55case filesUpdated Jul 16, 2026
Casepin holds 55 unsolved cases in Australia. By legal status, 44 marked unsolved and 11 marked cold. On Casepin a case is unsolved when no one has been convicted for it; files the record marks as cold, where active investigation has stalled, are counted here too and carry their own Cold label.
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: Courtesy of the Hayez family / 'Looking for Théo Hayez' campaignEditorial useSourceUNSOLVEDListenCape Byron / Byron Bay area, New South Wales, Australia · 2019
Théo Hayez, an 18-year-old Belgian backpacker, vanished after leaving a bar in Byron Bay, Australia, on 31 May 2019; despite extensive searches, he has never been found.
Credit: Australian Department of TransportationPublic domainSourceUNSOLVEDListenBass Strait, near Cape Otway and King Island · 1978
On 21 October 1978, 20-year-old pilot Frederick Valentich vanished over Bass Strait during a night flight to King Island after radioing air traffic control about an unidentified aircraft near his plane and reporting engine trouble. Neither he nor his Cessna 182L were ever found.
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.
UNSOLVEDListenKings Park, Perth, Western Australia · 2007
Corryn Rayney, a Supreme Court of Western Australia registrar, disappeared on 7 August 2007 and was found buried in Kings Park, Perth; her husband Lloyd Rayney was charged with her murder but acquitted at trial, an acquittal later upheld on appeal, and her killing remains unsolved.
UNSOLVEDListenCoogee Aquarium Baths, Coogee, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia · 1935
In 1935 Sydney, a captive tiger shark vomited up a tattooed human arm, sparking a murder investigation into the death of James "Jimmy" Smith that led to a suspicious suicide attempt, a second man's unsolved murder, and an acquittal — leaving the case officially unsolved to this day.
Credit: CalistemonCC BY-SA 4.0SourceUNSOLVEDListenRural property near Nannup, Western Australia · 2007
In July 2007, four people — spiritual leader Simon Kadwill and his followers Chantelle McDougall, her daughter Leela McDougall, and Tony Popic — vanished from a rural property near Nannup, Western Australia. Despite a police investigation and a 2017 coronial inquest, none of the four have been found and their fate remains undetermined.
UNSOLVEDListenPyramid Hill, Victoria, Australia · 2009
Krystal Fraser, a 23-year-old pregnant woman with an intellectual disability, vanished from Pyramid Hill, Victoria on 20 June 2009. A 2022 coronial inquest concluded she was likely killed and found evidence supported the conclusion that Peter "PJ" Jenkinson was involved in her disappearance, though he has not been charged and her body has never been found.
UNSOLVEDListenBowen, Queensland, Australia · 2014
Rachel Antonio, 16, disappeared in Bowen, Queensland on 25 April 1998 after being last seen walking along Queen's Beach Esplanade. Robert Hytch was charged with her murder, convicted of manslaughter, had that conviction overturned, and was acquitted at a retrial. A 2016 coronial inquest found Hytch had likely caused her death and hidden her body, which has never been found.
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.
The files run from 1818 to 2019. The 1970s hold the most, with 10 files. The oldest is Minnamurra River massacre, from 1818.
They are spread across 6 states and regions; the most are in Victoria (14), South Australia (10) and New South Wales (9). By type, the largest groups are murder and homicide cases (31), disappearance cases (18) and kidnapping and abduction cases (5).
12 files of the 55 have coverage attached: 24 videos, podcasts and documentaries from 9 creators. The most covered is The Somerton Man (Tamám Shud case), with 5 items to watch or hear. 60 Minutes Australia, Georgia Marie and Kendall Rae 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
William Tyrrell in a Spider-Man costume — Credit: William Tyrrell's motherEditorial useSource
'Looking for Théo Hayez' missing-person appeal — Credit: Courtesy of the Hayez family / 'Looking for Théo Hayez' campaignEditorial useSource
Cheryl Grimmer and her father — Credit: Unknown, personal family picture. Likely a relative or family friend.Editorial useSource
Glenelg south aust — Credit: Adam.J.W.C.CC BY-SA 2.5Source
Frederick Valentich — Credit: Australian Department of TransportationPublic domainSource
File:StateLibQld 2 212204 Betty Shanks.jpg — Credit: Contributor(s): The Courier-MailPublic domainSource
00 2003 Derby - Westaustralien — Credit: W. BulachCC BY-SA 4.0Source
Vasse Highway, main street of Nannup, Western Australia, January 2023 01 — Credit: CalistemonCC BY-SA 4.0Source
Acland Street in St Kilda — Credit: BidgeeCC BY-SA 3.0Source
James (Jim) Barclay, John Bamford — Credit: ABC Gippsland / East Gippsland Historical Society (via The Line-Up; also captioned in…Public domainSource
Bogle & Chandler bodies site Lane Cove River — Credit: Poyt448 Peter WoodardCC0SourceThese 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.
55. By status: 44 unsolved and 11 cold. The count covers published files only and changes as new files clear review.
Minnamurra River massacre, from 1818. 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 (5 cases), Georgia Marie (2 cases) and Kendall Rae (2 cases), among 9 creators in all.
Victoria (14), South Australia (10) and New South Wales (9).
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.
