11case filesUpdated Jul 16, 2026
Casepin holds 11 cold cases in Australia. A cold case is an unsolved case whose active investigation has stalled; the label comes from each file's status field and changes the day the record does.
Credit: Australian police, via English WikipediaPublic domainSourceCOLDListenSomerton Park beach, Adelaide, South Australia · 1940s
An unidentified man was found dead on an Adelaide beach in 1948, in a case that remains officially unresolved despite a 2022 genetic-genealogy identification claim.
Credit: Contributor(s): The Courier-MailPublic domainSourceCOLDListenGrange, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia · 2006
Betty Shanks, a young Brisbane public servant, was beaten and strangled while walking home in September 1952, in one of Queensland's oldest unsolved killings.
COLDListenRiver Torrens near Kintore Avenue, Adelaide, South Australia · 1972
George Duncan, a law lecturer at the University of Adelaide, drowned on 10 May 1972 after being thrown into the River Torrens by a group of men believed to be police officers at a known gay beat. Two former vice squad officers were later tried for manslaughter and acquitted; no one has ever been convicted, and the case remains open.
COLDListenNorth Melbourne, Victoria, Australia · 1975
Julie Garciacelay, a 19-year-old American woman living in North Melbourne, vanished from her apartment on 1 July 1975 after three men visited her that evening; police treated the case as a homicide, and a 2018 coronial inquest found her deceased, but no one has been charged.
The files run from 1836 to 2006. The 1970s hold the most, with 6 files. The oldest is Mount Cottrell massacre, from 1836.
They are spread across 5 states and regions; the most are in South Australia (5) and New South Wales (2). By type, the largest groups are murder and homicide cases (9), disappearance cases (4) and kidnapping and abduction cases (2).
3 files of the 11 have coverage attached: 9 videos, podcasts and documentaries from 3 creators. The most covered is The Somerton Man (Tamám Shud case), with 5 items to watch or hear. 60 Minutes Australia, Georgia Marie and Bella Fiori have covered the most of them.
Every file is written from cited sources and pinned where it happened, and every person named carries the legal status the record gives them. If you hold information about an unsolved case, contact the investigating agency named in its file rather than posting it publicly. Families and anyone involved can request a correction from any file.
SomertonManSuitcase — Credit: Australian police, via English WikipediaPublic domainSource
Cheryl Grimmer and her father — Credit: Unknown, personal family picture. Likely a relative or family friend.Editorial useSource
File:StateLibQld 2 212204 Betty Shanks.jpg — Credit: Contributor(s): The Courier-MailPublic domainSource
These files are published and cited but are kept out of search listings for now, either because they fall outside Casepin’s true-crime scope or because they are still being deepened.
11. The count covers published files only and changes as new files clear review.
Mount Cottrell massacre, from 1836. Open the file
The Somerton Man (Tamám Shud case), with 5 videos, podcasts and documentaries linked from its file. Open the file
60 Minutes Australia (2 cases), Georgia Marie (1 case) and Bella Fiori (1 case).
South Australia (5) and New South Wales (2).
It rebuilds hourly from the published files; the newest file change here is dated Jul 16, 2026. A status changes only when the record behind it does.
