Michael Jeffrey PURSE
Michael Jeffrey PURSE
Michael Jeffrey Purse, 32, was last seen on the 6th February 2019 in the city in Adelaide, South Australia, and was reported missing on 24 April 2019. Michael’s friends and family became concerned for his welfare after they could not make contact with him.
There have been no sightings of Michael since. Michael’s phone has not been used, his post office box has not been cleared and his bank accounts have not been accessed since he disappeared.
Michael was known to be a recreational drug user and suffered from a medical condition He shaved off his beard and cut his hair short shortly before he disappeared.
All efforts by Michael’s family and police have failed to locate him and concerns are held for Michael's safety and welfare.
Police suspect he has been murdered and his disappearance has been declared a major crime.
If you have information that may assist police call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
By Loukas Founten - ABC
A South Australian IT worker who defrauded the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) of more than $130,000 has been jailed for two years and eight months.
Michael Jeffrey Purse, 28, pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining a gain.
The District Court was told he ran three businesses involved in purchasing online domain names and on 22 occasions in 2009 and 2010, he deliberately inflated his Business Activity Statements (BAS) to make it appear as though the businesses had a negative cash flow, boosting his tax returns.
The court heard Purse was living beyond his means, using the money to gamble online and to rent an expensive city office.
Purse lied to the ATO and to police when questioned about the offending, telling them an interstate auditor who no longer worked for him had prepared the statements.
He later admitted he had filed the statements alone, but falsely suggested he did not know what he was doing was wrong.
Purse told authorities he had made up the numbers on the statements to avoid any trouble for not submitting them.
The court heard he now acknowledges he knew his conduct was criminal all along.
Judge Steven Millsteed told Purse his offending was particularly serious.
"They were not impulsive crimes. These were crimes driven by greed rather than need," Judge Millsteed said.
"You lived beyond your means and had a gambling habit.
"Tax fraud is not a victimless crime. The victims are taxpayers, who are left to make up the shortfall."
Judge Millsteed said he could not suspend Purse's sentence because he had a history of fraud and dishonesty offences from when he lived in Brisbane, which included cashing valueless cheques and stealing money from his employer.
He said Purse would find it hard to interact with other prisoners and need special protection because he suffered from Asperger's syndrome.
Purse will be released from prison after 15 months, and then serve a two-year bond.
Judge Millsteed also ordered he repay the $130,145 to the ATO.
SA Police have revealed a significant lead in the case of a missing Adelaide man they now believe was lured to a unit in Adelaide's northern suburbs and murdered.
Michael Jeffrey Purse, 32, was last seen on February 6, 2019, in Adelaide's CBD.
Detectives now believe he was murdered the next day at a unit on Churchill Road in Kilburn, in Adelaide's north, and that his body was put into a green 2000 Daewoo Lanos hatchback.
The vehicle was later captured driving north of the city by traffic cameras near Globe Derby Park.
Superintendent Des Bray today said the car had become bogged in the Adelaide Plains area between 5:00am and 8:30am and a passer-by had offered assistance.
"So it's critical to our investigation for us to identify the person who helped these people get out of the bog," he said.
"The person must remember that, on a dirt track about 12 months ago, they pulled a green Daewoo hatch out of a bog … and we'd encourage that person to ring Crime Stoppers tonight.
"That person will be able to provide critical information in terms of the time, the exact location, the number of people in the car, and I've got no doubt will be able to identify those in the car."
Superintendent Bray said on February 6, 2019, Mr Purse was picked up at the Adelaide Casino and taken to a unit on Churchill Road in Kilburn, where they believe he was murdered.
"We know he stayed there until the early hours of Thursday the 7th of February and in the early hours of the morning that he was killed by some of the occupants.
"At the time of this death, we believe there were three men present and also a couple of females and three or more of those people played a role in his death and others may have assisted."
Police have now called for the passer-by to contact police after helping the suspected murderers get their car out of a bog on the Adelaide Plains as they were first travelling to dispose of the body.
Mr Purse's disappearance was declared a major crime in May 2019.
Police said he was subject to a number of assaults in late 2018 and early 2019, and on one occasion was kidnapped.
"We know that he had some issues within the drug community but also he was in conflict and had some personal dispute with a person who we believe may [have been] involved in a subsequent murder," Superintendent Bray said.
The last known sighting of Mr Purse was on February 6, 2019, in Adelaide's CBD, before he was reported missing on April 24.
Police said his phone and bank accounts remain untouched.
In June, police revealed their suspicions that he had been murdered, and said all efforts to locate him had failed.
In October last year, Mr Purse's family made an emotional plea for information about his disappearance, when police declared it a major crime.
Mr Purse's mother, Donna Ipers — who now lives in Germany — spoke of her concerns, along with Mr Purse's father Jeffrey and brother Andrew.
"His calls don't come anymore, I don't hear his jokes, his stories are gone," she said.
"He always told me he loved me, I don't hear that anymore.
Mr Purse was born in Toowoomba in Queensland but moved to Adelaide about 10 years ago.
He was a known drug user who suffered from a medical condition.
Before his disappearance, he cut his hair and shaved off his beard.
Mr Purse was sentenced to more than a year in prison in 2014 for defrauding the Australian Tax Office of $130,145.
For two years Jeffrey Purse has wondered where his son’s body was callously stashed. As three men face court over his alleged murder, he’s desperately hoping for closure.
The arrest of three people accused of murdering Michael Purse two years ago is potentially one step closer to laying his son’s body to rest, his mourning father says.
Jeffrey Purse said the arrests were positive in the development in the case and would hopefully lead to the discovery of his 32-year-old son’s body.
“To not have Michael with us and to have him basically lost or cast away out there is just tragic,” Mr Purse said.
“At least we can end one part of this if we can get him back.”
When the Sydney man received a call from South Australian Major Crime Detectives he said he was both “sad and happy”.
“Happy that there’s been progress and that now the police are one step forward and hopefully one step closer (to locating Michael’s body),” Mr Purse said.
Michael Purse was last seen in February 2019, and reported a missing person on April 24 of that year.
A homicide investigation was launched and police alleged Michael was murdered by three men at a Kilburn address, before his body was placed in a car and dumped somewhere in the Adelaide Plains.
On Wednesday, three men were arrested and faced the Adelaide Magistrates Court charged with Mr Purse’s murder on Thursday.
Neither Edwin James Hinrichsen, 36, nor David Graham Young, 39, applied for bail.
The third man, 24 - whose identity was suppressed, as were the reasons for the granting of that suppression order - also did not apply for bail.
The trio were remanded in custody to face court again in September.
Mr Purse urged anyone with information on the whereabouts of his son’s body to contact police.
“Hopefully these arrests will … encourage people who know where he is to come forward,” he said.
Mr Purse said he appreciated the work of witnesses and police over the past two years.
“We are very appreciative of the work by Major Crime in South Australia police, they’ve worked really hard on this. It’s been a difficult case, it’s been a long case,” he said.
Mr Purse said life without his son is sad.
“(There is) quite a feeling of emptiness and loneliness unfortunately, and it changes your life substantially. You think about it all the time, you think about it day and night,” he said.
“It’s a very unfortunate club to belong to.”
Michael grew up in New South Wales and moved to Adelaide to work in computing and IT.
But his vast knowledge in the industry was part of his undoing, after he was found guilty of defrauding the taxation office in 2014 and was sentenced to two years behind bars.
Mr Purse said despite his son’s trouble with the law, he was kind and generous.
“He did do some bad things, but none of that deserves him to be murdered,” he said.
“Even though he was mixed up in crime and such and the wrong people … he did actually helped people out, he always looked out for his friends and his colleagues, he was kind to them.
“He made sure if someone was down on their luck, he gave them a somewhere to stay, gave them a meal. He was generous in that way.”
Mr Purse said he will always be saddened by the circumstances that led to his son’s death.
“He was a good brother to his siblings and a good and kind son to his parents,” he said.
A good Samaritan may unwittingly hold the key to the disappearance and suspected murder of Adelaide man Michael Jeffrey Purse, whose body is believed to have been in the boot of a car that got bogged while the killers tried to dump it.
Det-Supt Bray said the body was placed in the boot of a dark green Daewoo just after 4.30am on February 6 and driven north of Adelaide towards the Adelaide Plains \.
An unknown number of people in the car intended to dispose of it, but their car became bogged on a dirt road. It remained there for some time until a passer-by assisted them.
“The offenders then realised it was too late to dispose of his body because the sun was up, they returned to the unit with Michael’s body still in the boot, where we believe it remained throughout the day.”
In the early hours of Friday in the same week, the offenders drove north into the Adelaide Plains to dispose of the body. The whereabouts of the body remains unknown.
Det-Supt Bray said it was crucial to speak with the person who helped the offenders out of the bog.
“That person will be able to provide critical information in terms of the time, the exact location, the number of people in the car and I’ve got no doubt we will be able to identify the people in the car.
Two of the suspects are currently in prison on unrelated charges, while the third remains free.
The suspects were described as friends or associates of Mr Purse, or members of the drug community.
Mr Purse was involved in low-level drug dealing and drug use and was committing thefts and frauds to help support his addiction.
Leading up to Mr Purse’s disappearance he was subject to a number of assaults, including a kidnapping, police say.
Supt Bray said it was crucial to locate the body for the investigation.
“The arrests are important, but we don’t want this to be another case where the family hadn’t had their loved one returned to them so they can have a proper funeral and bury them.”
Anyone with information related to the incident is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestopperssa.com.au
