Trudie Jeanette ADAMS
Thanks to Anthony Barnao's book "Violent Crimes that
Shocked a Nation" for the photographs and information about Trudie.
Trudie has been missing since the night of June 24th, 1978. She was 18
years old and a business college student from Avalon on Sydney's Northern
Beaches. She had long Blonde hair, grey-green eyes, slim build, 162cm tall. She
was last seen wearing a Bottle Green floral blouse and Black jumper.
Trudie left her home at 7pm to attend a party with friends and walked up
Barrenjoey Road. She turned south to walk towards Newport. A motorist stopped to
give her a lift to her friend Debbie's house and from here Trudie and Debbie
walked to the Newport Hotel, arriving at 8:30pm. They stayed until closing time,
10pm. Trudie was excited about her upcoming trip to Bali in 6 weeks time. The
girls travelled in a friend's car to the Newport Surf Lifesaving Club. At
10:30pm Trudie's boyfriend Steve Norris, pictured above, aged 22 arrived. Trudie
left the Club for about an hour, her whereabouts unknown, but returned at
11:30pm. During this time Steve was upstairs at the club with friends. Shortly
after midnight Trudie ran outside, upset, telling no one where she was going.
Steve saw her leave from the window of the Club heading for Barrenjoey Road and
he assumed she would try and catch a lift as he had no car. Trudie had a habit
of accepting lifts from strangers at night and this worried Steve. It was common
for many people to hitch rides on the Northern Beaches at that time as there was
little or no public transport available.
Steve followed her out of the Club but as he was crossing the carpark
Trudie had already reached the road and was getting into a fawny-beige 1974 - 76
Holden panel van with no side windows which had stopped to give her a lift and
was already speeding up Barrenjoey Road towards Palm Beach. Steve flagged down
another car to follow her but the panel van moved too quickly out of sight
behind Bilgola Headland, northward.
Trudie lived just 6 minutes away but did not arrive home and she has never
been seen again. Steve hitched a ride to Trudie's house and waited there for her
but she never came home.
Five days after Trudie disappeared (June 29th) a male person telephoned
both Trudie's parents and Mona Vale Police and said "Trudie is dead. You will
find her about half way up Mona Vale Road. It was an accident." Police
searched a huge area, almost 400 square kilometres including extensively along
Mona Vale Road but no trace of Trudie was found.
In the months before Trudie disappeared a total of 8 girls reported they
had been picked up hitchhiking on Barrenjoey Road between Newport and Mona Vale,
and were raped at gunpoint. A ninth girl was abducted at gunpoint while waiting
for a bus. The suspects were two men aged about 30 years, Australian.
The victims' eyes were taped, they were handcuffed then tortured and raped
after being driven into bushland within a 20km radius of where they were picked
up.
There is a $50,000 reward still current for any information about Trudie
Adams' disappearance and probable murder.
**I think the panel van would have been a HJ model (as the HQ's had side
windows.) This is what the HJ panel van would have looked like (but fawny-beige) -
Detectives appeal for help to solve 30-year
mystery - Unsolved Homicide Team
2008-07-29 12:22:10
NSW Homicide Squad detectives investigating the suspected murder of a teenager
30 years ago have today welcomed a $250,000 reward which has been put up by the
NSW Government.
Strike Force Keldie has been established by the Unsolved Homicide Team to carry
out further inquiries into the disappearance of Trudie Adams.
Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Geoff Beresford, said the
case is among more than 190 allocated for further investigation by the Team.
"The disappearance and suspected murder of Trudie Adams impacted deeply on the
northern beaches community.
"Tragically, Trudie's mother has since passed away without knowing her
daughter's fate or seeing anyone brought to justice," Detective Superintendent
Beresford said.
Trudie was only 18 and had been at a dance with her boyfriend at the Newport
surf lifesaving club on the evening of 24 June 1978.
She left the dance alone and it is believed her intention was to hitch-hike
home. Trudie was last seen getting into a light-coloured 1977-model Holden panel
van on Barrenjoey Road in the early hours of 25 June 1978.
Her parents and boyfriend reported her missing later that day after she failed
to arrive home.
"It is our belief she was kidnapped by two males and murdered," Detective
Superintendent Beresford said.
At the time of Trudie's disappearance, extensive searches were conducted
unsuccessfully of the dense bushland of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
Following Trudie's disappearance a number of young women came forward to report
being abducted and violently sexually assaulted in Ku-ring-gai Chase National
Park. The incidents occurred between 1971 and 1978 and involved females aged
between 14 and 20.
Strong links have been established by detectives between the sexual assaults and
Trudie's disappearance.
"As a result of our inquiries, we believe Trudie's abduction was
sexually-motivated.
"Furthermore, we suspect there are more victims of these two sexual predators
who have not previously come forward to police. Support is available to these
women, who we are encouraging to contact strike Force Keldie detectives. Their
information, despite the passage of time, might be crucial to helping us charge
those responsible in this case," he said.
"Unsolved Homicide Team detectives have already carried out numerous
inquiries since this case was reviewed and allocated for further investigation.
"In particular, Strike Force Keldie detectives are making inquiries in
Queensland, Victoria and New Zealand, as well as in New South Wales. As a result
of these investigations detectives are following strong lines of inquiry.
"Thirty years may have passed, but we are determined to provide this family with
the answers which will give them some sense of closure," Detective
Superintendent Beresford said.
The NSW Government has put up a $250,000 reward for anyone who provides
information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person/s responsible
for Trudie's suspected death.
Members of the public can provide information to Strike Force Keldie detectives
by contacting their nearest police station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Callers can remain anonymous and information will be treated in the strictest
confidence.
$250k reward to solve 30yr mystery
Posted
Tue Jul 29, 2008 1:00pm AEST - ABC
The New South Wales Government is offering a $250,000
reward to help solve the suspected murder of a teenager 30 years ago.
Trudie Adams was last seen getting into a Holden panel van on Barrenjoey
Road at Newport in June 1978.
Police believe she had been at a dance with her boyfriend when she
decided to hitchhike home. She was reported missing by her family and
boyfriend the next day.
Her father, 79-year-old Charles Adams, says it is hard not knowing what
happened to his daughter but hopes the new investigation will solve her
disappearance.
Police say they believe the woman's disappearance may be linked to 14
known violent sexual assaults that occurred around the same area between 1971
and 1978.
Extensive searches were conducted in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
at the time of her disappearance.
Homicide detectives are also making inquiries in Queensland, Victoria
and New Zealand.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333
000.
Cold case murder trail leads police to NZ
By New Zealand correspondent Kerri
Ritchie - ABC
Posted 5
hours 44 minutes ago July 31st 2008
New South Wales detectives will arrive in New Zealand today
as part of a cold case investigation into the disappearance of a Sydney teenager
30 years ago.
Trudie Adams disappeared in June 1978 after she went dancing with her
boyfriend at Sydney's Newport surf club.
Police believe the 18-year-old was kidnapped, raped and killed by two men.
Extensive searches were conducted in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
at the time of her disappearance.
NSW homicide squad commander Geoff Beresford says they are aiming to speak
to a person of interest who now lives in New Zealand.
He says there is a $250,000 reward for information which results in an
arrest.
"We're hoping that will provide an incentive certainly for someone to come
forward," he said.
"There's no doubt that there are people out there who know what happened."
The Unsolved Homicide Team is currently investigating 190 cold cases.
Standen in spotlight
John Kidman - SMH
August 3, 2008
DETECTIVES reinvestigating the 30-year-old murder of Sydney
teenager Trudie Adams are to question disgraced NSW Crime
Commission assistant director Mark Standen in jail.
Insiders say the move is designed to determine the nature of the
jailed law enforcement boss's long-term friendship with John
Anderson, one of the key suspects in the slaying of the
18-year-old business college student.
Career criminal Anderson is also considering a deal with
prosecutors after the sudden postponement of his sentencing on
unrelated drug charges, The Sun-Herald has learned.
The developments follow the announcement of a $250,000
police reward for information leading to a conviction over Ms
Adams's murder and a series of rapes on Sydney's northern
beaches.
Sources have also revealed the case is linked to a string
of unsolved killings, including the 1984-85 murders of
Andrea Wharton and Ante Yelavich, and
the 1991 execution of former Australian light-heavyweight boxer
and heroin dealer Roy Thurgar. Insiders have likened the
scenario to "an underworld mosaic", with the chances of solving
the long-cold homicides hinging on what Anderson reveals.
On June 2, Standen was accused of involvement in a $120
million global drug conspiracy and arrested by federal police.
Anderson, 68, who is understood to be suffering from
hepatitis C and dementia, was charged with trying to smuggle
27kilograms of cocaine into Australia chained to the hulls of
cargo ships, including the Tampa, in 2006. His son Michael, 30,
has been convicted over the same matter, with the potential
length of his jail sentence allegedly crucial to any deal in the
Adams case, sources say.
Ms Adams was last seen with a group of men outside Newport
Surf Life Saving Club on June 24, 1978.
Her body has not been found. After she disappeared, a
stream of young women came forward to report being kidnapped and
assaulted in the previous 10 months, by two armed men aged in
their 30s along Barrenjoey Road.
While not prepared to name Anderson or his accomplices,
homicide squad commander Detective Superintendent Geoff
Beresford said last week there was little doubt the attacks were
connected. "Based on that link, if you like, it makes us
confident that the same offenders are responsible for all those
offences," he said.
At the time, some detectives were so convinced more could
have been done to prosecute Anderson - also known as Neville
Tween - and his alleged co-offender that a complaint alleging a
lack of support in the matter was lodged with the Police
Integrity Commission. It is still being examined.
Inquiries by detectives at Manly this year into the murder of
Mr Yelavich identified Anderson as the last known person to see
him, outside the Manly Pacific Hotel on September 2, 1985.
Routine inquiries into Anderson's background then found
Standen's son Matthew staying in the home of Anderson's
estranged wife Susan.
There is no suggestion Matthew Standen was aware of
Anderson's activities. It was also established Mark Standen had
been a close friend of Anderson for at least 30 years and a
regular visitor to his Central Coast home.
Mr Yelavich's girlfriend, Ms Wharton, was last heard from
on February 19, 1984, when she rang her mother to say she was
staying with friends at Byron Bay.
Police sources say she became embroiled in a fatal dispute
with an underworld associate of Anderson over an alleged drug
rip-off and that, in the weeks before she vanished, she was
warned off by hitman Christopher Dale Flannery. Detectives
believe Mr Yelavich was killed after subsequently threatening
revenge.
Inquiries have also revealed that the other man suspected
of Ms Adams's murder is a person of renewed interest in the
slaying of Thurgar, who was shot dead outside his wife's
laundromat in Alison Road, Randwick, in May 1991.