Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Deputy state coroner Iain West has handed down his findings following the inquest into the disappearance of Maureen Braddy and Allan Whyte.
He has found there is ''simply a lack of evidence'' surrounding the disappearance of Maureen Braddy and Allan Whyte.
He acknowledged while he believed they were dead, and foul play was most likely involved, there was not enough evidence to charge anyone.
He gave four main reasons for his findings, including the fact no bodies had been found, there were no eyewitnesses to the crime, there was no strong circumstantial evidence and "there is a simply a lack of evidence".
He said that suspect Stanley Braddy, Maureen's father, was "uncooperative and evasive", stating in his report that "the behaviour of Mr Braddy at the time of the disappearance and the time subsequent is highly suspicious".
The report states that Mr Braddy's whereabouts could not be accounted for the afternoon following his daughter's disappearance, and his assertion he was with his wife and daughter Rhonda that day were contradicted by the two women.
He said he found Mr Braddy to be "a most unreliable witness who had no interest in assisting either my inquiry, or that of police".
The report also notes "there is evidence of Mr Braddy being violent towards his wife and children".
But he said there was not enough evidence to conclude Mr Braddy was either directly or indirectly involved in Braddy and Whyte's disappearance.
"Suspicion and speculation cannot be the basis for making findings of fact," he said.
He said Maureen's sister's account of seeing her father carrying a body the night the teenagers disappeared in 1968 was not "sufficiently reliable".
He said the mind sometimes "unconsciously invented" scenarios to "fill gaps", referring to the fact Lyn Ireland was able to better recall what she saw while under hypnosis as an adult, many years after her sister's disappearance.
Outside the court, Ms Ireland said she was upset with the coroner's findings.
"I just can't believe it," she said.
"I don't understand.
"I'm not a happy girl."
But Ms Ireland said vowed to continue to push for further investigations into her sister's disappearance.
"I won't stop, I'm not stopping here," she said.
Shane MacDonell, son of Maureen's sister Debbie, said the family was "gutted" by the coroner's findings.
"Everyone's upset with what he just said in there," he said.
Mr MacDonell's wife, Jodie, said the unsolved disappearances had affected generations of the Braddy family.
"Our kids have grown up with it," she said.
"It's very disappointing.
"But we'll keep going. You don't start something then stop just because you've hit a hurdle."
She said the family's determination to continue with the case stemmed from a strong desire to find Maureen and Allan's bodies, to lay them to rest and achieve closure over their deaths.
Maureen Braddy was reported missing on November 24, 1968 and Allan Whyte is believed to have been reported missing that day also, although there is no record of this.
The pair were last seen at a dance at the YMCA Hall in Mundy Street on the night of Saturday November 23, 1968.
Whyte was aged 17 and Braddy was 16.
The findings relate to inquests conducted in March 2012 and March 2013.