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[Music] Frankston city is a local government area in Victoria located 40 kilometres
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25 miles southeast of Melbourne it has a population of about a hundred and thirty
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five thousand people Frankston City captures many different suburbs including Frankston Frankston North
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Seaford Lang Warren and others all of the places you'll hear in this story are part of that Frankston area we begin
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this story in Claude Street in the suburb of Seaford February 1993 at the unit of Donna vanes Donna had recently
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received a few prank calls and she was getting nervous she had a young baby and didn't like the idea of being alone at
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night her boyfriend les worked as a pizza delivery driver and she decided to spend
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the night driving around in the car with him rather than stay home alone as it turned out les only worked a very short
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shift they were back at Don his unit in just over an hour it was lucky Donna didn't stay home
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alone that night the first thing they saw when they walked inside was Donna's cat on the laundry room floor dead
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there was a picture of a naked woman on top of the cab the words Donna you're dead were written in blood up on the
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wall in the bathroom word Donna's two kittens both also dead shaving cream had been used to write on
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the bathroom mirror saying Donna and Robin the unit had been ransacked drawers pulled out cupboards opened her
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things thrown everywhere there were knife slash and stab marks on the walls and in the cupboards in the baby's crib
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was another picture of a naked woman the picture had been stabbed through with a
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knife resulting in the crib being cut as well some of the baby's clothes were also slashed Donna couldn't think of
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anybody who would be capable of doing that to her her boyfriend Liz wasn't the father of the child but the breakup with
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her ex wasn't that bad he was never violent towards her during the relationship and she couldn't see
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any reason for him to start near police later questioned her ex partner and he had a solid alibi anyway why anybody
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would write Donna and Robin also confused them Donna didn't know anyone by the name of Robin extremely
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frightened Donna moved out of her unit and moved in with her sister Tricia veins one of Trish's neighbors Julia
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comforted Donna because Julia had experienced the similar thing when she had gone away on holidays recently
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somebody had broken into her unit and slashed every photo she had in the place the dress she wore to her engagement
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party was cut up as well just like Donna julia had no enemies and had no idea who
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could be capable of such a thing it wouldn't have seemed like it at the time but Donner and Julia would soon
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come to realize how incredibly lucky they were [Music] eighteen year old Elizabeth Stephens had
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been living in foster care in Tasmania since she was 14 years old when she turned 18 she decided to move to
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Victoria to live with her Auntie Rita and uncle Paul arriving in January 1993 they live together in Paterson Avenue
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Lane Warren in the Frankston area Elizabeth was quiet and shy but was extremely friendly to anyone she met as
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she had grown up in Tasmania she didn't have many friends in the area and there were definitely no boyfriends she liked
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to spend her time reading and mainly hung around at home Elizabeth was studying at TAFE in French then for
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those not familiar with TAFE it is similar to a community college or a Technical College in other parts of the
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world on Friday the 11th of June 1993 Paul and Rita got home from work to find a note on the kitchen bench the note was
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from Elizabeth saying she'd gone to the library at Frankston TAFE to study and should be back about 8:00 p.m. Elizabeth
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always let Paul and Rita know where she was so when it ticked over to 10:00 p.m.
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and Elizabeth still wasn't home Paul and Rita were panicked Paul got in his car and started driving
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around the streets looking for Elizabeth Elizabeth didn't drive so she got to and
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from TAFE by catching the bus Paul drove to Frankston TAFE then drove back to korean-born Road where the bus stop is
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located that Elizabeth would have gotten off at it is then only a short walk to Paul and Rita's house from the bus stop
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Paul drove the same way the bus would have and then expanded his search into surrounding streets but he couldn't find
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any trace of it the weather didn't help it was a shocking night with heavy rain and strong wind making visibility poor
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the police were called and arrived - just after 1:00 a.m. the officer who attended sergeant Webster immediately
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had a feeling something wasn't right there are the missing person reports where the kid is a bit of a troublemaker
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has a lot of friends might be a partying with a boyfriend or girlfriend or there
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might be trouble at home then there are the missing person reports that are completely out of character Elizabeth
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was reliable well-behaved and left a note letting her Oney and uncle know exactly where she was and when she would
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be home Elizabeth didn't have a boyfriend or many friends at all she wasn't the partying type the police
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conducted their own search without success there is not much that could be done at that time and not the TAFE and
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library was shut the bus company had finished up for the night there was nobody to go in question a report was
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made in instructions left for the day shift to follow it up it was the next day that a local man rod was down at
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Lloyd Park located on Cranborne Frankston Road glen warren Lloyd Park is a large area containing playgrounds
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barbecue facilities a couple of sporting fields in a vast grass area and is surrounded by scrub and trees it is a
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very quiet and isolated spot at night rod had been sent to Lloyd Park by his wife to find a small pine tree they
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could use to decorate for their mid-year Christmas party rod walked along one of
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the tracks that go in through the trees and scrub trying to find a suitable tree
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and it was here he discovered the body of Elizabeth Stevens police were called and set up a crime scene Elizabeth was
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the victim of a friends in knife attack multiple stab wounds and a crisscross pattern had been carved into her stomach
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the killer had also stomped on her face breaking her nose a post-mortem would reveal that Elizabeth was choked
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unconscious prior to being stabbed although her top had been removed the bottom half of her clothing was intact
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there was no evidence of sexual assault Lloyd Park was only a short walk from Elizabeth's bus stop police believed
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Elizabeth had caught the bus from Frankston tafe gotten off at a usual stop and that's when she was attacked
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either by someone who followed her off the bus or someone who saw her get off the bus Paulin read his house actually
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backed onto Lloyd Park they could see the flashing lights and numerous police cars gathered about 350 meters away over
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their back fence they knew before the police knocked on their door that Elizabeth had been found a forensic
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examination turned up nothing it had rained heavily all night and was still raining that day washing away any
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evidence there may have been the search of the area turned up a piece of the knife blade such was the extreme force
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of the attack The Killers knife broke but no prints or other evidence were found on the blade Elizabeth's bag and
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the top half of her clothing were found nearby both were soaking wet and also contained no evidence as well as there
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being zero forensic evidence nothing useful came out of the extensive interviews police conducted no
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disgruntled ex-boyfriends no troubles at home no troubles at TAFE every student who attended Elizabeth's TAFE was
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checked out there were some names that popped up that raised a few eyebrows based on prior criminal history but they
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were eventually eliminated from the investigation police set up a roadblock near Elizabeth's bus stop they displayed
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a mannequin dress very similar to what Elizabeth was wearing they also handed out pamphlets with
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information about the case appealing for witnesses to come forward many people did come forward and police did get a
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lot of tips but nothing that helped them point to a suspect the bus driver couldn't remember
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Elizabeth the librarians couldn't remember Elizabeth appeals for other passengers on the bus to come forward
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didn't produce any witnesses either no forensic evidence no witnesses no suspects no leads at all
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it was four weeks later on Thursday the 8th of July 1993 that 41 year old Rosa Toth got off a train at Seaford station
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the time was 5:50 p.m. a short distance from the station is Seaford north reserved not as big as nearby Lloyd Park
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but a similar area a grass reserved with children's playgrounds barbecue areas in
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sporting fuels surrounded by scrub and trees Rosa walked along railway parade taking her past Seaford north reserve
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she noticed a me in standing next to the toilet block she didn't think too much of it although it was dark there were
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other people in the area other passengers who had gotten off the train who were still back in the carpark and
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there was the odd car driving past Rosa didn't think anything was going to happen but she was wrong the man she
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walked past quickly ran up behind her covered her mouth and forced her to the ground he dragged her from the footpath
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down past for toilet block into the grass the reserved area the attack was quick
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there was dark the train station suddenly seemed a million miles away nobody saw a thing browser kicked and
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struggled and tried to break free from her attacker but she couldn't he then pressed something up against her head he
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told her he would blow her head off if she didn't stop fighting but Rosa could tell it wasn't a gun the object felt
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wouldn't Rosa stop struggling and her attacker relaxed thinking the threat of the gun had worked it was then that Rosa
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took her opportunity and grin she ran straight out onto the road screaming as loud as she could her attacker didn't
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follow he ran off in the opposite direction through the reserve and spoiling fields Rosa ran in front of a
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car and the driver stopped and gave her a lift home [Music] roses right leg was badly grazed her
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clothing had been ripped and some of her hair had been pulled out she described her attacker as male 18 to 20 years old
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wearing a black jacket and a beanie 180 centimeters tall which is just under six
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feet with a round face and blue eyes [Music] elsewhere that same night only a short
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distance away in cannon or calves anew also in Seaford was Debbie frame Debbie was 22 years old and had just
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given birth to a son he was only 12 days old her boyfriend Gary Blair was at work and
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Debbie was cooking dinner for a long-term mutual friend of theirs Russell Hayes Russell hadn't seen Debbie
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since her child's birth and both were looking forward to the catch-up Debbie started preparing dinner she was cooking
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an omelet and realized there was no milk Debbie told Russell she had to quickly drive up to the shops and she would only
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be gone two minutes her son was asleep at the time so Debbie said she would leave him at home
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it was 7 p.m. when Debbie left the house Russell sat down and watched TV as five
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minutes turned to ten and ten turned to 20 Russell started getting concerned where is Debbie she said she would only
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be gone two minutes Russell didn't live in the area so he wasn't sure what shop Debbie would have
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gone to and he couldn't leave to go and look for her anyway Debbie's 12 day old son was inside
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asleep after an hour had gone by he called the police and the local hospital to see if there had been any accidents
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in the area there hadn't been he called Debbie's boyfriend Gary Blair Gary arranged to leave work early he
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also called one of Debbie's friends who went to the house to look after the baby
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Gary and Russell then drove around trying to find Debbie or her car which was a gray pulsar Gary directed Russell
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to the local shop where Debbie would have gone and they drove around the surrounding streets there was no trace
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of her or the car they decided to drive the Frankston police station to report her missing
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they say anxiously throughout the night waiting to hear from Debbie or from the police with some information as to where
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she was but they didn't hear anything Debbie had vanished police visited all of the local shops in the area but
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nobody could remember serving Debbie it didn't take detectives long to link the attack on Rosa Tov which happened
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only in the hour before Debbie freem disappeared Debbie lived right near cannon or train station which is the
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first station south of Seaford station where Rosa was attacked it was only two kilometers away just over a mile and it
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was only a short drive over to Lloyd Park in the nearby suburb of Lange Warren where Elizabeth Stephens was
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found but even without linking the other two attacks Debbie friend's disappearance was
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treated as sinister from the very start she had dinner cooking and a guest waiting and she left a 12-day old son at
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home a search was organized of nearby cannon or Creek divers were called in to search the water and the surrounding
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thick bush and scrub were also searched nothing was found this time an appeal to
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the public did reveal some important information several people came forward reporting that they saw a great pulsar
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the same car is Debbie's driving erratically swerving and flashing its lights at passing cars was Debbie trying
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to signal for help it was the next day Friday when detectives who were working on the case happened to drive past a
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gray pulsar parked outside a Christian Center on Madden Street and seafood only two kilometers away from where Debbie
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disappeared they did some checks and discovered that it was Debbie's car that they had just found the front passenger
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side door was unlocked and there was a dent in the center of the bonnet the damage looked recent Gary Blair later
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confirmed the car hadn't been damaged prior to debbie's disappearance a forensic examination was quickly
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arranged and traces of Debbie's blood were found inside another thing that stood out was the
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driver's seat was pushed right back Debbie was only short so there's no way she would have had the seat back that
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far it was four days later Monday the 12th of July when a farmer by the name of Fred was out working on his farm on
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Taylor's Road carom downs carom D and is also part of the Frankston area it is east of Seaford and there's about a
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15-minute drive from where Debbie disappeared Taylor's Road was in the middle of
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farmland a very quiet and isolated spot nothing around but paddocks although it was part of the Frankston area it seemed
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like it was in the middle of nowhere it was in the afternoon that Monday when Fred was driving around checking in the
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fence line on his farm making sure there are no holes or other damage that livestock would be able to get through
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underneath a couple of large fern tree leaves along his fence line on Taylor's Road fred saw what he thought was a pile
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of rubbish somebody had dumped as he got closer he started smoking it was a mannequin one of his neighbors was
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playing a trick on him good one he thought as he got closer still he froze it was only that morning that Fred had
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read a front page newspaper article about the disappearance of Debbie frame Fred knew he had just found her police
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arrived and set up a crime scene the scene was very similar to that of Elizabeth Stevens Debbie was the victim
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of a frenzied knife attack there were no signs of sexual assault and a post-mortem would reveal she had been
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strangled as well Debbie had numerous defense wounds on her arms and hands and just like the Elizabeth Stephens crime
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scene not one shred of forensic evidence was found the media was running wild with the story
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the Frankston area was completely gripped by fear the recent attacks were linked to the murders of two other women
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in the area sara McDormand who disappeared from canada train station in 1990 bloodstains were found next to her
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vehicle as well as drag marks to this day her body has never been found however a coroner has ruled she met with
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fair play a 1 million dollar reward is on offer for any information to help solve her case these days it is not
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believed her cases linked to the Frankston serial killer but it was a different story back then Michelle
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Brienne was found murdered in Frankston in 1992 there is a $50,000 reward on offer for her case which is now believed
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to be drug-related and also not linked to the Frankston serial killer but again at the time the media considered all of
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the cases to be linked the whispers of a serial killer on the loose were no longer whispers the
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headlines were constant to avoid confusion I won't mention the mcdee mend or pre-owned cases anymore
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it's just to give you an idea of what was happening at the time what was being reported however the papers were still
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right there was a serial killer on the loose the murders of Elizabeth Stevens and Debbie frame and the attack on Rosa
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Toth were definitely the work the same person police warned women to avoid traveling alone and to avoid going to
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their vehicles alone especially at night in quiet spots detectives conducted a search for anyone
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with a history of violent attacks against women who lived in the Frankston area 500 names were spat out of the
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computer that list was eventually narrowed down to 30 they were all checked out thoroughly but all were
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eventually cleared detectives sought the help of a fellow officer who had trained
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in profiling for 14 months at the FBI Academy in Quantico he put together a profile suggesting it was highly likely
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Debbie frame and Elizabeth Stevens were killed by the same person this was due to the time between the killings the
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geographical location the nature of the killings and the fact the bodies were left in quiet isolated spots the profile
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suggested that the killer was male who had acted out on a strong fantasy that had been building up for years he was
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likely unemployed but if he was employed it would be a menial job the killer lived in and was very familiar with the
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Franklin area he would be aged between 18 and 24 average-looking and he would live alone
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as is the case with any profile it was only a guide it could apply to many people
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detectives are encouraged not to discount anybody just because they didn't fit the profile people living in
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the Frankston area started changing their habits many didn't venture out at night and most didn't venture out alone
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at all people couldn't help but cast the suspicious eye everywhere they went just
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wondering is that person the killer it led to some people putting their houses on the market and moving out of the area
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completely but there was a problem trying to sell houses nobody wanted to move into the area our
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sales dried up and rental houses remained vacant people started arming themselves with hockey sticks and
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cricket bats women carried oven cleaner in their handbags to spray in the eyes of any attacker enrollments in
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self-defense classes skyrocketed in response to the public hysteria police commenced operation reassurance the
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Frankston area was flooded with extra police it was a high visibility operation designed to make the public
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feel safe but also to try and deter further attacks [Music] on Friday the 30th of July just three
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weeks after the murder of Debbie freeing a postal worker was delivering mail on her motorbike along sky Road in
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Frankston sky road is only a short distance drive from the other crime scenes they were all within an 8
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kilometer radius 8 kilometers being 5 miles about 2:30 p.m. the postal worker noticed an old rusted yellow toyota
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corona with no number plates it was parked opposite the entrance of a bike track which runs up between two golf
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courses on Sky Road the bike track is used as a shortcut to get from sky road to Frankston north the boy truck was
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overgrown and had a high wire fence running down each side overgrown trees and thick scrub and grass pushed up
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against the fence it was a quiet isolated track not visible from the road the track was invisible from the golf
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course either due to the trees and heavy thick scrub the postal worker saw a man with a
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chubby face sitting in the driver's seat of the Toyota he was wearing a dark-colored cap and was looking down
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sky road as she rode past him the men slouched down in his seat as if he didn't want to be seen given what was
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happening in the area the postal worker decided to call the police she sensed something was off she pulled into a
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nearby driveway and knocked on the door asking to use a phone as she knocked on the door she noticed a schoolgirl
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walking along sky Road headed up towards the track the schoolgirl was 17 year old
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Natalie Russell who was in year 12 at john paul college a school located just off skye road natalie finished the day
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with a free period so she left school early to go home and study for an upcoming exam only two days earlier the
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principal of the school had warned the students at an assembly that it would be safer to avoid any shortcuts home making
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specific mention of the bike track on skye road Nataly wasn't the only one to ignore the
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warning plenty of kids were still using it but because she had left school early
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she was the only one there Neal it was a much quicker way for her to walk home to
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Frankston north not only was being watched through a pair of binoculars as she walked up Sky Road realizing where
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she was headed the men stopped watching her ran up the by track and waited the short time later not only walked
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past the old yellow Toyota nobody was in it she made her way under the track [Music]
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police responded to the call to check out the suspicious mail in the yellow Toyota when they arrived there was
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nobody in the car they did a door knock of nearby houses but didn't really get anything useful
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by this time school had ended for the day and there were kids starting to appear everywhere scattering off in all
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different directions when a call for an armed robbery came over the radio police
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had to leave to respond to that a few kids ventured under the bike check that afternoon one noticed the shoe laying in
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the middle of the track right next to where there was a hole cut in the fence that led into the trees and thick scrub
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another notice the men walking hurriedly towards him along the track the fear that overcame the child quickly passed
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when the men kept walking without saying anything keeping his head down and his hands shoved into his pockets at 8:00
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p.m. that night Natalie Russell's family reported her missing they called Frankston police station and
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needless to say the report was treated with greater urgency Natalie was always home before dark and she always called
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her parents to let them know where she was she had never run off before she was a good kid quiet well-behaved with a
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close circle of good friends police questioned her parents and learn about the bike track off sky Road she used to
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walk home a search of the track was quickly arranged there were several holes that
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have been cut along the wire fence it was through the third hole deep into the scrub and trees they found Natalie's
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body Natalie was also the victim of a frenzied knife attack she had numerous defensive injuries she put up a hell of
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a fight there was no sign of sexual assault there was no question her murder was related to those of Elizabeth
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Stevens and Debby frame the search of the crime scene and the forensic examination was put off until the next
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day the police didn't want to risk losing any evidence in the port light and organizing flood lighting in the area
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would increase the amount of foot traffic which in turn would increase the chances of a contaminated crime scene it
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was a good move because this time they came up with a lot of forensic evidence there was blood on the outline of the
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hole that had been cut in the fence a small piece of skin was located in one of Natalie's wounds the piece of skin
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seemed foreign although there was no way of knowing for sure until test results came back but the pathologist believed
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the killer may have cut himself in the attack about ten small dark hairs that did not belong to Natalie were found in
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her hand she had gripped some of the killer's area to leather straps with blood on them were also found at the
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scene plus the cuts in the fence could be matched to a tool owned by the suspect if one was ever identified there
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was a lot to work with as the forensic examination was being conducted the two police who attended to the call to check
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out the suspicious male in their toyota the day before on skye road approached detectives
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there was nobody in the car and the car had no number plates but there was a registration sticker attached and the
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police had recorded the registration details did they finally have the breakthrough they desperately needed or
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was it another dead end find out next week in part 2 of the Frankston serial killer
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[Music] you [Music]