Debbie Ashby -
Age 16.
Computer Generated Image - Age 18
Computer
Generated Image - Age 25
Computer
Generated Image - Age 30
Haunted: After almost 30 years Mary Ashby is hoping someone will
come forward with information about her daughter Debbie's disappearance.
Picture: Anna Warr
Debbie Marie ASHBY
DOB:
1971 - 16 years when missing
HAIR:
Brown
BUILD:Thin
EYES:Brown
CIRCUMSTANCES:
Debbie Ashby was last seen at Campbelltown,
Sydney on 9 October, 1987, 2 days after her 16th birthday She left
her home at 1pm and stated that she was going to a friend's house. Debbie
had taken no clothing and has not been seen since.
Parents and police have
fears for her safety.
Reported missing to: Missing Persons Unit.
Circumstances
Debbie Ashby was last seen leaving her family home at Leumeah in
Sydney's west on 9 October 1987. Debbie left her home at 1pm and
stated that she was going to a friend's house. Debbie didn't
take any clothing with her and has not been seen since. She was
16 at the time of her disappearance.
A rebellious teen, she had experienced threats at school and had
wanted to move schools before leaving school for good. The last
her family heard from her was a phone call a few days after she
left home, saying she was all right.
If you have information that may assist police to locate Debbie
please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Reward of $100,000 to solve disappearance of Debbie Marie Ashby
A $100,000 reward is offered for information leading
to an arrest and conviction for the
persons responsible for the death of
Debbie Marie Ashby.
Ms Ashby was last seen leaving her home on 9 October
1987 at Leumeah in Sydney's West.
Debbie, who was born on 7 October 1971, was 16 at
the time of her disappearance and has not been heard from since.
A coronial inquest determined that Ms Ashby died on,
or after, 11 October 1987.
The inquest also recommended that:
A reward be offered for information that may lead to an
arrest and conviction
That the death of Debbie Ashby be referred to the Unsolved
Homicide Unit.
The Police working on this case have exhausted every
avenue of investigation and can only move forward if provided with
some information.
Police have produced computer generated images of Ms
Ashby at the ages of 18, 25 and 30 in the hope that it may trigger
someone to come forward.
Do you have information that can help police with this case?
Any information you have about this is worth giving to
police, no
matter how small or insignificant it may seem.
You can provide information to police via any of the methods
below:
Call Crime Stoppers any time on 1800 333 000
Report information to Crime Stoppers any time via this
site's
Any information provided will be treated in the strictest
confidence.
Your help may give police the clue they need to close this
case and provide some comfort for the families of victims.
How to claim your reward
Contact Crime Stoppers or your local Police Station.
Identify yourself and indicate you have information
about a crime and that you wish to claim a reward.
You will then be put in contact with a police officer
involved in the investigation of that case.
Girl missing for 20 years dead: coroner Leonie Lamont - SMH
February 26, 2007
A coroner's inquest into the disappearance of a teenage girl 20 years ago has
recommended that a reward be offered for information about her probable death.
Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich is holding inquests into dozens of "cold
case" missing persons. He found, on the balance of probabilities, that Debbie
Ashby, 16, who left her family home in Leumeah in October 1987, was probably
dead.
He told the family that it was "totally unacceptable" for him as a coroner to be
holding an inquest 20 years after the disappearance.
He said under plans to deal with missing persons, any people still missing
within six to 12 months should be brought to the coroner's attention.
"There are 9000 people each year in NSW who go missing, and about 40 are never
found. I'm not worried about the 8960. I am worried about the 40 because often
they are homicides never detected," he said.
He said Debbie disappeared at the same time as a number of other young women had
also gone missing.
In making a recommendation for the reward, and sending a file to the homicide
squad for review, he said: "It is so unusual for a 16-year-old to disappear, one
has to look at it as suspicious; 16-year-olds just don't disappear off the face
of the earth, something has happened to her."
Debbie's family wept in court as Mr Milovanovich delivered his formal finding
that the girl was dead.
Long search ends with tragic finding
Leonie Lamont - SMH February 27, 2007
SITTING opposite an inmate at Mulawa jail, Mary Ashby looked at the young woman
who "amazingly" looked like her daughter, Debbie, missing since 1987.
But it was not her. "She seems to look like so many other young ladies. I have
met several," Mrs Ashby said of the sightings reported to police over the years.
"I have come to the conclusion … a long time ago that she is not alive."
Yesterday's inquest at the State Coroner's Court, Westmead, into the
disappearance of the 16-year-old gave "no conclusion, no closure", her family
said.
The Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich is holding inquests into numerous
"cold case" missing persons. He found, on the balance of probabilities, that
Debbie, who left her family home in Leumeah in October 1987, was probably dead.
He recommended that a reward be offered and homicide squad review the file.
He told the family it was totally unacceptable for him as a coroner to be
holding an inquest 20 years later. It was planned that missing persons files be
referred to the coroner within six to 12 months of a disappearance.
Mr Milovanovich said Debbie vanished at the same time as several other young
women.
"It is so unusual for a 16-year-old to disappear. One has to look at it as
suspicious. Sixteen-year-olds just don't disappear off the face of the Earth.
Something has happened to her."
The inquest heard she had been going through a rebellious stage. The last her
family heard from her was a phone call a few days after she left home, saying
she was all right. In 1990 a prostitute contacted the family saying she had seen
her in Kings Cross. But they could not find her.
The family wept as Mr Milovanovich delivered his formal finding that she was
dead.
THROUGH computer generation, the face of missing Debbie Marie Ashby
has aged over the years.
But police fear she may not have had the chance to grow older, and fell
prey to a murderer after leaving her
Sydney home as a teenager.
Now, a $100,000 reward is being offered for information which leads to the
arrest of anyone responsible for her death.
After an extensive reinvestigation by
Campbelltown police, the case will be handed to the Unsolved Homicide Unit
for review.
Police Minister David Campbell yesterday said foul play was suspected
because Ms Ashby had not been seen or heard from since she left her
Leumeah home in 1987.
"Debbie was a beautiful young lady who has been robbed of the prime years
of her life, and her family has suffered for more than 20 years with her
disappearance," he said.
"Debbie Ashby's family deserves answers and those responsible must be
brought to justice."
Debbie was 16 years old when she left her family home on October 11, 1987.
A rebellious teen, she had experienced threats at school and had wanted to
move schools before leaving school for good.
In February this year, 20 years after her disappearance, Deputy State
Coroner Carl Milovanovich said the long-term disappearance of a 16-year-old girl
was extremely unusual.
"One has to look at it as suspicious - 16-year-olds just don't disappear
off the face of the Earth," he said.
"Something has happened to her."
Mr Milovanovich ruled that Ms Ashby had died on, or after, the date of her
disappearance - but was unable to say how she died.
Debbie's mother Mary, stepfather Tony, and sisters Hayley and Mechelle
were at Westmead Coroner's Court when the finding was handed down.
Mrs Ashby said she believed her daughter's disappearance was related to
threats she had received at school.
Ms Ashby is one of several teen and pre-teen girls who disappeared from
NSW in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Others include Helen Karipidis, 10, abducted from
Marrickville in December 1988, and Bianca Nelson, 14, last seen running away
from her
Regents Park home in 1991.
Police, in their efforts to solve the case, have released these
computer-generated images of Ms Ashby. They are impression of how she may have
looked at the ages of 18, 25, and 30.
Mr Campbell said it was hoped they would help solve a case that has so far
run out of leads.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact their local police
station or call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
When 16-year-old Leumeah girl Debbie Ashby went missing in
1987, she left behind a family desperate for answers.
Debbie’s mother Mary Ashby, now living at Glen Alpine,
recently refreshed calls for information into her daughter’s disappearance.
Now, a detective with Campbelltown Local Area Command has
added her support to the plea for anyone with information to come forward.
Detective Senior Constable Maria Feher said even though the
case has been investigated extensively in the past 29 years she will not be
satisfied until it is solved.
“Even though the coronial inquest might be closed, we never
close a cold case until we reach a satisfactory conclusion,” she said.
“Unfortunately all information relating to Debbie Ashby has
not led to any conclusion of her whereabouts or her fate.
“Our police recording of missing person investigations has
improved with the introduction of electronic recording. We have access to
more documents now and can access things that may have relevance to the
case.”
Detective Feher said information continually comes through to
police and every piece is investigated.
“Any new piece of evidence could lead to looking somewhere
else. Over the years people’s allegiances change or they have a change of
heart. If you can help or believe you have information you can come
forward. We are really happy to get information and investigate to see what
little pieces may help get to the bottom of it.”
