Helen KARIPIDIS

 Helen Karipidis missing person from NSW Australia     Missing person NSW Helen KarapidisResponsive imageImage

  - Sydney Morning Herald, January 22, 1989

 

 - The Age, December 27 1988

Circumstances

Helen Karipidis was last seen around 5:30pm on 22 December 1988, in a playground in Marrickville, Sydney, NSW. Helen was playing handball with a group of friends before she disappeared.

Helen was wearing a red and blue striped top and black fleece pants at the time. She was noticed to be missing around 8:30pm

If you have information that may assist police to locate Helen please call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

 

 

DOB: 1978 - 10 years old when missing
HAIR: Brown BUILD: Thin EYES: Brown
CIRCUMSTANCES:
10 year old Helen Karipidis was playing in the playground attached to the unit complex of 454 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, Sydney on the 22 December, 1988. She was playing with a group of friends, none of whom were aware she had disappeared, when her father noticed her missing at 8:30pm. Helen has never previously been reported missing. At the time of her disappearance Helen was in good spirits and looking forward to Christmas. There are grave fears for her safety.
Reported missing to: Missing Persons Unit.

Missing girl may have been raped: inquest

Date

Vincent Morello, Police Reporter - SMH

A 10-year-old Sydney girl who disappeared in 1988 may have been raped and beaten before she went missing, an inquest has heard.

Helen Karpidis was last seen about 8.25pm (AEDT) on December 10, 1988, wandering around a housing estate at Marrickville in Sydney's inner west where her mother and six siblings lived.

Shortly before, she had been playing with other children at the complex, but she did not return home for dinner.

On the opening day of an inquest in Parramatta, former schoolteacher Anne Martin described how she had counselled Helen's older sister Maria about two years after Helen's disappearance.

"She used to say to me that she had lots of terrible secrets," Ms Martin told the inquest on Monday.

She said Maria, who later committed suicide, felt responsible for her sister's death because she did not accompany her on the evening she went missing.

The inquest heard that their parents' relationship soured in 1987, when family and community services intervened.

Their mother Voula was awarded custody of the children and moved out of the Marrickville family home and into a nearby housing estate.

Ms Martin said Maria had told her that she and Helen were afraid of their father Theo.

"He had one of them on the floor and had his foot on her neck," she said Maria told her.

"I got the impression it happened more than once."

Maria had also told her that two boys in the complex, one named Johnny, had raped Helen.

But Maria had also said Helen was preparing to run away and had disappeared at the same time Johnny left the housing estate.

Ms Martin said she had failed to convince Maria to make a formal statement about her allegations.

June Adams told the inquest she was working at a local newsagent on the day Helen disappeared and remembers a man of Asian appearance whom Helen did not know but who gave her money to buy herself glitter.

The inquest is to resume on Wednesday, when it is expected to conclude.

 

Abuse allegations at cold case inquest

A YOUNG girl who vanished nearly 25 years ago while playing outside her family's housing complex could have planned to run away to escape an abusive home, an inquest heard today.

10-year-old Helen Karipidis was last seen near the Marrickville townhouse development where she lived with her mother and six siblings on December 22, 1988.

Helen had been playing with a group of children from the complex in the late evening twilight, but she couldn't be found when her mother Voula Karipidis asked for her to be called for dinner.

An inquest into her disappearance was told today that police had investigated a number of scenarios since she went missing, including the 10-year-old being killed and hidden by her family or another resident of the complex, or that she had "simply run away".

Sergeant George Lolis, assisting the coroner, said police had no remaining leads and the investigation had now been suspended for several years.
 

But Anne Martin, a teacher who formed a "close bond" with Helen's sister Maria, told the inquest her troubled student had detailed disturbing allegations of abuse a few years after the 10-year-old's disappearance.

"She felt responsible (for the disappearance) because she said she should have gone with her that night," she said.

"She said that she told Helen not to go alone, not to ever go anywhere alone without her.

"She said that Helen was very unhappy and wanted to run away."

Ms Martin said Maria, who was 12 when her younger sibling vanished, claimed her father Theo Karipidis had been "fiercely violent" to the children at times.

"One time (she said) he had one of them on the floor and he had his foot on their neck," she said.

The girls' parents had recently separated at the time of the disappearance and Mrs Karipidis had been awarded custody of the children, the inquest heard.

Maria also claimed a "nice man" regularly took both girls to Kings Cross where they took their clothes off and were photographed.

"She kept saying that no-one could help her," Ms Martin said.

Mr and Mrs Karipids, who were present in court, suggested Maria had bipolar disorder and was prone to "making things up", but Ms Martin said she had always found the girl to be truthful at school.

Maria committed suicide at 18 after earlier attempting to kill herself on the anniversary of Helen's disappearance.

The inquest continues.

Did 10-year-old Helen Karipidis run away 25 years ago or meet with foul play?

 
NEARLY 25 years ago Helen Karipidis was happily playing outside her family's home a few days before Christmas - by the time she was called in for dinner the 10-year-old had vanished.
 

Yesterday an inquest into her disappearance heard she could have been planning to run away to escape an allegedly abusive home.

Helen had been sharing a house at Marrickville, in Sydney's inner west, with her six siblings for only a month after her parents' relationship broke down and her mother Voula Karipidis was awarded custody, the inquest was told.

Sergeant George Lolis, assisting the coroner, said police had investigated and ruled out various scenarios including a family member or stranger killing her, or that she had run away.

But Anne Martin, a teacher who formed a "close relationship" with Helen's older sister Maria after the disappearance, told the inquest she heard disturbing allegations of abuse.

"(Maria) told me their father was fiercely violent at times towards them ... they were both very afraid of (him)," she said.

Maria, who was 12 at the time her sister vanished, and who committed suicide when aged 18, claimed Helen was "preparing to run away and had wrapped her Christmas presents early", Ms Martin said.

"(Maria) felt responsible because she said she should have gone with her that night."

The girls' father Theo Karipidis and mother, who were in court for the inquest, suggested Maria had been prone to "making things up", but Ms Martin said she had always found her to be truthful.

The inquest continues.

The Sydney schoolgirl who vanished without a trace just metres from her home

By Kate Kachor • Senior Journalist - Nine News
For a group of siblings playing in the yard of a Sydney housing complex the street lights buzzing to life each evening was their signal it was time to head home.
It was Thursday, December 22, 1988 and four of the six Karipidis children were playing just metres from their townhouse in Sydney’s inner west.
Yet on that summer evening, as the street lights flickered and the yard emptied of games of handball and childhood laughter, nine-year-old Helen Karipidis was nowhere to be seen.
“What I remember is we were outside playing and my mum or dad told us to go back inside and I think Helen was playing with this girl - they used to live in the complex... she was the last person to see Helen,” Ilias Karipidis, one of Helen’s brothers, told nine.com.au.
“They (Helen’s two friends) were with her til about 4.30pm or 5pm and come about 7pm that’s when we started looking everywhere,” he said. “We called the police straight away.”
Ilias was just 10 when his sister, the quietest of the Karipidis children, with her sweet smile and kind brown eyes, failed to pile through the front door for dinner.
It is an understatement to say the Karipidis family have lived a traumatic existence in the almost 30 years since Helen went missing.
During this time, they’ve lived with whispers that one of their own, their father Theo, was involved in Helen’s disappearance. Separately, there has also been the claim Helen was abducted and killed by an underground paedophile network.
Without a trace
“The worst thing is not knowing,” Ilias said.
“My dad believes, he reckons, it was social workers (who took Helen) because they had a lot to do with my mum around that time too.”
Theo Karipidis was a former labourer of Greek heritage, who back in 1988, spoke little English. He was suspected by NSW Police of his daughter’s disappearance.
When Helen vanished, Theo was on workers’ compensation and struggling with alcohol addiction. Media at the time indicated his alcoholism meant his children were exposed to violence at home. Some even claimed the violence compelled Helen to flee.
Ilias is quick to set the record straight about his father and any involvement he may have had in Helen’s disappearance.
“They tried to paint my dad as a bad person,” he said of police and media reports back in 1988.
“He’s still an alcoholic but he’s changed now. Helen going missing changed him dramatically and brought him closer to his family. No family out there should ever go through this shocking ordeal.

“I believe the family sort of fell apart when Helen went missing. I think her disappearance probably... that probably set Maria off, she went downhill.”
Maria Karipidis, who was around 13 at the time of Helen going missing, suffered from mental illness. She would take her own life at just 18.
Ilias also speaks openly about the public portrayal of Helen as a runaway and the ghoulish manner her name continues to be linked online to allegations of murder.
“It was out of character for her to go missing. That’s why it was such a big shock back then,” he said.
Lost innocence
“She was innocent... she was more the saint. She just had a good heart. She was a really good person.”
Ilias first became aware of the claims Helen had been killed while searching online one night. He had stumbled across a video in which a woman claimed her children knew what happened to Helen.
“Straight away I just got goose bumps,” Ilias said.
He said he immediately set about searching for the woman. They would eventually speak.
“She said ‘we tried to get in contact’,” he said.
He said when he asked to speak with the woman's children to hear firsthand their claims but he never heard back.
“For someone to make allegations and you don’t want to come and meet and fill me in, it makes no sense,” he said.
“People out there, like, who want to spread lies, keep it to yourself. If you can’t bring facts and prove it then keep it to yourself.”
Nine.com.au has contacted the woman for comment.
The allegations
Ilias said the conversation with the woman left him with more questions than answers.
“My mum just brushed it off,” he said when he told his mother, Voula, about the claims.
“She remembers everything that went back on. She remembers we never went to any Sunday church.
“I’m not saying whatever happened to them didn’t happened to them, but we didn’t go to any church. The only church we went to was a Greek church on Livingstone road.”
As well as alleging her children told her about Helen’s disappearance, the woman claimed they also told a psychiatrist named Dr Annie Schlebaum.
Dr Schlebaum, who is now retired, remembers Helen and the children when nine.com.au contacts her. However, she admits to no longer having their files.
“The children were quite detailed and consistent in their information, but hardly anybody believed them - as was the general attitude to ritual abuse although there were many proven cases overseas,” she said in an email.
“The police, Royal Commission and YACS FACS Child Welfare under different names found it all too hard and took the easy way out by disbelief. I'm sure it happened, and there was credible evidence.”
At a 2012 inquest into Helen’s vanishing, the NSW Coroner ruled the schoolgirl had likely been abducted and killed. Despite the findings, no one has been charged with Helen’s suspected death.
Helen’s family urge anyone with information into her disappearance to please contact authorities. In 1989, one year after Helen disappeared, the NSW government announced a $50,000 reward for any information on Helen. Ilias hopes the reward will prompt someone to come forward.
“No matter how big or small the information, it’s the hardest thing not knowing what happened to her,” he said.
Anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

 

 

 

Overview - December 2020
Last Tuesday marked the 32nd anniversary of 10-year-old Helen Karipidis' disappearance from Marrickville, Sydney.

Helen lived in a public housing estate on Illawarra Road with her parents & 5 siblings; she was last seen playing @ the adjacent playground on December 22nd, 1988.

Helen's mother called her & her siblings for dinner around 5:30PM; when she didn't come home, Helen's mother assumed she went to a friend's house for dinner & forgot to tell anyone.

When Helen didn't return by nightfall, her family went door-to-door looking for her; they reported her missing around 7PM.

After an inquest in 2012, the New South Wales coroner ruled that Helen was likely abducted & killed, but no one has been charged in connection with her death.

Helen's oldest sister Maria committed suicide 6 years after she went missing, but at the inquest, a teacher named Anne Martin testified that Maria told her they were scared of their father & Helen was planning to run away before she went missing.

Maria also said that a man regularly took her & Helen to King's Cross to take nude pictures of them & that two boys who lived on the estate raped Helen; one of the boys, "Johnny", left around the time Helen went missing.

A second witness testified that she saw Helen at a newsagent with a man on the day of her disappearance; she did not seem to know him personally but he gave her money to buy glitter.

Many people believe that Helen is a victim of human trafficking. Helen's disappearance has been plagued by conspiracy theories involving Hillsong Church.

At the time of her disappearance, Helen was 130cm & white w/ long dark brown hair & brown eyes; she is of Greek descent. Helen was last seen wearing a red, white, and blue T-shirt, black tracksuit pants, and running shoes; she would be 42 years old today.

There is a $50K reward for information leading to an arrest in her case.

Call Crime Stoppers @ 1-800-333-000 with any information about her disappearance.