Citizen investigation to take on a Mossman cold case challenge
Missing Person Joanne Butterfield
If you read the case files of missing person Joanne Butterfield, last seen in Mossman on June 24, 1998, you are likely to think there is no hope of an answer in the cold case crime.
Now, a citizen-led appeal for information and investigation - championed by investigative journalist Bryan Littlely and Newsport - is set to challenge that thinking.
The investigative true crime podcast SLEEPERS will pick up the case, hoping to gather bites of information, even clues, never before heard as it has succeeded in doing for other prominent cold cases, including the 1966 abduction of the Beaumont children from Glenelg, and the Adelaide Oval abduction of Joanne Ratcliffe and Kirste Gordon in 1973.
“Simply by covering the case, putting a spotlight on it and starting to talk, people do tend to come forward with information that they may not have even thought relevant in such cases,’’ Littlely said.
“That can be critical… a starting point to take us, and police, closer towards an answer.”
Joanne Butterfield, 37, was last seen on 24 June 1998, in Mossman. A few days after she went missing Joanne's dress, bag and passport were found on a railway line two hours south of Mossman. Personal items were mailed to her daughter's school.
Australian Missing Person’s Register’s Nicole Morris, author of MISSING, made a promise to Jo’s devoted sister Belinda to never stop looking for Jo. Sadly, Belinda has passed away without getting an answer.
Tips can be made on the Crime Scene Oz or Bryan Littlely facebook page and direct email to [email protected] where Littlely can follow up, with any advancement to be reported through Newsport to power up a local citizen investigation to assist police efforts.
In 2021, police reopened the cold case, saying two men could hold the key to solving the mystery
Joanne had told friends she intended to hitchhike to Sydney and set off from a house at Mowbray, near the Captain Cook Highway, about 7:00pm.
In the lead up to the opening of the cold case, CrimeStoppers had received several new tip-offs.
A 2014 inquest found that Ms Butterfield had died shortly after last being sighted on June 25, 1998, that it was unlikely that she had taken her own life and more probably that she was killed by a person or persons unknown.
Police had begun re-interviewing people in the Mossman area in 2021 about Ms Butterfield's disappearance. They were particularly interested in speaking to those with information about two men.
Police also want to hear from anyone who may have seen a woman hitchhiking between Port Douglas and the South Johnstone area between Thursday, June 5 and Sunday, June 28, 1998.
They're also interested in speaking to anyone who travelled along Henderson Drive, Pin Gin Hill and saw any cars or people near the lookout during those dates.
Ms Butterfield was last seen wearing a short, black dress and black flat shoes and is described as 160 centimetres tall with blue eyes and long auburn hair.
