Stella Mary Farrugia

 

Image result for stella farrugia missing

Above - age-progressed image of how Stella may look today


DOB: 1966
Last Seen: SA - 18/10/1984
Build: Average
Height: 154 cm
Hair: Straight Golden Brown
Eyes: Brown
Complexion: Olive
Distinguishing Features/Other:


Circumstances:
Stella Farrugia was last seen at her home address in Henley Beach, South Australia on  18/10/1984 leaving her personal belongings and pet dog behind. Concerns are held for her safety.

Family's plea to dying murderer

Article from: Sunday Mail (SA)

RENATO CASTELLO

May 11, 2008 12:30am

 

THE sister of an Adelaide woman missing for two decades has pleaded for vicious child murderer Valmae Beck to bring closure to her family's ordeal.

Queensland police believe the critically ill murderer and her estranged husband could hold the key to the disappearance of Henley Beach woman Stella Farrugia and Hackham West schoolgirl Louise Bell.

Beck, who was jailed for life in 1988 over the rape, torture and murder of a schoolgirl, is on life-support in a Townsville hospital following heart surgery on Monday.

Townsville's Regional Crime Co-ordinator, Detective Inspector Warren Webber, has said Beck and Watts may be linked to the disappearances of a number of young women in the 1980s.

"There is a great deal of interest in Beck because she may hold the key to solving a number of unsolved crimes," he said.

"We can only hope she has an epiphany on her deathbed and comes clean."

Police had put the morbidly obese Beck on suicide watch after interrogating her about possible links into the disappearance of Ms Farrugia and Ms Bell.

Ms Farrugia's sister, Christine Lilkendey, 47, pleaded with Beck, 64, to tell police anything she knew about the fate of her "gorgeous" sister.

"She must tell us if she knows anything, I want to know if Stella is alive," she said from her Melbourne home.

"At least if there was a body, a cemetery to go to, we can mourn. But there is no closure, no end, if the body is not there."

Ms Farrugia was 18 when she was reported missing from her Seaview Rd apartment on October 18, 1984, leaving behind her belongings, bank notes and her beloved dog. Louise Bell was 10 when she was reported missing from her Hackham West home on January 5, 1983.

Police believe the girls fit the description of the "pretty little virgins" Beck and husband Barrie Watts stalked during the 1980s. The pair were jailed in 1988 for the abduction, rape, torture and murder of Noosa schoolgirl Sian Kingi.

 

 

Cops hope killer Valmae Faye Beck will confess to more

By Nadine McGrath

May 17, 2008 11:50am

Article from: AAP

THE condition of convicted child killer Valmae Faye Beck, formerly known as Fay Cramb, has improved and it is believed she is out of a coma.

The Department of Corrective services said Beck was now in a stable condition in the Townsville General Hospital.

Beck was in a medically induced coma following complications with heart surgery.

It is believed she is out of the coma but still not speaking.

Beck and her former husband Barrie Watts were jailed for life in 1987 for the torture and murder of Noosa schoolgirl Sian Kingi.

Cold case detectives want to interview the 64-year-old high security prisoner over more unsolved crimes, hoping for confessions as she faces her own mortality.

Detectives believe the notorious criminal may know the fate of several unsolved cases involving young girls and women across Australia.

In August 1995 a Supreme Court jury in Brisbane acquitted Watts of murder and a lesser charge of manslaughter in relation to the death of a woman whose body has never been found.

Watts pleaded not guilty to murdering Helen Mary Feeney, a 31-year-old student, between October 29 and December 1, 1987.

Beck testified that Watts had dumped Ms Feeney's body and burned it at a rubbish tip near Lowood, west of Brisbane.

But detectives believe the body was actually disposed of elsewhere and Beck knows the location.

Beck has been questioned about the disappearance of 14-year-old Sophie Helen Woodman, who went missing on March 21, 1980, after leaving her Perth home with a girlfriend and travelling to the eastern states.

She and Watts have been linked to the murders of Sharron Phillips, 20, in Brisbane's outer west, Stella Mary Farrugia, 19, and Louise Bell, 10, in Adelaide.

Treatment of morbidly obese Beck sparked a public outcry with Premier Anna Bligh forced to defend her rights to taxpayer-funded health care.

"While I understand that people might have some questions about this, in this country we don't have a death penalty - we do provide medical services to people who are in our prisons,'' Ms Bligh told reporters in Brisbane.

Two prison officers have been posted at Beck's hospital bedside with concern she may be a target for reprisals rather than posing any threat given her medical condition.
 

Murderer takes her secrets to the grave

 
May 28, 2008 - SMH
 

THE notorious child killer Valmae Faye Beck, formerly known as Fay Cramb, has died in hospital, Queensland's Acting Police Minister, Robert Schwarten, said yesterday.

Beck was admitted to a Townsville hospital earlier this month suffering difficulty in breathing and chest pains.

She was placed in a medically induced coma following complications with heart surgery.

Beck and her former husband Barrie Watts were jailed for life in 1987 for the torture and murder of a Noosa schoolgirl, Sian Kingi.

Detectives, seeking deathbed confessions, were hoping to interview the 64-year-old high-security prisoner over more unsolved crimes.

Detectives believed the notorious criminal may have known the fate of several unsolved cases involving young girls and women across Australia, including the death of Helen Mary Feeney, a 31-year-old student, between October 29 and December 1, 1987.

Beck gave evidence that Watts had dumped Ms Feeney's body and burnt it at a rubbish tip near Lowood, west of Brisbane.

Watts was acquitted of the murder, but police believe Beck knew exactly where Ms Feeney's body was buried.

Today, Mr Schwarten, who is the acting Police Minister while Judy Spence is overseas, confirmed Beck had died in Townsville General Hospital without having regained consciousness.

"She got a life sentence and it turned out to be that," Mr Schwarten said.

"Right until the end, she was of no assistance to police. Harsh as it may sound, and people may judge me on that, I don't think there will be many Queenslanders who would shed a tear in her direction and there would be some who would cheer."

Beck and Watts moved from Western Australia to Queensland when they embarked on an eight-week crime rampage that ended with the abduction, torture, rape and murder of Sian. "There are a number of other unsolved cases that involve similarities to the well-planned killing of Sian," a police source said.

Queensland's Police Commissioner, Bob Atkinson, is expected to give a statement this week on Beck's death.

Missing persons aged for billboards

Travellers picking up their bags at Canberra Airport will see a new billboard for those who never made it home.

The Australian Federal Police launched the sign featuring the latest missing persons' aged-progressed profiles, as Australia joins 16 other countries to mark International Missing Children's Day on Saturday.

Christine Lilkendy in front of the new missing persons billboard which features her missing sister, Stella Farrugia, at Canberra Airport.

Photo: Rohan Thomson

Christine Lilkendey told the small crowd - which included the parents of abducted Queensland teen Daniel Morcombe - of the pain her family suffered after her 18-year-old sister Stella went missing more than 28 years ago in South Australia.

''From time to time, people ask me what it is like to have a missing person in the family,'' she said.

''It's very different to the death of a family member - when someone passes there is usually a funeral, a celebration of life, perhaps a burial, a place to mourn, a time to remember and grieve.

 
 

''When someone goes missing there is none of that, just fear, confusion, emptiness, consuming emotions.''

Ms Lilkendey said her gut feeling was that Stella was still alive, and she hoped the new poster could help identification.

''I would hope this poster would generate enough information to help find the missing people and help families reunite but more than anything to put an end to the what ifs.''

The AFP's facial identification team used scientific techniques and information from families to create the images.

There were 1125 people reported missing in the ACT last year, 919 aged under 18.

 

Only one remains missing, with police renewing calls last month for information in relation to David Aboui, who was last seen on London Circuit in July.

Almost all - 99.5 per cent - of the estimated 35,000 Australians who go missing each year are located, with 85 per cent found within a week of being reported to police.

There is no need to wait 24 hours before reporting someone as missing.

No body, two suspects and few clues in 35-year mystery

The sister of missing Henley Beach woman Stella Farrugia lives in hope she is still alive — but Major Crime detectives believe she was murdered and have two persons of interest in the case.

 
 

 

Although she has been missing for almost 35 years, Christine Lilkendey has not given up hope of one day seeing her little sister Stella again.

She can still remember their last words.

Ironically, the conversation was about keeping in touch as their lives took different directions.

In contrast, while Christine, 58, still feels Stella Farrugia is alive, Major Crime detectives fear otherwise. Her disappearance in October 1984 is being treated as a homicide investigation.

While detectives have two persons of interest in the case — both male friends of Stella’s — one of them has passed away.

“I dread the thought that this young, beautiful woman is in a shallow grave somewhere where no-one will ever find her. That scares me,’’ Ms Lilkendey said.

“I feel she is still alive and one day I might cross her path. I know she may have been taken, I know it has been a long time.

“Bottom line, my gut feel tells me she is still alive.’’

Christine Lilkendey last saw her sister in 1983 in Cairns. Stella was 18 and she was 23. They were both leaving Cairns — Stella to moving to Adelaide with her then boyfriend and Christine to Melbourne to live with her parents.

“I made arrangements to catch up with Stella just before she left to say goodbye, but went knocking on her door and she had already left. I missed her by a few days,’’ Ms Lilkendey said.

Although her memories have faded, Christine still remembers Stella as a “beautiful girl who was fun and happy’’ and who loved animals.

“She travelled from Cairns to Adelaide with her dogs and cats, she wasn’t going to leave them behind,’’ she said.

Christine said Stella’s disappearance had taken its toll on her parents.

Her father, Michael, has now passed away and her mother, Rose, elderly and frail. Her family struggled to cope with Stella’s absence for the first five years, but then it became “normal’’ having a missing person as a daughter and sister.

“Stella is in the background and I think about her if I see the name Stella anywhere and hope that one day I will see her again,’’ she said.

“The toughest thing is that for 30 odd years I have not had a sister, it is a relationship I have not had. We were good together.’’

Shortly after arriving in Adelaide from Cairns in late 1983, Stella Farrugia and her boyfriend stayed briefly with friends at Mt Torrens before moving into a flat at 307 Seaview Rd at Henley Beach.

Not long afterwards, their relationship deteriorated and the pair parted company.

Major Crime case officer detective Sergeant Cameron Georg said Stella began a relationship with another man named Wojciech Kubale and the pair moved in together into a flat at 284 Seaview Rd at Henley Beach.

On October 17 1984 Mr Kubale — who died in Adelaide in 2010 when aged 47 — attended the Henley Beach police station and reported her missing. He said he had last seen her at their flat on October 17.

“Mr Kubale was the last person so see her,’’ Det. Sgt. Georg said.

“He said he went out for the day and when he came home her dog was still there, her bank books and personal possessions were still there. Her bank accounts have remained untouched.’’

Stella was initially treated as a missing person and her disappearance not treated as suspicious, primarily because police believed Stella had fled voluntarily amid suggestions of domestic violence.

Several weeks later Stella’s family was contacted by Mr Kubale, asking where she was. Christine said she remembers that phone call. She answered it.

“It was from a very angry young man. He just said ‘what have you done with Stella?’’ she said.

“That is when we reported Stella missing. I only spoke to him once.’’

Det. Sgt Georg said both Mr Kubale and Stella’s former boyfriend were interviewed at length by detectives once the case was declared a major crime and treated as a homicide investigation.

“Both remain persons of interest in the case, albeit that one is now deceased,’’ he said.

While it is more likely than not Stella is dead, there is one aspect of the case that provides a small glimmer of hope.

In the five years after she vanished an unknown caller would ring her parents’ telephone five or six times a year. When they answered, there would be silence on the other end and after a short time the phone would be hung up.

“Her family always thought that may have been Stella, not talking, just listening,’’ Det. Sgt. Georg said.

“Those calls over that five year period became less and less frequent to the point they ceased.’’

Christine says while her mother clung to that thought, she did not believe that was the case.

“A few times I answered the phone and there were hang-ups as well,’’ she said.

“If it was Stella looking for me she would have known my voice and answered.’’

Det. Sgt. Georg said there was also a reported sighting of Stella by a school friend in 1989 in Casuarina in WA. The female was walking through a local shopping centre and saw someone she thought was Stella.

“She called out to her and spoke briefly to the person she believed was Stella,’’ he said.

But after interviewing the witness, he feels her belief is probably higher than the reality “given the reaction of the person she spoke to.’’

Det. Sgt George said although extremely difficult for many reasons, Stella may have moved away and started a new life with the help of other people.

“It may be if there was a level of domestic violence occurring she may have had enough and found someone who was going to take her away and give her a new life and she was prepared to abandon her family,’’ he said.

“The alternative is that her disappearance is a result of her being murdered at the hands of an unknown person and her body disposed of.

“For a number of reasons I think it is more likely she is deceased, but until such time as we find a body or have a confession there is always that hope she is still alive.’’

A reward of up to $200,000 is available for information leading to a conviction in the case or the recovery of Stella’s remains.

 

 

THE SUSPECTED COLD CASE MURDER OF TEENAGER STELLA FARRUGIA

Posted on 22/10/2020  SA Crimestoppers

 

Stella Farrugia was reported missing on Thursday 18 October 1984 by her boyfriend.

He told police that he last saw her at their home address on Seaview Road, Henley Beach, the day before. There has not been a confirmed sighting of Stella since.

The 18-year old has been described as outgoing, kind, and generous, but also a little naïve and easily led.

The teenager had been raised in Sunshine, Victoria, and was the youngest child of Michael and Rose Farrugia who immigrated to Australia from Malta in the late-1950s.

Her parents held strong beliefs on family matters arising from their traditional Maltese origins, with these conservative views often in conflict with those of the wider Australian community at the time, which often resulted in conflict within the family, particularly between Stella and her parents.

It was against this backdrop that in late 1983 Stella unexpectedly moved to Queensland to stay with her older sister Christine who was newly married and living in Cairns.

Stella got into a relationship and the young couple moved to Adelaide in 1984.

The couple stayed at a number of addresses before moving to Henley Beach. After the relationship became strained, they split up and Stella moved in with another man, Wojciech Kubale, who reported her missing in October that year.

Mr Kubale, who died in 2010, told police that he had been out for the day and came home to find her dog, bank books and personal possessions all at the flat – but no sign of her.

Initially police didn’t consider the matter suspicious – they conducted inquiries but thought she had simply taken off.

There was a suggested history of domestic violence in connection with both relationships, but there were no reports to police so it is hard to gauge to what extent
.
During this period she had written to her sister, demanding she make contact by a specific date and saying if she didn’t she would cut off all ties.

That date came and went before her sister got around to replying but sadly did not receive a response from Stella.

It wasn’t until her boyfriend contacted the family to ask where she was that her disappearance was considered in a more concerning light and some weeks later they also reported her missing to the Sunshine Police.

Another mysterious element to the case was that for several years after her disappearance Stella’s family received irregular phone calls where the caller did not speak when the phone was answered. The number of calls each year tapered off over time, finally stopping five or six years after she disappeared.

Police have examined a number of properties, including the one at Mt Torrens where she stayed with her first boyfriend before moving to Henley Beach, but found no sign of her.

Police believe there are two possible explanations in this case – that Stella deliberately chose to move away and break all ties with her family, possibly with the assistance of someone who had offered to support her; or that she had met with foul play.

With pleas for information spanning many years, it seems more likely that she is deceased, given that she has not made contact with police or her family.

Both of her boyfriends from around that time remain persons of interest in the case, albeit that one of them is deceased.

A reward of up to $200,000 is on offer to anyone who either provides information leading to the recovery of her remains or information leading to a conviction in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or at www.crimestopperssa.com.au