Detectives investigating the disappearance \u2013 and suspected murder \u2013 of three Lake Macquarie teenage girls have released an image of a vehicle which is similar to the one they believe may be linked to two of the cases.
\nIn April 2019, Lake Macquarie detectives established Strike Force Arapaima to re-examine the investigation into the unsolved disappearances and suspected murders of Robyn Hickie, Amanda Robinson and Gordana Kotevski.
\nRobyn Hickie, aged 18, left her home around 7.15pm on Saturday 7 April 1979, and was last seen standing at a bus stop on the Pacific Highway, Belmont North.
\nA fortnight later, Amanda Robinson, aged 14, was last seen on Saturday 21 April 1979, also near a bus stop on Lake Road, Swansea, after attending a dance at her high school in Gateshead.
\nAbout 9pm on Thursday 24 November 1994, Gordana Kotevski, aged 16, was forced into a vehicle on Powell Street, Charlestown, while walking from Charlestown Square Shopping Centre to her aunt\u2019s home on the same road.
\nDespite extensive investigations at the time, and over the years, none of the girls have been located.
\nA subsequent Coronial Inquest into their disappearances found that the girls were deceased, most likely as a result of foul play.
\nAs part of ongoing investigations, strike force detectives have identified a vehicle which they believe may be linked to the disappearance and suspected murder of both Robyn Hickie and Amanda Robinson.
\nThey have released an image of a similar vehicle, which is described as a distinct green-coloured, mid-1970s four-door Holden Torana sedan.
\nLake Macquarie Police District Crime Manager, Detective Chief Inspector Greg Thomas, said this is a significant new lead in the investigation of these cases.
\n\u201cWe are hoping anyone who was living in the Lake Macquarie region in the late 1970s may have a recollection of this Holden Torana, in particular in the month of April 1979.
\n\u201cWe understand it\u2019s been 40 years since Robyn and Amanda\u2019s disappearances, however, we are seeking assistance from anyone who may even have moved to a different state or who may have some memory of this vehicle to come forward to police \u2013 you can remain anonymous through Crime Stoppers if you wish.
\n\u201cIt may seem like small or insignificant information from decades past \u2013 but it could help investigators solve these cases,\u201d Det Ch Insp Thomas said.
\nInvestigations under Strike Force Arapaima continue.
\nAnyone with information about any of these cold cases is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https:\/\/nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Detectives investigating the disappearance \u2013 and suspected murder \u2013 of three Lake Macquarie teenage girls have released an image of a vehicle which is similar to the one they believe may be linked to two of the cases. In April 2019, Lake Macquarie detectives established Strike Force Arapaima to re-examine the investigation into the unsolved … Continue reading “Police release image of vehicle linked to disappearance of teens – Strike Force Arapaima”<\/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-4350","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\/4350","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=4350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}