Leave a Light On tonight for missing persons
Leave A Light On
Far North Queensland residents are asked to Leave A Light On tonight in memory of missing persons and to keep in the spotlight their cases in the hope of finding answers for families.
Now in its 12th year, the Leave A Light On campaign - co-founded by Newsport’s Bryan Littlely with Suzie Ratcliffe, sister of Joanne who was abducted along with Kirste Gordon from Adelaide Oval in 1973 - supports the families of hundreds of families of the 2800 long term missing persons in Australia.
An investigative journalist and Sleepers podcast creator, Littlely is working on leads in the case of Mossman woman Joanne Butterfield, who disappeared in 1998 and was the subject of an inquest last month in the Cairns Coroners Court.
“In that inquest, it was revealed that it took 20 years for police to discover and then question a man about a series of phone calls Joanne made to a man she had travelled with and stayed with in the weeks leading up to her disappearance,” Littlely said.
“Unless these cases are kept in the spotlight, and people keep asking questions and holding hope for an answer, there is a real likelihood that the chance to solve them will be lost, just as they are.”
Littlely also is looking into the case of Coen missing woman Ms Bernard, and the baffling mystery of Jamilla Humphrey who disappeared near Jardine River ferry in August 2024.
“The story of Jamilla is fascinating… and may actually be a case of her faking her own disappearance,’’ Littlely said.
The annual Leave A Light On Inc remembrance event also falls on the anniversary of the Wangetti Beach murder of Toyah Cordingley. Those events at the time of the murder in 2018 were closely followed by the advocacy organisation. The case is back in the spotlight with convicted killer Rajwinder Singh bringing his appeal before the courts in Brisbane last week.
Residents are asked to leave a porch light on tonight for missing persons. The practice and name of the organisations is derived from the actions of the Ratcliffe family post the August 25, 1973, abduction of Joanne, 11, and Kirste, 4.
For seven years, the Ratcliffes left their porch light on each night so that Joanne could be welcomed home and to guide her way home.
