Natalie Richards - The
West Australian
Robyn "Robbie" Louise SANTEN
Robyn "Robbie" Louise SANTEN
On Saturday 8 August 2015 Robyn Santen was with work colleagues at the
Grapeskins Wine Bar in Northbridge, Western Australia.
She left the establishment at approximately 11pm and returned to her home in
West Leederville.
Her vehicle was located the following day at the City Beach car park. Despite
extensive inquiries by police her whereabouts remain unknown.
If you have information that may assist police to locate Robyn please call Crime
Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
IT has been almost a month since Robyn Santen’s two young children have seen their mother.
The 36-year-old WA contracts engineer vanished without a trace sometime after 11pm on Saturday, August 8.
Her silver Volkswagon Golf was found abandoned at Perth’s City Beach carpark near the popular Clancy’s Fish Pub at around 4pm the following day. Her keys and other personal belongings were still inside.
On the surface it looked like Robyn had taken a midnight dip and gotten into trouble but a week-long land and sea search involving helicopters, planes, boats, divers and even police horses came up empty.
Whitfords Volunteer Sea Rescue Commander Mark Carruthers said searchers had been told Robyn was a strong swimmer — strong enough to have completed the Rottnest Channel Swim — but conceded “we’ve had no confirmation she entered the water”.
Her family set up a Facebook page appealing for her safe return and for anyone who might have information to come forward. It has been inundated with messages for the woman known for her “amazing grin and a personality that will light up a room”. None of them, however, have come from “Robbie” herself or anyone who knows what happened to her.
On August 10, Robyn’s husband Troy Santen, her brother Andrew Paton and his wife Emma Donnelly, made an emotional appeal though the media for Robyn to make contact.
Andrew and Emma — who are former contestants of hit TV reality show My Kitchen Rules — were almost unrecognisable in their grief as they addressed the cameras.
“Robyn, if you’re out there somewhere, pull your head in and let someone know please, because we miss you beyond words, we can’t even describe,” her brother said.
Ms Donnelly, who is extremely close to Robyn, describing her in social media posts as “my bestest friend” wept as she spoke: “Please come home Robyn. We really love you and we miss you and we want you to be here. And please, if anyone has seen her, bring her home.”
And Troy, whom reporters observed to be “visibly upset” appealed to Robyn to: “Please come home — the kids and I — we all miss you so much.”
On August 20, Troy posted a message to the Facebook page set up to help find Robyn, along with a photo of the couple:
“Thank you everyone for your support and efforts to date over the past two weeks, it has been amazing and is very much appreciated, he wrote.
“I have had an amazing amount of support in all manner of forms that are too many to list. There is no way I could reply or thank everyone so this my thank you to you all. The police investigation continues and hopefully they can piece together the timeline of events and insights into Robyn. If anyone has any information, they still need your help. Should you be out on or above the ocean, please also keep looking there too just in case.
“Robyn is my best friend and gave us two beautiful kids within which her fun filled spirit shines through. I pray that we can find her soon.”
Police have stated that they do not consider the circumstances surrounding Robyn’s disappearance to be suspicious. Yet speculation is rife on social media, in the comments sections of sites carrying the story and within the online sleuthing community that she may have met with foul play.
The speculation went into overdrive on August 19 with the revelation from police that, hours before she went missing, Robyn had been drinking with friends in Northbridge.
Security footage released by WA Police Media shows Robyn, dressed in a black and white dress and jacket, at the Grapeskin Wine Bar some time after 10pm. She left the bar at about 11pm and caught a taxi to her West Leederville home, where she was last seen — although police have not said by whom.
They stated that Robyn then left home in her Volkswagon, which would be found at the carpark near City Beach at around 4pm the next day — without her in it.
Police have never revealed why they waited 12 long days to release the footage of Robyn at the Grapeskin Wine Bar and attempts by News.com.au to clarify the timeline of events leading up to her disappearance were declined.
In the past few days, updates on Robyn’s Facebook page have ground to a halt, despite multiple posts from friends and supporters asking for information and volunteering their services.
Police told News.com.au that the status of the case had not changed Robyn was still considered a missing person and there were no leads on her whereabouts.
Case of missing Perth mum Robyn Santen still a mystery as her family avoid media despite earlier public pleas for Robyn to make contact with them.
She disappeared without a trace on August 8.
Her silver Volkswagon Golf was found at Perth’s City Beach car park the following afternoon. Her keys and phone were inside.
There was a week-long sea and land search, and later, the release of CCTV footage at Grapeskin Wine Bar which she left at 11pm to catch a taxi to her West Leederville home.
Home is where she was last sighted. But Police will not reveal who it was who last saw Robyn Santen.
And now her family, who days after Robyn’s disappearance spoke publicly to the media – pleading for Robyn to return or make contact – don’t want any more attention.
Robyn’s brother (and former Masterchef contestant) Andrew Paton told News.com.au the family had been told by police they had “likely gotten all they could from the media” with Paton urging News Limited not to run the online article.
“To be honest, we’d hoped the all the media attention would die down now,” Paton told News.com.au.
The Facebook page set up by Robyn’s family – including Paton – has also posted about becoming more private.
In the early stages of the search the page posted updates every day.
“We won't update this page as much as during the search and rescue phase, though the police continue their investigation,” wrote Paton and his wife, Emma.
The missing mother-of-two’s husband, Troy, posted a heartfelt message about his wife on the page on August 20.
Here is the post in full:
“Thank you everyone for your support and efforts to date over the past 2 weeks, it has been amazing and is very much appreciated. I have had an amazing amount of support in all manner of forms that are too many to list. There is no-way I could reply or thank everyone so this my thank you to you all..
The Police investigation continues and hopefully they can piece together the timeline of events and insights into Robyn. If anyone has any information, they still need your help. Should you be out on or above the ocean, please also keep looking there too just in case.
Robyn is my best friend and gave us two beautiful kids within which her fun filled spirit shines through. I pray that we can find her soon.”
Police have said there are no suspicious circumstances and Paton “was adamant” his missing sister was not suffering from depression at the time of her disappearance, reports News.com.au.
The Australian Federal Police has issued a fresh appeal for information on the disappearance of Perth mother-of-two Robyn Santen.
The AFP issued the plea on their Facebook page as part of their Summer of Hope campaign which sets out to solve long-term missing persons cases.
Ms Santen disappeared on August 8 after a night with work colleagues at the Grapeskins Wine Bar in Northbridge.
She left the bar about 11pm and went to her home in West Leederville.
Her car was found at City Beach car park the next day. A land and sea search failed to find her.
Ms Santen's disappearance was met with a public outpouring of support.
In the weeks following her disappearance, her husband Troy Santen thanked those who had helped in the search for his wife.
"Robyn is my best friend and gave us two beautiful kids within which her fun-filled spirit shines through. I pray that we can find her soon," Mr Santen wrote on Facebook.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
A coronial inquest into the suspected death of missing Perth mother Robyn Santen has revealed her family and police believe she died after walking into the ocean.
A massive air, land and sea search was launched looking for Ms Santen after her unlocked car was found at City Beach car park with the keys still in the ignition on Sunday August 9, 2015.
The 36-year-old engineer and mother of two young children, aged three and five, was last seen getting dropped off by a taxi at her West Leederville home around 10:30pm the night before after having dinner and drinks with work colleagues in Northbridge.
The Coroner heard during opening statements Ms Santen and her husband Troy Santen had separated five weeks prior to her disappearance by her choice.
Counsel assisting Coroner Barry King, Sergeant Lyle Housiaux, said Ms Santen was depressed about the breakdown of the marriage and the subsequent disagreements she and Mr Santen had been having about custody of the children.
She had also previously suffered from post-natal depression and was receiving ongoing counselling for mental health issues.
After returning to her home following her work drinks, police believe Ms Santen found a letter left on her kitchen counter by Mr Santen which Mr Housiaux referred to as a proposed parenting plan.
Mr Santen was not staying at the family home at the time.
The next day, as police launched a search for Ms Santen, the letter was handed to police by Mr Santen, after it was found screwed up on Ms Santen's floor.
It was received via a Telstra tower in City Beach leading police to believe she likely sent it from City Beach rather than her West Leederville home.
The court heard an extensive six-day search uncovered no trace of Ms Santen or evidence of criminality.
Public appeals from distraught family members also failed to find Ms Santen.
Officer-in-charge of the police missing person's unit, Detective Sergeant Stephen Perejmibida, agreed while giving evidence that if Ms Santen entered the water on August 8, she either drowned while swimming in rough seas, committed suicide, or was taken by a shark.
"All avenues have been exhausted," he said.
"Though there is no direct evidence to confirm she is deceased... it is unlikely she is alive."
Her family are united in their belief she is deceased.
A survival expert contracted by WA Police to examine the case concluded if Ms Santen had entered the water, she would not have survived past August 10.
Ms Santen's mother in law, Gaye Santen, said during evidence, she wished her daughter-in-law, who was described during proceedings as a "kind and generous person", had opened up more to her about her mental health issues.
"Maybe mental health is such a stigma that she didn't want to advertise it," she said.
"She never asked me for help, I wish she had."
Mr Santen gave evidence that his wife had talked about suicide several times, and that he had been supportive in helping her to seek treatment and counselling.
A coroner has recorded an open verdict on missing mother-of-two Robyn Santen, who disappeared in 2015 after her unlocked car was found at City Beach – but has ruled out any suggestion her estranged husband was involved in her death.
An inquest into Mrs Santen's death was told earlier this year that the 36-year-old "probably" walked into the water and subsequently drowned after her Volkswagen Golf was found abandoned on August 9, with her mobile phone still inside and the keys in the ignition.
Despite a six-day search involving police divers, mounted police, boats and helicopters, search crews could not find any trace of Mrs Santen.
And today, coroner Barry King ruled that Mrs Santen was dead – but could not rule categorically she killed herself because of “significant factors inconsistent with suicide”.
They included the support of family and friends, an active social life and her children “whom she clearly loved”.
The inquest was told Mrs Santen had struggled for a number of years with her mental health and was dealing with the recent break-up of her marriage, which had ended five weeks before she disappeared.
It was also revealed that Mrs Santen and her husband Troy were in dispute about the care and custody of their two young children, and on the night before she disappeared he had left a letter addressing their martial breakdown on her kitchen table.
In his findings, coroner King said that since the inquest hearing, Mrs Santen’s brother’s partner had called for more investigations into the letter.
“(They) suspect that Mr Santen was directly involved in the deceased’s death and was covering up that involvement by using the letter as a false pretext for the deceased ending her own life,” Mr King said.
After the coroner’s court asked for fingerprint analysis to be done, Mr King said there was “no basis on the whole of the evidence to conclude that Mr Santen had any direct involvement in the deceased’s death.”
In his conclusion, coroner King said while he was satisfied Mrs Santen’s life did end off the City Beach coast, it was impossible to say how.
“It is not possible for me find whether she drowned, was taken by a marine predator, or died from some other cause,” the coroner said.