Putting the missing back in the picture
Leave A Light On
Missing Mareeba man Bruce Schuler has been remembered on the weekend and people are encouraged to tonight, Tuesday, October 21, leave a porch light on for him and the more than 2800 long term missing Australians as part of the Leave A Light On annual event.
Mr Schuler, 48, went missing in July 2012 at Palmerville Station, sparking a massive air, ground and underwater search which failed to find any trace of the gold prospector.
Following a two-week trial in the Supreme Court in Cairns in 2015, a jury found the station’s leaseholders Stephen Struber, 58, and Dianne Wilson, 55, guilty of his murder.
The case has featured recently on 60 Minutes and is central to a petition calling for a Coronial Inquest in a bid to clear Ms Wilson of the murder.
Families of missing persons from across Australia gathered in Melbourne on Sunday to remember their loved ones as part of Leave A Light On Inc, a family support organisation founded by Suzie Ratcliffe and Newsport’s Bryan Littlely, an investigative journalist working on cold case private investigations including the abduction of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon from Adelaide Oval in 1973.
Mr Schuler featured in the memorial video Put Them Back In The Picture WATCH HERE showing dozens of missing persons whose families continue to hold hope of finding answers to what happened to their loved ones.
Leave A Light On has been running for more than 10 years, the concept of leaving a porch light on to guide the path home for missing persons honouring the efforts of Suzie’s family who left the porch light on for missing Joanne - 11 when abducted with Kirte Gordon, 4, on August 25, 1973, during a football match at Adelaide Oval - each night for seven years, until her father, Les, died.
“Leaving a light on for one night, on October 21, is a symbol of hope for the families of missing persons,’’ said Ms Ratcliffe.
“It is the simplest of gestures to show these families that we stand with them in their heartbreak at not knowing what happened to their loved ones, and it highlights these cases broadly, building the chances of new information to be brought forward.’’
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