned as the evening went on that Helen hadn't
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returned home she used Helens keys to let herself in to Helens unit but there was no sign of her Carroll remained
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worried but when Helen didn't come back the next day the worry turned into full-blown panic that next day the 24th
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of July just after lunch Carol reported her concern to the police and when Helen still hadn't returned
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home by that night Carol went back to the police station to make a formal statement
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Helen was scheduled to pick Tom up on Friday the 25th of July but she failed to turn up
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on the 28th and 29th of July police commenced to see Linda near search the searching area was expanded the next
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month a helicopter divers and a ground search crew were used despite an extensive
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search no trace of Helen was ever found the information about Adams movements with the boat the night Helen
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disappeared didn't become known until sometime much later in the search of the ocean outside
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his home wasn't done until June 2009 nearly a full year after Helen had disappeared the only thing of interest
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they found out in the water was a nine liter bucket filled with concrete embedded in the concrete at the top was
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a small wire loop and a length of synthetic rope was attached Adam admitted that it was his bucket the
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coroner said he couldn't draw any conclusions from the bucket it was found in a location which meant it was covered
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by only about half a meter of water at low tide Adams said the bucket was there as he used it to secure the boat at
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times however police divers have said that it was found in an area where it would not have had a purpose for being a
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boat mooring the rope was tested for human fibres but none were found but given it had been in the ocean for
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nearly a year if there was anything to find it could have been washed away long ago block-wise
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if there was any other evidence to find out there that two could have been washed away long ago it was almost one
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year after Helens disappearance that the search was done and the Bass Strait Ocean is notoriously rough and known for
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strong currents the boat was forensic ly tested but that also returned no result
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there is no evidence that Helen Munnings made contact with anyone after being dropped off by Adam Taylor maybe at 6:00
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p.m. the 23rd of July 2008 Adam is the last known person to see her alive there is no evidence to tell us what happened
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to Helen exactly but there are only a few possibilities the first being that she ran away and is still alive and
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living somewhere else this was the scenario presented by Adam at the colonial inquest Helen was young and had
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lived her entire life in Boerne all her friends were in Burnie and most of her family she had limited education limited
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income and no savings she left her purse and all the cards at home she didn't take any clothing or personal belongings
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with her at all she had never mentioned to anyone about ever wanting to leave or
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to run away extensive checks were conducted around the country and there is no record of her showing up anywhere
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her bank accounts haven't been accessed since the day she disappeared plus Helen was pregnant at the time she
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would have required some kind of medical treatment and there is no record of that
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ever happening not to mention it would also mean she would have had to have abandoned her son Tom whom she was
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extremely devoted to Helen didn't run away and the coroner actually rejected the
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suggestion that she ran away the possibility that Helen may have committed suicide was also raised
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although there was some evidence that Helen had spoken about or sent some text messages to friends about suicide that
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was only in a very general and conversational way there is no evidence at all that she had ever made an attempt
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or a serious threat of suicide and again it would mean abandoning Tom although Helen had at Tom's been down
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before there was evidence that she was actively making plans for her future suicide doesn't seem to make a lot of
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sense especially considering her body still hasn't been found which is unusual for cases of suicide
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also she would have had very limited means to commit suicide she had nothing with her to harm herself
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with the coroner though didn't rule it out in tirely he said it remains a possibility and the fact her body was
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never found would be unusual if it was a case of suicide but it didn't remove the
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possibility entirely one example the coroner cited would be that if Helen had swum out into the ocean so far that she
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couldn't return but most believe Helen was murdered there is no direct evidence to suggest another person is responsible
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for Helens death there is no direct evidence tying anyone to Helens disappearance including Adam Taylor
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having said that there's also no evidence to corroborate Adam Taylor's version of what happened that afternoon
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we just have his word for it the coroner found he wasn't telling the truth about
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his account of the nature of his relationship with Helens Adam was trying to say it had finished Jenny wasn't
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seeing her any longer but text messages found between them painted a very different picture in fact he took active
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steps to conceal his relationship with Helen from Carolina and his mother felons disappearance coincided with a
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time that Adam was trying to preserve his relationship with Carolina in circumstances that had been difficult
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for some torn the fact Allen was pregnant again would have impacted Adam in a number of ways the obvious one
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would be the increased strain that it would put on his already strained relationship with Carolina there are
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also concerns whether the journey he described to police would have taken the one hour and forty minutes he says he
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was with Helen and his story of the route they talked during their drive changed he gave two different versions
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of where exactly they went the coroner commented that just because Adam had been untruthful about the extent of his
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relationship with Helen it didn't mean he was lying about his account of what happened that afternoon likewise the
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coroner said no conclusions could be made from the inconsistencies in his account of where exactly they drove to
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that afternoon and what way they went the behavior with the boat was interesting but the coroner
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ruled Adams version wasn't far-fetched and could quite likely be true Carroll and Helen's grandmother visited at him a
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few days after Helens disappearance her grandmother alleges Adam made a statement of her which indicated he knew
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Helen was never coming back Adam denies this happened Carroll claims that in October 2009 she approached a
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time in a supermarket and asked him where Helens body was she alleges that Adam threatened her saying you'll get
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the same done to you that Helen did Adam of course strongly denies ever saying that the coroner had significant
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reservations about how true Carroll and Helen's grandmother's allegations are given the amount of ill-will Carroll in
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the grandmother have towards Adam the coroner doubted these comments were ever made effectively he was saying he
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believes Carroll and Helen's grandmother made it up and he went on to say even if
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Adam had made these comments he wouldn't regard a the statement as an admission of guilt the cranial inquest was held
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over nine separate days between the 29th of November 2011 and the 12th of January
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2012 on the 14th of June 2012 coroner Robert Pierce made his official ruling the coroner's found missing Burnie woman
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Helen Munnings is dead but he hasn't been able to say how she died their family maintains he was
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murdered into seeking further legal advice on the case Selena Bryan reports 20-year old Helen Manning's disappeared
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four years ago her body has never been found despite years of searching over nine days the coroner Robert Pierce
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heard evidence from more than 40 witnesses today he handed down his finding saying Helen Manning's died on
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ur about the 23rd of July 2008 most likely in or around but the coroner said the evidence
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doesn't enable a finding of how her death occurred or the cause the coroner said there was a possibility
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Miz Manning's took her or in life but that was reduced because of her love for her young son Miz Manning's was last
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seen going for a drive with Adam Taylor the father of the boy the coroner found it was likely that at the time of her
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disappearance Helen Munnings was pregnant and likely that Adam Taylor was the father the
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counsel assisting told the inquest mr. Taylor had the motive and opportunity to kill him as Munnings her
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mother hopes the findings allow police to further investigate how her daughter died were pretty pleased it's just it's
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acknowledged that Helen is dead and hoping that it gets out there more clout the coroner said there was no scientific
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or forensic evidence to find mr. Taylor contributed to the death he said he found fanciful a suggestion by mr.
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Taylor's counsel that ms Munnings is alive in Darwin her mother says she's seeking legal advice on what she
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believes was a police conflict of interest when the investigation began I'm claiming that the case wasn't dealt
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with properly at the beginning because of the conflict police say the investigation has been reviewed several
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times with no adverse findings the investigation into Helen Manning's death remains active and ongoing police still
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want to speak to anyone with information about how the young woman died Selena Brian ABC News Bernie the case is
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still open there is currently a $100,000 reward for any information regarding Helens
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disappearance [Music]