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Married couple missing and murdered in the outback

August 31, 2024 / 01:23:50

This episode discusses the mysterious disappearance of Ray and Jenny Kellet in March 2015 while prospecting in the Bell Chambers area near Sandstone, Western Australia. Key topics include the discovery of their dog Ella, the search efforts, and the investigation into their deaths.

Ray and Jenny Kellet, experienced campers, went missing during a prospecting trip. Their dog Ella was found wandering alone at a caravan park, prompting concern from their family. The couple's campsite was discovered abandoned, with signs indicating they had left in a hurry.

Graham Mil, a coworker who accompanied them, was the last person to see them alive. His conflicting statements about his whereabouts during the time of their disappearance raised suspicions. The search for the couple included extensive ground and aerial searches, but only Ray's body was found in an abandoned mine shaft.

The coroner's inquest concluded that Ray's death was a homicide, but Jenny's fate remains unknown. The investigation has faced challenges, including a lack of evidence and conflicting accounts from witnesses.

The episode highlights the ongoing search for answers and the impact of the case on the families involved, as well as the community's efforts to keep the memory of Ray and Jenny alive.

TLDR

Ray and Jenny Kellet went missing in 2015 during a prospecting trip, leading to a complex investigation into their disappearance and Ray's death.

Episode

1:23:50
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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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and for a more detailed list of content warnings please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
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website the remote Shire of sandstone sits roughly 715 km Northeast of Perth in the heart of the merchon district
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once a thriving gold mining town by 2015 Sandstone had a population of less than
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990 residents while some Outsiders still Venture there to try their luck on the goldfields more are drawn by the natural
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beauty and Outback charm of the area at night the rugged red terrain gives way to uninterrupted Sky views
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providing tourists with Unforgettable sunsets and worldclass stargazing many visitors to Sandstone
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choose to camp in the surrounding Outback but those seeking greater Creature Comforts have the option of
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staying at the Caravan Park conveniently located in the center of town on Saturday March 28th 2015 the
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parks manager Caroline kramp noticed an unfamiliar presence wandering through the
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grounds it was an aging black and white great dane that appeared hungry as though she hadn't eaten for several
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days Caroline approached the dog with a bowl of water she thirstily accepted despite being tired and a
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little on the thin side it was clear to Caroline that the dog was was domesticated she was friendly wore a
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collar and appeared to be well taken care of with no blisters or Burns at the bottom of her
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paes Caroline spent the next two days looking after the dog expecting that her owners would show up to claim
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her when nobody did Caroline contacted the local Shire and gave them the registration number on the dog's
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tag they identified the Great Dane to be named Ella her owners Ray and Jenny kellet were registered as living in
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Beverly a country Town 710 km south of sandstone calls were placed to both Ray and Jenny's mobile
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phones neither of them answered [Music] [Music] 47-year-old Ray kellet and his wife
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49-year-old Jenny had adopted Ella from the Great Dane lovers Association of Western Australia in
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2009 a rescued breeding dog with a history of being mistreated the kellet were able to offer Ella the good life
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she deserved [Music] the couple lived on a 150 acre hobby Farm just outside of Beverly where they
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raised cattle and sheep and grew their own herbs and vegetables although Ella had plenty of
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space to run around she mostly chose to stay by Ray into Jenny's sides the couple had met in 2004 and
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they'd been Inseparable ever since both were divorced with the children from their previous marriages Jenny with
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three kids and Ry with two with a mutual love for the outdoors and a shared passion for working on their Farm Ry and
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Jenny were described as being laminated together Ella became like their Shadow wherever Ray and Jenny went Ella went
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too therefore when ry's daughter Melanie received a call from the Council on Tuesday March 31 2015 saying that Ella
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had been found wandering alone at the sandstone Caravan Park she immediately knew something was
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wrong Melanie sometimes helped take care of Ella and she'd been listed on her registration in case of
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emergency she tried calling Ray and Jenny but with no success she then called Jenny's
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daughters who immediately shared melan's concerns they all knew how attached to Ray and Jenny were to Ella if they'd
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become separated from her for any reason they be doing everything in their power
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to get her back the fact that they'd made no apparent attempt to do so was a major
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red flag for the families the last any of them had spoken to Ray and Jenny was 13 days prior on
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Wednesday March 18 the couple had mentioned they were going on a gold prospecting trip out
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near sandstone and they planned to return in early April they said they'd be unreachable
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for about 10 of those days because they'd have no mobile phone reception for the bulk of the
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trip nothing about this was out of the ordinary for Ray or Jenny they were both AED experienced campers who spent a
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majority of their spare time Outdoors prospecting was a new hobby of theirs and they'd been excitedly
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preparing for the trip for months Ray and Jenny had been secretive about where exactly they were heading
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which was nothing unusual for Prospectors their research had led them to believe
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there were hopes of finding gold at their intended site and they wanted to keep the location Under
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Wraps Ray and Jenny had left their families the number for a satellite telephone they could call in case of
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emergency one of their daughters dialed the number a male answered but it wasn't Ry
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it was Graham mil an older coworker of Ray and Jenny's the trio worked together at cloudbreak a
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fly in fly out mining site in the pilra region of Western Australia and it was through Graham that Ray and Jenny had
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developed an interest in prospecting for the past few months he'd been teaching them the basics in
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preparation for the trip Graham mil said that he'd joined the kellet for the first leg of their
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prospecting trip they'd set up camp at Bell Chambers a remote area 30 km south of
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sandstone Graham had only stayed for a few days because he was due back at work but he said Ray and Jenny had plans to
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travel onwards after he was gone Graham said he'd Departed the camp in the early hours of Sunday March 22
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while Ray and Jenny were still sleeping he hadn't heard from either of them since the closest police station to
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Sandstone was 155 km West in the town of Mount magnet Ray and Jenny's family immediately contacted the station to
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file a missing person's report although they had very little information about where the couple could
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be the Constable on duty contacted the Shire of sandstone and advised Council workers to be on the lookout for Ray and
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Jenny who were driving two vehicles between them an old beige Land crew a ute and a new black Land Rover
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Discovery both vehicles were Towing trailers one of which contained a red quad bike but two Council workers were
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already onto it one of them had seen Ella a week earlier in an area known as Bell Chambers a 5 km stretch of flat
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ochre desert pockmarked with old M shafts trenches moldar trees and salt Bush Ray had ALS o previously contacted
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the council seeking information about the area so this seemed like a good place to
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start the council workers headed out to Bell Chambers and soon came across a group of campers who pointed them
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towards a campsite they believed might belong to the kets the council workers promptly
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located the campsite which was set between a low Granite outc crop and a creek bed Ray and Jenny's two vehicles were
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were there along with what looked like a typical Camp setup there was a trailer Top tent a washing line with clothing
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hanging on it a table containing a dirty frying pan and unfinished cups of coffee but when the council workers got
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out to take a closer look they noticed some unusual details untouched food including a
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rancid slab of meat sat out in the open a portable fridge was no longer cold and
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it's contents were spoiled the council workers approached Jenny's Land Cruiser the doors were
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unlocked and the keys were still in the ignition but there was no sign of Jenny or
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Ray they turned their attention to Ray new Land Rover this too was unlocked with the keys in the
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ignition some of the windows were slightly a jar and the interior was wet from the recent
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rain on the right hand door handle was a wasp nest which looked like it had only
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recently been built inside the vehicle on the back seat were two Firearms one was in its case while a 22
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magnum rifle sat in the open loaded and wet from the rain clothes and cartons of cigarettes
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were also strewn around to the back seat while it looked as though the campsite had been unoccupied for some
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time nothing found there raised any alarm it looked like its occupants had simply abandoned it all of a
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sudden the council workers used the satellite phone to inform the Constable what they'd
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found he advised them to take the Firearms back to Sandstone so they could be secured the council workers then wrote a
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note for Ray with their contact details on it explaining why they'd taken his guns and left it on his dashboard
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they had a quick look around the surrounding area calling Ray into Jenny's names and peering down some of
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the nearby M shafts finding nothing of note they headed back into town by this point it was after 5:00
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p.m. and starting to get dark at the advice of the Western Australia police Emergency Operations
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unit who specialized in landbased search and rescue operations the police decided
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not to visit the site unless Ray and Jenny still hadn't returned to the camp by Daybreak a mount magnet police Constable
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arrived at bellchambers the next morning of Wednesday April 1 and confirmed there
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had been no recent movements at the campsite however they'd received some interesting information
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overnight the group camping nearby had informed the council workers that a read quad bike appeared to have been
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abandoned approximately 500 M north of the kellet's campsite they noticed it when they first
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arrived in the area on Friday March 27 and it hadn't moved since the quad bike was located and
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confirmed as belonging to Ray kellet it was parked 2/3 up the side of a small hill facing away from the
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campsite and partially hidden amongst Bushland there were no keys in the ignition or
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any Fresh Tracks to suggest it had been driven in the past few days it was still filled with petrol and
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showed no obvious damage to indicate why the driver would have suddenly abandoned
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it the Constable conducted a cursory search of the kellet's campside inside a Ray's glove box was
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Ray's wallet it contained multiple cards but no cash whatever had happened to Ray and
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Jenny the state of their campsite indicated that they hadn't intended to be gone for
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long it was theorized that they could have gotten lost while out prospecting or had fallen down one of the many
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abandoned unmarked mine shafts in the area some of these shafts were upwards of 100 years
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old over time the soil surrounding the Shar openings had become unstable if anyone stood Too Close there
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was a genuine danger that the soil could fall in and caused the mine to collapse a local prospector who had
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expert knowledge of the Bell Chambers area joined the constable and directed him to several of the M shafts in the
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vicinity of the kellet's campsite at each one they sha a torch inside but this only gave them
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visibility to around 10 m deep some they could see all the way to the bottom others they could
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not they soon crossed paths with the other group who had been camping nearby the group advised the Constable
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to check out a m shaft approximately 100 m from where they'd been staying days earlier they noticed a
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horrible odor emitting from within they'd assumed it to be a decaying kangaroo but given in the
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recent Revelations they weren't so sure the M shaft they were referring to was located at top a small Mound roughly
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1.8 km north of the kellet campsite and 1.2 km North from the abandoned quad bike it had two entrances which was
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common for the larger gold mines as it provided a second point of Escape in the event that the mine
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collapsed the two narrow openings were marked marked by worn Timber frames at around 1.5 M wide they were
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just large enough for one person to enter at a time when the constable and prospector
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arrived at the site they could both smell the odor in question the Constable sha his torch down each of the M shaft
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openings but he couldn't see anything of note nor did it smell like the odor was
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coming from within he walked around the mound and found what he believed to be the source
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of the stench a rotting kangaroo carcass he passed this information on to his supervisor who also came out to
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inspect the M shaft and agreed the odor was coming from a dead animal with no sign of Ray or Jenny by
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Nightfall a plane fitted with infrared thermal imaging cameras was deployed to scan the area
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overhead if the couple were injured or missing in the wilderness hopes were that the cameras could identify their
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body heat it was unclear exactly how long Ray and Jenny had been missing but the
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weather over the past few days had been favorable with maximum temperatures of 31° c and a minimum of 12 1/
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12° there had also been significant rainall meaning they'd have had access to fresh
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water given that the Kell were experienced campers with no serious physical or mental health concerns if
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they'd only gotten lost within the past few days then their chances of survival were considered to be relatively
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high with no sign of the couple emerging overnight a full land search operation kicked into gear the following
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morning this was no easy task the remote Bell Chambers area had no mobile phone reception and could only be accessed by
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four-wheel drive extra precautions had to be taken to ensure the safety of officers as they
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navigated their way around the old M shafts a total of 139 disused mines had been documented in the area while it was
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also possible there were others that hadn't been recorded recent rainfall had made the
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ground water logged in places which not only compromised the Integrity of the M shafts but had also wiped out any
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potential tracks that could provide a clue as to the kellet's whereabouts the initial foot search
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covered an area of 11 Square km the tactical response team moved from Min shaft to M shaft throwing a luminescent
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stick inside each one to highlight the contents within when no sign of Ray or Jenny was
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detected the mine that had been checked was marked clear specially trained members MERS of
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the state emergency service as well as the department of fire and Emergency Services Urban search and rescue team
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also used their own equipment to look into each shaft both teams examined the M shaft
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near the kellet's campsite where an unpleasant odor had been detected the verdict was the same for
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each of them clear when there was still no of Ray or Jenny by Friday April 3 Mounted Police
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began scouring the area on Horseback the kellet's traveling companion Graham mil was also brought in
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to assist with the search he told the police that the trio had arrived at Bell Chambers on the
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afternoon of Thursday March 19 having each driven there in separate vehicles Graham had been there on
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several prior prospecting trips so he was already familiar with the area they'd set up their Camp a few
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kilometers from an area they'd collectively deemed the $3 million patch as they hoped it might yield some
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valuable finds shortly after they began unpacking Graham said that the kellet's dog Ella
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became distracted by the wildlife and suddenly bolted off he and Ray got on their quad bikes
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and took after her Graham said it took them more than an hour to find her after which they
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returned Ella to camp and continued exploring the area on their bikes Jenny remained close to the camp
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as she didn't like to venture too far without someone being there to keep an eye on
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things their initial plan was to move their campsite closer to the $3 million patch Graham and Ray went searching for
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a suitable route to drive their vehicles there but the pathways were too narrow for Ray's new Land Rover so they decided
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to stay put for the time being the next morning Graham said that he and Ray ventured off on the quad bikes
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again it started to rain so they returned to Camp while Jenny ventured to the nearby Creek with a metal
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detector shortly after she returned Graham claimed that Ella bolted again he and Ray got on the quad bikes
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to chase after her for a second time with Ray locating her after about 20 minutes
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after returning Ella to Camp Graham said he and Ray spent the rest of the afternoon on the bikes before they all C
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it an early night the next morning of Saturday March 21 Graham said they all got up at
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Daybreak according to Graham after eating breakfast Ella took off yet again Fed Up Graham claims he told Ray
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and Jenny he came on the trip to go prospecting not to constantly Chase after their dog he refused to help find
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her again instead lending Jenny his quad bike so she could join Ray in the search Graham said he told Jenny he was
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going to go prospecting on foot he told Jenny to put his quad bike back in his trailer when she was done chasing
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Ella Graham had to be back at work on March 24 and he planned on leaving first thing the following morning so that he'd
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have one day of rest before flying out to cloudbreak Graham said that Ray and Jenny took off after Ella on the quad
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bikes while he headed off on his solo prospecting Journey at around 6:30 a.m. he stayed out all day and most of
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the night when Graham eventually returned to the camp he said it was dark and quiet Graham didn't wear a watch but he
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assumed the time to be between about 2 2 and 3 a.m. Ella was there and he assumed Ry
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and Jenny were asleep Graham said his quad bike was in his trailer just like he'd asked Jenny
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to leave it while Ray's quad bike was parked nearby he spent about an hour quietly
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packing up his stuff before heading off he said that Ray and Jenny knew he was leaving that night so there was no
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point waking them up to say goodbye [Music] for the team leading the search for the
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kellet it was important to establish the last time that Ray and Jenny had been seen
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alive based on Graham mil's account the last time he'd physically laid eyes on them was on the morning of Saturday
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March 21 before he set out on his solo prospecting trip a few hours after Graham said he'
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Departed the camp on Sunday March 22 another pair of Prospectors reported they driven past the kellet
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camp Ella had been there but Ray and Jenny had not nor did they recall seeing Ray's red quad
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bike a local farmer had been passing by the area later that evening when they saw Ella walking alone down the 200 km
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dirt road connecting Sandstone to the town of Payne's find 2 days later on the afternoon of
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March 24 one Sandstone Council worker saw Ella out the Sandstone to payes find Road near the track to the kellet's
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camp 3 days passed before another group passed through the remote area on Friday March 27 the group
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recalled driving past the kellet's campsite although they hadn't stopped they recalled seeing Ella sitting on a
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blanket near one of the vehicles with no people inside Ella was found wandering through
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the Sandstone Caravan Park the following day of Saturday March 28th where she remained for a couple of days before the
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alarm was officially raised on Tuesday March 31 this left a period of 10 days where
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there were no reported sightings of Ray or Jenny kellet meaning they could have gone missing anywhere within that time
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frame however given that multiple people had seen Ella alone on and after March 22 it stood to reason that whatever had
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happened to Ray and Jenny had occurred sometime around that time by all accounts the kellet would
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not be without Ella without good reason Graham mil Revisited the campsite with the police and said it looked more
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or less the same as it did when he left on the 22nd however he said he'd left Ray and
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Jenny some prospecting equipment including a metal detector a yellow GPS and a plastic gold pan Which were no
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longer at the campsite eager to get an understanding of Ry and Jenny's movements in the area
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the police asked Graham to show them all the sites he visited with Ry Graham jumped on his quad bike and
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directed them in a southeasterly direction there was no sign of the couple at any point along the
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way police closed off the Sandstone to to Pain's finded road while investigations continued allowing Graham
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to Camp alone just 100 m from the kellet's campsite by Saturday April 4 the search
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for the couple reached its fifth fruitless day if Ray and Jenny were lost in the
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wilderness or trapped in a Min shaft their chances of survival at this point were deemed
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unlikely with the pressure mounting police began began sorting through the couple's belongings for Clues as to
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where they might have headed in Jenny's backpack they found something of Interest it was a handdrawn map known as
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a mud map the map contained some GPS coordinates and a rough drawing of what appeared to be directions for how to get
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to the Bell Chambers Camp from sandstone from the camp a black line LED North to a single location marked only
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as first hole when presented with the mud map Graham mil said he and Ray had drawn it
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together while planning for their trip emails sent between him and Ray also made multiple references to an
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unspecified hole but Graham claimed that they didn't end up camping at the location marked on
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the map because the ground was too hard and there was no grass for Ella the first hole referred to what
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Graham called a crystal mine that he said Jenny was interested in the existence of this map LED police
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to wonder if Ray and Jenny had intended to webale into one of the abandoned M shafts this was an uncommon practice
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given the high risk of the walls collapsing in but it wasn't unheard of the kellet had previously told a
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friend of their plans to do so and they'd been practicing AB sailing at home Home Graham mil said he'd roped it down
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into the shafts before but claimed that the trio had no intention of doing so on
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this trip nor did they bring the required gear the final entry in Jenny's diary suggested
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otherwise written on March 18 the day before the trio departed for their trip Jenny
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wrote hopefully go to Hall fingers crossed although police couldn't be sure exactly
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which hole this referred to on Monday April 6 they shifted the focus of the search from the Southward Direction
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Where Graham milm had been leading them and north of the camp instead while many of the mines north of
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the camp had already been given the all clear this was based on a somewhat cursory inspection that didn't require
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the Specialists to fully descend into each shaft it was decided that they would return to
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the area to descend fully into the M shafts so that they could inspect the very bottoms and Rule each one
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out The kellet's Disappearance had started gaining media attention and several members of the press gathered in
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the area to report on the current status of the search eager to get some relevant
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footage to accompany their News Bulletin one channel 9 journalist requested to film one of the Rope technicians as they
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lowered themselves into one of the old M shafts the police agreed and the task was assigned to Ashley gazmir a senior
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firefighter with the Department of fire and Emergency Services Urban search and rescue
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team Ashley and his team designated the closest M shaft to their command post it was the same shaft where the
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unpleasant odor had been detected around the time that Ray and Jenny were first reported missing
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given that it had already been given the all clear by multiple search teams Ashley intended to lower himself about 3
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quarters of the way down for the media demonstration he dawned his helmet torch and began his descent into the 12m deep
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hole while a camera operator hovered above him by the time he'd descended around 9
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m in his eyes started to adjust to the darkness that's when he saw something at the
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bottom code 90 code 90 Ashley shouted a journalist standing at the top of the mine asked what the code
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meant a firefighter standing nearby responded that's a body the body at the bottom of the M
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shaft was so decomposed that it was assumed to have been there for months or possibly even years the level of
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decomposition meant an identification wasn't immediately possible but given the amount of time the buddy had been
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there it couldn't have been Ray or Jenny Keller the gathered search teams and members of the media were in awe that a
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random media stunt had led to the discovery of what was bound to be another long-term missing
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person word quickly spread throughout Sandstone leading to immediate speculation among towns folk and the ga
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press with one question on everyone's lips what if a serial killer was on the loose in the outback
00:31:06
Town however those rumors came to a standstill when DNA testing later confirmed the identity of the
00:31:14
body it was Ray kellet after all a team of forensic Specialists was summoned to the area to begin the
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difficult task of retrieving Ray's remains it took 2 days before they'd adequately assessed the site and
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determined it was only safe enough for one of them to enter the M shaft while the shaft itself was
00:31:39
approximately 1.5 M wide the base opened up into a bulb-shaped space that was about 6 M long 3 m wide and 2 and 1/2 M
00:31:51
High directly below the opening was a conical-shaped mound made up of Fallen debris and loose Sandy
00:31:59
material Ray's body wasn't positioned centrally at the bottom of the hole but off to the side and further back into
00:32:06
the bulb-shaped section of the shaft he lay face up with his head closest to the shaft opening and his
00:32:14
body further within his legs were SPL out shoulder width his right arm was covered under
00:32:21
loose rocks and a large piece of Old Timber that had fallen from the collar of the shaft lay on top of his right
00:32:28
leg he was wearing trousers and work boots with a pair of gloves in the pocket but no
00:32:36
shirt Ray's remains were carefully extracted and removed for forensic analysis an autopsy revealed he'd
00:32:44
sustained a number of injuries to the upper half of his body including broken bones to the left side of his neck and
00:32:51
back as well as a broken hyid bone there were also fractures to his left ch cheekbone and eye socket and one
00:32:59
of his left ribs was broken his right hand had multiple fractures and three of his fingertip
00:33:06
bones were missing there were no injuries to the lower half of his body or to his teeth
00:33:13
or jaw due to the level of decomposition the pathologist was unable to determine
00:33:20
how exactly Ray kellet had died or when the injuries occurred all they could say for certain
00:33:27
was that the IES had been caused by blunt force trauma possibly from the result of a
00:33:34
fall significantly there was no AB sailing equipment or prospecting gear at the bottom of the Min shaft to indicate
00:33:41
that Ray had ventured into the hole willingly but if he'd fallen into it by accident then it raised several
00:33:50
questions the most obvious being where was Jenny [Music] when the families of Ry and Jenny heard
00:34:00
the news that ry's body had been identified they were in a state of disbelief not only because of the news
00:34:07
itself but because they found out about it from a TV broadcast without so much as a call from the
00:34:14
authorities the waight for information had been excruciating but the discovery of Ray's body didn't bring them any form
00:34:21
of closure it prompted more questions than it did answers based on the available evidence
00:34:30
investigators theorized that Ray and Jenny could have been hanging around at their campsite when Ella suddenly took
00:34:36
off again the couple could have immediately jumped on the back of Ray's quad bike
00:34:42
which would explain why Ray had no shirt on and the campsite appeared to be abruptly
00:34:48
abandoned after Chasing Ella on the quad bike they might have jumped off to give
00:34:53
Chase on foot perhaps Ray chased L up the small Mound surrounding the M shaft and didn't
00:35:00
see the opening until it was too late inconsolable at having witnessed him fall Jenny might have stayed at the
00:35:07
opening of the shaft in a State of Shock and confusion possibly waiting for Ry to
00:35:12
regain Consciousness by the time night fell and she tried to make it back to either the
00:35:18
campsite or the quad bike she became disoriented and got lost in the process Ray and families didn't buy this
00:35:29
theory for a second for starters they found Graham mil's story about Ella running off to be incredibly
00:35:37
odd Ella was an elderly dog who followed Ray and Jenny everywhere they went and she'd never been in the habit of running
00:35:46
away in fact she was so obedient that they barely ever had to tether her up she was also a farm dog who was used
00:35:54
to living around livestock and Wildlife and she'd never shown interest in chasing animals in the
00:36:01
past Ray's daughter Melanie had recently joined the kellet on a camping and fishing trip and Ella had been
00:36:08
impeccably behaved the whole time she'd happily stayed at the campsite untethered and unbothered by
00:36:15
any of the passing Wildlife besides if Ella had been uncharacteristically running off why
00:36:23
hadn't they tethered her up raise family didn't think it was possible that Ry would have accidentally
00:36:31
fallen down the M shaft Not only was the shaft opening clearly visible Ry was an
00:36:37
experienced Outdoorsman who was incredibly safety conscious having been raised on a remote
00:36:43
farming station only a few hundred kilometers away he was acutely aware of the environmental hazards of the
00:36:51
area even if Ry had been chasing Ella he would have been keeping an eye out for any of the old M shaft as he went
00:36:59
furthermore Ry never walked around topless especially not when Outdoors he was the type to protect
00:37:07
himself from the elements at all times and was always fully clothed with a hat and
00:37:13
sunglasses likewise Jenny was also very experienced with the outdoors and considered by her daughters to be tough
00:37:20
as Nails on the off chance that Ry really did fall down the Min shaft her family
00:37:27
didn't think she would have gotten lost finding their Camp the pathways back were too
00:37:34
obvious and if she had become lost while looking for her way back it didn't explain why she hadn't been found during
00:37:41
the extensive search [Music] operation Ray's postmortem examination supported another possibility
00:37:52
entirely while it was possible that he'd Fallen face first down the M shaft hitting his body on the walls on his way
00:37:59
down Pathologists concluded it was also possible that Ray's injuries had been caused by a weapon during a physical
00:38:07
assault the damage to his right hand was considered a high violence injury the kind more commonly seen in motorcycle
00:38:16
accidents perhaps Ry put his hand out to protect himself from an attack a drop of his own blood was found
00:38:24
on the top of his left boot for IC experts determined this could have only Fallen there while Ray
00:38:31
was standing upright potentially from a head injury blood had also seeped a deep into
00:38:38
the grooves on the soles of his boots indicating that Ray had been standing in a pool of his own blood before becoming
00:38:47
incapacitated a red petrol can lay approximately 3 m from Ray's body further into the bulbous end of the M
00:38:55
shaft that too was spattered with raised blood but there was no other evidence of
00:39:01
blood spatter anywhere else in the M shaft including on a plastic pump brand water bottle that was found lying
00:39:07
between Ray's legs testing of the bottle spout revealed a DNA belonging to Ray Jenny
00:39:15
and Graham mil which was consistent with Graham's story that the three shared communal water
00:39:21
bottles to Ashley gazmir the senior firefighter who had found Ray's body the position that Ry was found lying in was
00:39:31
unusual in Ashley's experience someone being face up with their legs Spade could be indicative of having been
00:39:38
dragged there there were no drag marks at the site to confirm this but given the
00:39:45
amount of time that had passed before the body was found coupled with the recent rainfall it couldn't be ruled
00:39:52
out the break in Ray hyoid bone also raised some questions this u-shaped bone sits at the root of
00:40:01
the tongue and serves as a structural anchor in the neck breaks to the hyoid bone can be
00:40:07
caused by falls from a great height motor vehicle accidents or blunt force trauma but most commonly this injury is
00:40:15
caused by strangulation or hanging Graham mil claimed the trio had never visited the M shaft where Ray's
00:40:23
body was found the location of the mine was compared to the mud map Graham had drawn
00:40:30
that was found in Jenny's luggage it was remarkably close to the site designated first
00:40:38
hole with all these details the question loomed had Ray fallen down the hole by accident or had someone accompanied him
00:40:48
to the bottom and launched an attack in light of these forensic details a press conference was held a
00:40:59
detective working on the case said they had not yet drawn any conclusions about what had happened to Ray and Jenny
00:41:05
kellet but quote at this point in time we're not seeing anything that suggests criminality Channel 9 journalist Lam
00:41:15
Bartlett was in the crowd and couldn't believe what he was hearing are you serious he asked there's
00:41:23
nothing suspicious about this the detective responded at this point in time we're
00:41:30
saying there is no evidence of any criminality however we are making sure we investigate it thoroughly and look at
00:41:37
all the possibilities the families of Ray and Jenny were just as shocked not only did
00:41:45
the forensic evidence arouse suspicion there was also the issue of the two guns that were found in the unlocked
00:41:51
passenger seat of Ray's car one of which was loaded Ry had spent his whole life around firearms and was fastidious about
00:42:00
gun safety he only ever put bullets in his rifle when he was about to shoot for Ray's family there was no way
00:42:09
he would have left a loaded firearm in an unlocked vehicle not even if he'd been cleaning it and had to leave the
00:42:15
camp urgently two rounds were also missing from the unsecured rifle leading some to
00:42:22
wonder whether this could have been used in an attack against Ray and Jenny Ray's autopsy had revealed that a 3mm
00:42:30
portion of his cheekbone had become dislodged given the blood on his boots this injury could have been the result
00:42:38
of a gunshot wound but when later questioned Graham mil had an explanation for the two
00:42:45
missing rounds he said that shortly after the trio arrived at Bell Chambers on Thursday March 19 he and Ray were out on
00:42:54
their quad bikes when they heard a gunshot they went up to Higher Ground to get a
00:43:00
better view of the area and saw there was another vehicle approximately 500 m in the
00:43:06
distance it was a white Toyota four-wheel drive with two men inside Graham said they wanted to let
00:43:14
the other men know of their presence in the area so he placed an empty cigarette
00:43:18
pack in a tree and told Ray to aim at it with his rifle Ray took one shot which missed and
00:43:26
then another one which hit the target right in the center based on this description police
00:43:33
released a statement urging the occupants of a white Toyota four-wheel drive who had been in the area at the
00:43:39
time to come forward nobody did meanwhile the search for Jenny kellet resumed under the assumption that
00:43:49
she too was deceased specially trained officers spent a week fully descending into 100
00:43:57
60 M shafts in the area and declaring them all to be clear the Min shaft where Ray's body had
00:44:05
been found was also thoroughly inspected for any clues as to Jenny's whereabouts while the officers found no
00:44:12
evidence to suggest that Jenny had ever been down there they did find something of interest on the
00:44:19
surface approximately 3 m from the Min shaft opening were three cigarette BS all lying Within 30 cm of one
00:44:29
another police had actually noticed the buts there 1 month earlier upon the retrieval of Ray's remains but hadn't
00:44:37
thought to seize them because the area wasn't being considered a crime scene this time they bagged the butts
00:44:44
and sent them away for forensic testing along with the remnants of a small fire that was also found
00:44:52
nearby the ashes from the fire revealed nothing of interest but the cigarette BS
00:44:58
did Jenny kellet was a smoker and two of the BTS tested positive for her DNA this indicated that Jenny had stood
00:45:08
near the opening of the mine at some point during the camping trip it also added weight to the theory
00:45:15
that she could have witnessed Ray fall into the hole and had stood at the top in a state of distress before becoming
00:45:21
disoriented and getting lost on her way back to the camp the Third also tested positive for
00:45:28
DNA but it wasn't Jenny's it was Graham mils Ray and Jenny's belongings had already been handed back to their
00:45:42
families and the police had previously turned down an offer from Jenny's family to forensically examine her
00:45:49
things with the discovery of the cigarette Bots their belongings were formally examined for the first time a
00:45:57
pillow case found in the kellet's tent revealed two DNA profiles Jenny kellet and gram
00:46:05
Mills Ray's DNA was not present based on these findings police considered whether Jenny and Graham
00:46:14
could have been having an affair Jenny's loved ones strongly shut this down not only did Jenny and Ray have an
00:46:23
incredibly happy and a loving marriage Graham mil was not the type of person Jenny would have a romantic interest
00:46:30
in the two had met while working at the cloudbreak mining site Graham was a paramedic and he treated Jenny when she
00:46:38
was experiencing back pain during which Ry had accompanied her to her appointments the three of them began
00:46:46
sitting together during work meals and Graham began teaching the kellet more about prospecting for
00:46:52
gold he'd visited their Farm on a few occasions but only in the context of teaching them practical prospecting
00:47:00
skills such as how to use a metal detector and to adequately prepare their vehicles for a
00:47:06
trip Ry and Jenny's children recalled that during these visits when they weren't working on prospecting related
00:47:13
things Graham mil mostly kept to himself they found him to be a bit socially awkward and he didn't
00:47:20
contribute much to conversations Jenny was the type of person who wanted everyone to feel
00:47:27
welcome if anything her children thought Graham might have developed unreciprocated feelings for Jenny
00:47:34
because she'd made him feel special when questioned by the police Graham mil denied ever having a romantic
00:47:42
relationship with the Jenny he explained that the pillow containing both of their
00:47:48
DNA was actually his he dented to Jenny on the drive up to Sandstone to help relieve her bad back
00:47:57
Graham's deao partner confirmed the pillow was theirs as for the cigarette BS Graham
00:48:04
Mill said he'd never left the campsite with the Jenny he said he typically threw his
00:48:10
cigarette butts in the bin unless they were out in the wilderness in which case he flicked them into the
00:48:17
distance Graham claimed he' had never gone anywhere near the M shaft where Ray's body was found and could therefore
00:48:24
think of no reason why a cigarette but with his DNA on it was found nearby by mid July almost 4 months had
00:48:35
passed with no sign of Jenny kellet her bank accounts remained untouched she'd made no attempts to contact her family
00:48:43
and nobody had come forward with any leads although it was presumed that Jenny was no longer alive finding her
00:48:52
remains was Paramount not only to provide closure to her loved ones but also to provide
00:48:58
further insight into what happened to the kellet during their fateful camping trip the search for Jenny expanded
00:49:06
further south after a week with no breakthroughs it was called off for good the case came to national attention
00:49:17
when it was subsequently featured on an episode of the channel 7 current affairs
00:49:21
program Sunday night Graham mil appeared on the segment during which he addressed allegations
00:49:29
that he knew more about The kellet's Disappearance than he was letting on I can't stop people drawing their own
00:49:36
conclusions Graham said you're going to get that it doesn't matter what people are going to say things well they can
00:49:44
keep saying them it doesn't matter they don't know when asked what he thought happened
00:49:52
to Ray and Jenny Graham became visibly upset with tears running down his face he
00:50:00
said I don't know I've run through all sorts of different scenarios and nothing makes sense nothing makes sense at all
00:50:09
if anybody knows anything please come forward and tell the police Perth couple Georgina Granville
00:50:20
and her husband Mark were watching Sunday night when they were immediately taken back to the morning of Sunday
00:50:26
March 22 2015 at around 5:30 a.m. the Granville had been driving south from sandstone
00:50:35
down the 200 km long remote unsealed dirt road known as the pains find to Sandstone
00:50:43
Road they were about 25 km from the Sandstone turnoff when through the darkness they saw the lights of a
00:50:51
vehicle parked on the side of the road up ahead as they got closer they they saw
00:50:57
that it was a dark colored four-wheel drive with a trailer containing a quad bike attached to
00:51:02
it an older man was standing outside of the vehicle sorting through a toolbox thinking he might need help the
00:51:11
Granville slowed down instead of acknowledging their concern the man aggressively waved them
00:51:18
off as though to say go away Sho when the granvill later learned about the disappearance of Ray and Jenny
00:51:27
kellet they called crimes Stoppers to report this sighting they never heard anything back
00:51:34
so they assumed it mustn't have been of any interest watching the segment featuring
00:51:39
Graham mil on Sunday night Georgina turned to her husband and said the man we saw on the side of the
00:51:48
road that's him when presented with the information this time around the police took an
00:51:56
immediate interest there were only two ways to get from the Bell Chambers campsite and back
00:52:03
on the road to Perth you could either travel the 30 km North back to Sandstone and take the
00:52:10
bitchman highway to mount magnet which was a smoother ride but added around an extra 100 km to your
00:52:17
journey alternatively you could head south on the pains finded to Sandstone Road which was technically a shortcut
00:52:26
but it meant you had to take the unsealed dirt road Graham mil had told the police that
00:52:33
when he Departed the campsite between 2: or 3:00 a.m. on Sunday March 22 he took
00:52:39
the bitchman highway because he'd been having car trouble and didn't want to risk taking the unsealed
00:52:45
Road there was also less chance of hitting a kangaroo on the highway he claimed he had a brief rest
00:52:53
stop along the way but otherwise headed straight home to the Perth but if the witness sighting
00:53:00
reported by the granvill was correct this led to the question of why Graham mil would a lie about the route he took
00:53:10
[Music] home had gr and mil traveled home via Mount magnet as he described the journey
00:53:19
would have required him to pause at a stop sign outside of a BP service station before turning left onto the
00:53:26
highway to verify mil's version of events police obtained CCTV footage from the BP
00:53:33
recorded on the morning of Sunday March 22 at no point did Graham mil's vehicle drive
00:53:42
past mil's car was fitted with a GPS tracking device with suspicions raised police downloaded his GPS data from
00:53:51
March 22 and found there was no record of his movements in those early hour hours of Sunday
00:53:58
morning this in and of itself wasn't particularly noteworthy the GPS was reliant on
00:54:05
satellite connection which might have been difficult to establish given the remoteness of the area mil also claimed
00:54:12
that the GPS was faulty and prone to overheating however at 10:17 a.m. the connection kicked
00:54:21
in at a time mil claimed to be on the highway well on his way back to Earth the GPS data showed his car was actually
00:54:29
traveling south down the unsealed road just outside of Pain's find approximately 206 km from the kellet's
00:54:39
campsite if the sighting reported by the granville's was correct this meant he had remained in the area for
00:54:46
approximately 5 hours after they drove by on Tuesday November 3 20155 7 months after Ray's body was
00:54:57
found Graham mil was officially taken into police custody for questioning when presented with the
00:55:04
conflicting GPS data he didn't deny it instead he claimed he' told the police the wrong thing when first
00:55:14
questioned according to mil what really happened was he started heading down the
00:55:19
highway towards Mount magnet but when he reached the Pain's find to sand Stone Road turnoff he had a sudden change
00:55:26
change of mind he decided he wanted to go back and continue prospecting with the kets after
00:55:34
all mil explained that his car was running well by that point so he started heading along the unsealed road back
00:55:42
towards Bell Chambers but after about 15 minutes he changed his mind again mil said he had to be back at work
00:55:53
and he knew that if he'd carried on the rest of his crew would have been short staffed instead he turned around again
00:56:01
and headed back towards Perth the police asked why he didn't tell them about this the first time
00:56:09
around he said he'd been too embarrassed and didn't want to look like an idiot regardless this still didn't
00:56:17
explain why his car was in the area some 7 hours after he claimed to have left the
00:56:23
campsite when it was revealed that CC TV footage hadn't captured his car passing
00:56:28
through Mount magnet mil explained he must have taken the dirt road behind the BP
00:56:35
station there was indeed a dirt road that looped behind the BP but it made no sense that mil would have taken this
00:56:44
route it wasn't a shortcut and being a dirt road it would have only added extra difficulty to his journey given he was
00:56:51
trailing his quad bike behind with so many inconsistencies police were starting to have doubts about Graham
00:57:02
Mill's version of events a search warrant was executed at mil's house and various Electronics were
00:57:11
seized police found no significant information on his phone but a coworker came forward with an eyebrow raising
00:57:19
claim according to them on mil's first shift back at work after the prospecting trip with the Kell
00:57:26
mil asked for help to wipe his phone clean mil claimed he was giving the phone to a relative yet he never
00:57:36
did the coworker helped clear the phone but didn't see anything of notes during the
00:57:43
process police were also increasingly curious about the supposed overnight prospecting Venture mil claimed to have
00:57:50
gone on on Saturday March 21 he claimed that he'd set out on the journey at around 6:30 a.m. and then
00:57:58
returned to the campsite at around 2: a.m. all of this was on foot and with limited
00:58:06
supplies prospecting at night wasn't an entirely unusual practice as mil explained gold can Shimmer in the dark
00:58:15
under torch light but as local Prospectors have pointed out it would be near impossible
00:58:21
to make any such discoveries in 2015 as any gold on the surface had been detected by equipment decades
00:58:30
earlier furthermore the trip seemed unusually long especially without at least stopping back at Camp to renew his
00:58:38
water supply or get something to eat inquiries were made with other individuals who had prospected for gold
00:58:46
with graham mil in the past an exw workmate had joined him on several prospecting trips and recalled
00:58:54
the longest they'd ever spent out Prospect in was around 4 hours at a time he also claimed that during these
00:59:01
trips mil often tied a rope to his quad bike and used it to absil down old M shafts if mil's account that he
00:59:12
prospected for approximately 18 hours straight was correct this also raised the question of why he would then begin
00:59:19
a long distance drive without stopping to rest first the 7-hour drive back to Perth
00:59:26
there would have been a grueling stint for someone who hadn't slept in almost 24 hours even more so considering mil's
00:59:33
journey home had actually taken almost a double that time with the GPS data recording him arriving home at 8:17
00:59:42
p.m. the ex- workmate of mils who had prospected with him in the past also said that mil would only have a drive in
00:59:50
the daytime the search of of gry and mil's home turned up nothing that implicated
00:59:59
him in Ray's death or Jenny's disappearance or suggested a motive after being held in custody
01:00:06
overnight and questioned for 12 hours mil was free to go yet police remained curious about the
01:00:14
GPS coordinates that placed mil on the Pain's finded to Sandstone Road at around 10: a.m. on Sunday March
01:00:22
22 a team was dispatched to search the area where the the GPS had pinged but nothing of Interest was
01:00:29
found after what had seemed like a potential breakthrough the investigation hid another dead
01:00:37
end months passed with no new information coming to light by October 2017 2 and A2 years
01:00:47
passed since the kellet set out on their fateful prospecting trip with the case now being treated as
01:00:54
a potential homicide the West Australian police announced a $250,000 reward was available for anyone
01:01:01
with information that led to a conviction the police commissioner stated Sandstone is a very small
01:01:10
community it's subject to a lot of mining exploration and people who might camp or move through the area on
01:01:18
holidays it's about the most remote area you could find on the planet there's not
01:01:24
many people who would have been in that area at the time someone up there knows what was going
01:01:32
on a public statement released by Ry and Jenny's children said the last 2 years have seen our
01:01:40
family caught in an agonizing and exhausting limbo desperate for answers and for
01:01:46
closure we urge anyone with information to please come forward and bring our family some
01:01:54
peace with no breakthroughs by mid 2018 police submitted an application to the director of public prosecutions
01:02:02
recommending that charges be laid against Graham mil the request was denied by this point Ray and Jenny's
01:02:13
loved ones had spent over 3 years desperate for answers that year was especially
01:02:20
difficult for another reason after Ry and Jenny first went missing their beloved Great Dane Ella
01:02:27
went to live with one of Jenny's daughters Ella would often join the family at the kellet's farm as they
01:02:34
conducted routine maintenance on the property she lived a good life before passing away in 2018 surrounded by
01:02:43
family at the age of 12 a Monumental age for a dog of her breed for Ray's brother Dave the fact
01:02:51
that Ella lived so long was an indication of how big her heart was and how loved she'd
01:02:57
been but it was also a stark reminder that yet another significant event had passed by without Ry into Jenny's
01:03:07
presence to this day no one knows exactly how Ella managed to get from the kellet's campsite at the Bell Chambers
01:03:15
to the Sandstone Caravan Park 30 km away she was seen at the kellet's campsite the day before she appeared in
01:03:23
Sandstone meaning she'd made the journey within a relatively short window of time it would have been a huge walk for
01:03:31
an older Great Dane yet her paws didn't show any signs of trauma police remain open to the
01:03:38
possibility that someone could have picked Ella up and dropped her off yet if that was the case nobody has ever
01:03:45
come forward to say so with no breakthroughs in the case by the start of 2020 a coroni ual inquest
01:03:56
was held in a bid to determine exactly what happened to the couple it provided a glimmer of hope for
01:04:03
Ray into Jenny's loved ones who described their experience over the past 5 years in a statement delivered to the
01:04:11
court it read in part Ray and Jenny did not get to celebrate their 50th birthdays nor will
01:04:19
they share their dreams of spending more time together doing all that they loved
01:04:23
in The Great Outdoors ry's eldest daughter has also given birth to a daughter and
01:04:30
son these are but only a handful of items in a kaleidoscope of moments and memories that will never be
01:04:37
theirs depression has hit many of us severely the impact this last 5 years has had on us as a family cannot be
01:04:47
measured there is no guide book for how to Traverse this incident and subsequent
01:04:53
ordeal Ray and Jenny were a compass hardworking couple who were deeply loved by their family friends and
01:05:01
Community all we want is to see that Justice is served for Ray and that Jenny can be finally located so she can be
01:05:09
laid to rest we will not give up until this can be achieved by this point Graham mil had
01:05:19
provided four official statements and been interviewed by the police twice it was not the role of the coroner
01:05:26
to decide whether any charges should be pursued against him but simply to go on a fact-f finding mission to determine
01:05:33
how each death had occurred given that Graham mil was the last person to see Ray and Jenny alive
01:05:41
his evidence was deemed vital but when he was called to attend the inquest he declined to speak on the grounds that
01:05:49
anything he said could be used to incriminate him the Western Australian police force
01:05:55
confirmed that while Graham mil remained their only person of interest in the case they had no present intention to
01:06:02
charge him the coroner therefore compelled him to give evidence deeming it vital for
01:06:08
the ends of Justice mil agreed to do so on the grounds that any answers he gave couldn't be used to prosecute him later
01:06:18
on the coroner agreed to Grant him a certificate of immunity only if she was satisfied that he responded appro rately
01:06:26
to all the questions presented to him appearing on day eight of the inquest mil subsequently maintained that
01:06:34
the trio had no intention of ab sailing down any Min shafts during their prospecting trip to Bell Chambers nor
01:06:42
did they bring any equipment that would allow them to do so he testified that he hadd never gone
01:06:48
anywhere near the M shaft where Ray's body was found asked how a cigarette B with his
01:06:56
on it could have gotten 3 m from the mine entrance mil suggested it could have been transferred there on the soles
01:07:02
of the shoes of a member of the search party an explanation the coroner found improbable when asked why he didn't tell
01:07:12
the police about the mud map they found in Jenny's luggage mil said he'd forgotten they'd ever drawn it he denied
01:07:20
allegations that it was a map to the Min shaft containing Ray's body and M it referenced a crystal Min shaft that
01:07:28
Jenny was interested in which he claimed was higher up and to the left of the mine where Ray was
01:07:35
found mil also denied that he'd intentionally led the police away from the mine when he took them southeast of
01:07:42
the camp during their initial search Mark and Georgina Granville testified to seeing a man matching grah
01:07:50
and mil's appearance on the Pain's find to Sandstone Road in the early morning hours of Sunday March 22
01:07:58
2015 they described his four-wheel drive as having a trailer attached to it which
01:08:03
contained a quad bike the quad bike was Facing East West the opposite direction to which the
01:08:10
man's vehicle was traveling however Graham mil pointed out that his quad bike could not be placed
01:08:17
in an East West Direction on his trailer only north south various photographs were submitted
01:08:25
to report this although police have not confirmed whether they investigated the possibility that mil could have used a
01:08:31
different trailer on the weekend in question the inquest also explored the possibility that Ray and Jenny's demise
01:08:40
had resulted from an accident a search and rescue expert testified that it was possible that Ry
01:08:47
had fallen down the shaft after Chasing Ella while Jenny sat at the top of the shaft Partners tend to stay together he
01:08:56
explained maybe she was hoping Ry would come too and they'd be able to work their way out of
01:09:03
it had Darkness quickly Fallen he said it was possible that Jenny had tried to find her way back to Camp before getting
01:09:11
lost and perishing however if that was the case he said that Jenny's body would have
01:09:18
been found he also clarified that this theory was possible purely from a search and
01:09:24
rescue Viewpoint and did not take into account the possibility that a third party was
01:09:31
involved if the story about Ella running away to chase animals wasn't accurate he
01:09:37
said it would impact all other possible conclusions and quote it's possible if that's incorrect then everything that
01:09:46
follows is incorrect it was a long wait for Ray and Jenny's loved ones before the coroner
01:09:57
delivered her findings in May the following year she concluded that it couldn't be
01:10:03
established that the person the grvs had seen had indeed been Graham mil however she ruled out the
01:10:11
possibility that Ray kellet had fallen down the Min shaft by accident citing various reasons including the strange
01:10:19
positioning of his quad bike some 500 M away and the fact that someone with raise experience wouldn't run through
01:10:27
such an area without looking closely at where they were going the coroner found that the
01:10:33
evidence indicated Ry and Jenny intended to absil into one or more M shafts during their trip in the hopes of
01:10:40
finding gold based on Ray's injuries particularly his broken hyoid bone the lack of sceletal injuries and the blood
01:10:50
on his boots and petrol can the coroner concluded I am satisfied that Ry came to harm at
01:10:58
the base of the M shaft his death was violent and attributable to Trauma from injury sustained as a result of the
01:11:06
actions of a person or Persons Unknown she was unable to say whether Ry died immediately or whether whoever
01:11:15
killed him moved his body further into the M shaft to conceal it but concluded I find that Ray's death
01:11:24
occurred as a result of homicide by a person or Persons Unknown without a body the coroner
01:11:33
concluded that it wasn't possible to determine how Jenny died but she was satisfied that her remains were
01:11:39
somewhere in the Sandstone area the coroner said it was possible that Jenny had sustained violent trauma
01:11:48
or had managed to escape immediate danger before becoming disoriented and lost either way she was satisfied that
01:11:57
both Ry and Jenny died on or around Sunday March 22 2015 within a short time of one
01:12:06
another the coroner found that gry and mil had answered all questions satisfactorily and granted his
01:12:13
certificate of immunity while her findings would be handed to the director of public
01:12:19
prosecutions the coroner clarified that she hadn't formed a belief concerning mil's potential involvement in any
01:12:27
crime acknowledging the impact of the deaths the coroner stated the families of Ry and Jenny have
01:12:35
suffered the loss of their loved ones in circumstances that are disturbing and unsettling their pain and grief is
01:12:44
enduring there has been a great deal of speculation as to the circumstances of their deaths and whilst this may be
01:12:51
unavoidable in the context of these events it carries the risk R of compounding their stress and adding to
01:12:58
their angst Ry and Jenny were greatly loved and deeply respected by their families their deaths are a loss to
01:13:07
their loved ones and to the community the findings provoked mixed feelings for Ray and Jenny's children a
01:13:17
statement released on their behalf said the last 6 years have been a torturous existence of uncertainty and
01:13:26
grief questions left unanswered and speculation from strangers have left us all aching in ways that are Beyond
01:13:34
description we are Vindicated and heartbroken in equal measure that the coroner shares our understanding of
01:13:42
events it's beyond belief that anyone would ever want to hurt such loving generous souls and we call for justice
01:13:50
to be served for our mother and father [Music] it took another 13 months before the
01:14:00
director of public prosecutions returned their Verdict by June 2022 over 7 years had
01:14:07
passed since Ray and Jenny's deaths and still no one had been held accountable based on the inquest
01:14:15
findings and the evidence at hand the DPP ruled that no charges would be laid a statement released on their
01:14:24
behalf said in this case all the evidence was closely examined by some of the most
01:14:31
senior prosecutors in the state who determined that there are no reasonable prospects of conviction on the available
01:14:40
evidence while the Western Australian police said the investigation remained active and ongoing the decision came as
01:14:47
a major blow to Ry into Jenny's families but they weren't the only ones shocked by it
01:14:55
in 2023 a panel of experts gathered to review the kellet case for an episode of Channel 9's under investigation with Liz
01:15:04
Hayes they unanimously agreed that the case should be reexamined by prosecutors a renowned criminal
01:15:12
Barrister appeared on the show and said in my view it should have been left to members of the community namely a
01:15:21
jury assisted by properly qualified experts and a thorough invest instigation to make their determination
01:15:27
about what actually happened and it's a sad thing that that hasn't occurred forensic scientist Dr Mark
01:15:37
Reynolds who had worked on the case in the early days also served on the panel he'd been pressing for Ray's death
01:15:45
to be treated as a homicide from the moment his body was found Dr Reynolds was particularly
01:15:52
interested in the injury to raise cheekbone in which a 3 to 4 mm piece of bone had become
01:15:58
dislodged in his experience Dr Reynolds told under investigation that this could
01:16:05
be indicative of a gunshot wound possibly from Ray's own rifle no forensic evidence has ever been
01:16:13
presented to confirm mil's story about why two bullets were missing from Ray's rifle Ray's family believes he would
01:16:21
never have fired shots into the Open Country knowing that other people were in the
01:16:26
area Dr Reynolds explained we've got two gunshots we have a firearm we have two victims and two
01:16:37
rounds missing former homicide detective Damen Lon stated unfortunately my belief would be
01:16:47
that a firearm has been used in this case a man identified only as Rick was a former reconnaissance expert in the
01:16:57
Australian Army who had also worked for the state emergency service after watching the under
01:17:03
investigation episode Rick felt compelled to help he traveled to Sandstone and used his expertise to
01:17:11
search the area over a month he uncovered about a dozen other items he thought could hold
01:17:18
relevance to the kellet case he then decided to venture into the M shaft where Ray it body was
01:17:26
found after just 10 minutes down the hole Rick found an item of clothing buried under the
01:17:34
dirt his collection was handed to the police and in June 2023 a special crime Squad returned to the site to conduct a
01:17:42
major excavation of the old Min shaft on the hunt for any clues that could be hidden underneath the
01:17:49
rubble speaking about Rick's find the West Australian Police Commissioner said he could neither confirm nor deny
01:17:56
whether the shirt had anything to do with the kellet's case we can't say it is we can't say it
01:18:04
isn't he remarked if Rick or the special crime Squad uncovered anything significant
01:18:10
during these searches it hasn't been publicly revealed however a blog post written by
01:18:17
Ray's brother Dave in 2024 on the 9th anniversary of the kellet's ill- fated prospecting trip said
01:18:25
much has happened this last year since much is happening Dave's blog titled man in the
01:18:37
hall provides an open and honest account of his family's experience in their Quest For
01:18:43
Justice Dave is vocal about his disappointment in the police handling of Ray and Jenny's case in his view
01:18:51
investigators ER by initially treating Ray into Jenny's case as two tourists lost in the countryside even when
01:18:59
information provided early on from the family and locals indicated something more Sinister was at
01:19:06
play for Dave and his brother Malcolm its memories of Ray at his country boy finest that will always be held
01:19:15
dearest from a very young age the three brothers were allowed to take the family's Old Land Rover and head out
01:19:21
Bush to hunt feral animals Ry would always be the driver even though he could barely see over the
01:19:28
steering wheel his two brothers standing on the back tray and giving directions while Ry chuckled with
01:19:36
delight Ray's ashes were scattered around his farm just like he would have wanted the only thing missing is
01:19:45
Jenny while Jenny's children want to see just served for whoever killed their mother and stepfather the thing they
01:19:52
want most of all is to find to Jenny's body so they can scatter her ashes with Rays it's a continual source of pain for
01:20:01
them knowing that the Inseparable couple have been kept apart Jenny's youngest daughter told a
01:20:08
journalist Caroline overington in the documentary murder in the goldfields at this point it's not even
01:20:15
about putting someone behind bars or getting a conviction it's just about getting Mom we just want to bring her
01:20:23
home as far as Jenny's children are concerned the only way that will ever happen is if
01:20:30
someone who knows the truth decides to come forward one told under investigation
01:20:37
with Liz Hayes she's never going to be found without a bit of honesty and that's what
01:20:43
I want case File makes no allegations of guilt against Graham mil anyone with information is
01:20:53
encouraged to contact Crim stoppers on 80030 investigators are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who
01:21:03
passed through the Sandstone area and surrounding Outback in the critical time period between Wednesday March 18 and
01:21:11
Sunday March 22 2015 any dash cam footage or seemingly insignificant detail could prove
01:21:22
crucial the occupants of the white four-wheel drive Graham mil claimed to see in the area shortly before The
01:21:29
kellet's Disappearance have never come forward the reward for information that leads to a conviction in the kellet case
01:21:37
has been increased to $1 million with the reward applying to both Ray and Jenny individually that means $2 million is
01:21:47
available for anyone who provides the missing key for locals in the Sandstone area
01:21:55
Jenny kellet is never far from their minds when they go out prospecting some have dedicated hours of
01:22:01
their spare time searching for Jenny down the old M shafts in the area to this day many locals continue to
01:22:09
look out for her as they Traverse the remote red Earth in search of gold the manager of the Sandstone Pub
01:22:17
told the ABC Sandstone has never forgotten Jenny and Ray we always look for her if we're
01:22:25
out in the bush former homicide investigator Damen Lon believes that Jenny's body is the
01:22:33
key they need to solve the puzzle he told under investigation we find Jenny we will find
01:22:42
out what happened and why the other experts on the panel agreed with Dr Mark Reynolds
01:22:51
remarking it's probably the only key we've got [Music] [Music] left e

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 95
    Most heartbreaking
  • 90
    Most shocking
  • 90
    Biggest twist
  • 85
    Most dramatic

Episode Highlights

  • The Kellets' Background
    Ray and Jenny Kellet adopted Ella in 2009, providing her a loving home on their farm.
    “They were described as being laminated together.”
    @ 04m 10s
    August 31, 2024
  • The Search Begins
    After Ray and Jenny went missing, their family filed a missing person's report.
    “The last any of them had spoken to Ray and Jenny was 13 days prior.”
    @ 05m 16s
    August 31, 2024
  • The Search Intensifies
    The search for Ray and Jenny reaches its fifth fruitless day, raising concerns for their survival.
    @ 25m 44s
    August 31, 2024
  • A Shocking Discovery
    A media stunt leads to the discovery of a decomposed body in the mine shaft.
    @ 29m 59s
    August 31, 2024
  • Unanswered Questions
    Ray's family learns of his death through a TV broadcast, prompting more questions than answers.
    @ 34m 04s
    August 31, 2024
  • Forensic Evidence Raises Suspicion
    The autopsy reveals injuries that suggest a violent encounter, leading to speculation about foul play.
    @ 38m 07s
    August 31, 2024
  • Cigarette Butts Provide Clues
    DNA from cigarette butts near the mine shaft suggests Jenny was present during the incident.
    @ 45m 08s
    August 31, 2024
  • Graham's Emotional Plea
    Graham breaks down while discussing the disappearance of Ray and Jenny, saying, "I don't know... nothing makes sense at all."
    “Nothing makes sense at all.”
    @ 50m 03s
    August 31, 2024
  • Family's Desperate Call for Closure
    Ray and Jenny's children urge anyone with information to come forward, stating, "We will not give up until this can be achieved."
    “We will not give up until this can be achieved.”
    @ 01h 05m 09s
    August 31, 2024
  • Families' Pain
    The families of Ry and Jenny expressed enduring grief and the need for justice.
    “Their pain and grief is enduring.”
    @ 01h 12m 44s
    August 31, 2024
  • Coroner's Findings
    The coroner concluded that both Ry and Jenny died as a result of homicide.
    “Their deaths are a loss to their loved ones and to the community.”
    @ 01h 13m 07s
    August 31, 2024
  • Call for Justice
    Jenny's children demand justice and the return of their mother's body.
    “It's not even about putting someone behind bars; it's just about getting Mom.”
    @ 01h 20m 15s
    August 31, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • They planned to return in early April.
    Married couple missing and murdered in the outback
  • They hadn't intended to be gone for long.
    Married couple missing and murdered in the outback
  • The discovery of Ray's body didn't bring them any form of closure.
    Married couple missing and murdered in the outback
  • Nothing makes sense at all.
    Married couple missing and murdered in the outback
  • We will not give up until this can be achieved.
    Married couple missing and murdered in the outback
  • It's beyond belief that anyone would ever want to hurt such loving, generous souls.
    Married couple missing and murdered in the outback

Key Moments

  • Ella's Discovery01:39
  • Missing Persons Report07:42
  • Forensic Findings38:07
  • Cigarette Clue45:08
  • Graham's Breakdown49:55
  • Homicide Conclusion1:11:24
  • Families' Grief1:12:44
  • Search for Justice1:21:40

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown