{"id":11076,"date":"2021-04-19T22:43:17","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T22:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=11076"},"modified":"2021-04-19T22:43:17","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T22:43:17","slug":"unsolved-homicide-detectives-and-police-divers-conduct-searches-as-inquiries-continue-into-murder-of-melissa-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/04\/19\/unsolved-homicide-detectives-and-police-divers-conduct-searches-as-inquiries-continue-into-murder-of-melissa-hunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsolved Homicide detectives and police divers conduct searches as inquiries continue into murder of Melissa Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unsolved Homicide Squad detectives and Police Divers have returned to the state\u2019s Hunter Region as inquiries continue into the murder of Melissa Hunt nearly 27 years ago.
\nThe body of Melissa Hunt, then aged 22, was found near the weir wall of Burrenjim Dam, Bluegum Creek via Stockrington, on Monday 25 April 1994.
\nA post mortem examination revealed she died from severe head injuries.
\nStrike Force Impey, comprised of detectives from the Lake Macquarie Police District and the State Crime Command\u2019s Homicide Squad, was formed to investigate her death; however, no arrests have been made.
\nFollowing a Coronial Inquest in 1998, the matter was sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for review and referred to the Unsolved Homicide Unit.
\nA formal review of the investigation was conducted under the new unsolved framework and is now under re-investigation by detectives attached to Strike Force Circulo.
\nIn December last year, the NSW Government, together with the State Crime Command\u2019s Homicide Squad, announced a $1 million reward for information and renewed their appeal to the community to come forward with any information that may assist detectives.
\nFollowing the reward announcement, police received information relating to the investigation and have subsequently returned to the state\u2019s Hunter Region today (Tuesday 20 April 2021).
\nUnsolved Homicide Squad detectives, assisted by the Forensic Evidence and Technical Services Command (FETS), executed a crime scene warrant at a home at Lambton Road, Waratah, while Police Divers conduct a secondary search of the Burrenjim Dam.
\nHomicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty, said Strike Force Circulo detectives are specifically looking to locate any remaining forensic evidence that could assist the investigation.
\n\u201cThis Sunday<\/a> marks the 27th<\/sup> anniversary of Melissa\u2019s murder and detectives are hopeful that the new information we have received, together with today\u2019s searches, will progress the investigation,\u201d Det Supt Doherty said.
\n\u201cPolice are exploring a number of new lines of inquiry, including whether Melissa regularly attended a home at Waratah and if a domestic incident took place at the residence prior to her death.
\n\u201cDetectives are also continuing to liaise with interstate law enforcement partners to make contact with associates and witnesses, who are now residing in other states \u2013 including South Australia, Queensland and Victoria \u2013 to ensure no stone is left unturned.
\n\u201cAs our investigations into Melissa\u2019s death continue, we are urging anyone with information to contact police so we may provide much-needed answers to Melissa\u2019s family,\u201d Det Supt Doherty said.
\nInvestigations under Strike Force Circulo are continuing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unsolved Homicide Squad detectives and Police Divers have returned to the state\u2019s Hunter Region as inquiries continue into the murder of Melissa Hunt nearly 27 years ago. The body of Melissa Hunt, then aged 22, was found near the weir wall of Burrenjim Dam, Bluegum Creek via Stockrington, on Monday 25 April 1994. A post … Continue reading “Unsolved Homicide detectives and police divers conduct searches as inquiries continue into murder of Melissa Hunt”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}