SHIRLEY Spaccavento has been
waiting for more than 20 years
for her son Ian Craig Hollis to
come walking in the door.
The young man disappeared
from Minto on what was a regular
day in 1986.
He had spoken to his
mother in the morning, gone over
to his girlfriend’s house, and
then disappeared from Minto on
May 16.
As the case again comes
under the spotlight - with a
coronial inquest in October and
the start of Missing Person’s
Week this week - Ian’s mother is
still holding out hope for her
son.
“It was so out of
character for him to go missing,
and when he left he wasn’t
having a fight with anyone in
the family,” she said.
“He came over to see me
that morning and then he was
gone.
“My daughter has done a
lot of work on the computer
searching for people that knew
him, but there’s been nothing
concrete.”
Mrs Spaccavento and her
daughter, Debbie Dufor, are
looking for Ian’s best friend at
the time, Terry Davis, who they
say would be able to help shed
light on Ian’s whereabouts.
“Ian spent a lot of time
at Terry’s place and they knew
each other well,” Mrs
Spaccavento said.
“We have not been able to
get in contact with him since.
Det-Sgt Mike Hales, of
Macquarie Fields police, said
the most helpful people in
missing person cases were close
friends and family.
“We have got five open
cases at the moment at Macquarie
Fields,” he said. “As for Mr
Hollis, he went missing after an
argument with his girlfriend.
“Over time it becomes more
difficult and contacts can be
lost.”
In Campbelltown 162 people
were reported missing between
January 1 and July 23 this year.
Police and family members
were able to locate 173 people
in the same period, with many
older cases solved.
In Macquarie Fields local
area command, of the 110 cases
of missing persons in the same
period, 112 people were located.
Nationwide, one person
every 15 minutes is reported
missing.
If you can offer any
information about the
whereabouts of a missing person,
phone the Missing Person Unit on
1800 025 091.
IAN Hollis was just 16
when he disappeared one
autumn afternoon in 1986
from Minto, in Sydney's
southwestern suburbs,
and in the 23 years
since then, his sister
Debbie Dufour has prayed
every night for his safe
return.
"I don't really know
what could have happened to
him," Ms Dufour said.
"I am hoping that he
is somewhere alive but as
you get into the story of
what happened with Ian
before he disappeared, you
get the feeling that there
has been foul play, but
there is no proof of it."
The NSW Coroner will
today hold an inquest into
the death or disappearance
of Ian, who would now be 39,
but whatever findings he
makes, it will be too
little, too late for Ms
Dufour.
"The first 15 years of
Ian's disappearance, the
local police didn't do
anything at all to look for
him," Ms Dufour said. "That
has what has made it so hard
now to get anything concrete
on Ian."
Macquarie Fields
Detective Sergeant Michael
Hales, who took up Ian's
case two years ago, admits
there appeared to be little
or no investigation into the
teenager's disappearance,
but it was difficult to be
certain because no records
were kept.
Ms Dufour, who last
year set up a Facebook page
devoted to finding Ian,
claims that prior to his
disappearance her teenage
brother was in a
relationship with a young
mother who was already in a
de facto relationship.
Two weeks before he
disappeared, Ian was lured
to a toilet block and bashed
by unknown assailants. On
the day he disappeared, the
girlfriend allegedly told Ms
Dufour that following an
argument Ian had left in a
friend's brown car.
There have been no
sightings of him since then
and his bank account
remained untouched.
