Lisa Marie MOTT
Lisa Marie MOTT
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Age: 12 Years Height: 152 cm Hair: Light Brown Eyes: Hazel
Last seen:Dark blue shorts with light trim, light blue t-shirt and brown
sneakers
Link to video regarding Lisa's disappearance - https://www.facebook.com/9NewsPerth/videos/357748642179603
REWARD
On 18 October 2020, the Government of Western Australia approved a reward of $1,000,000 be offered for information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person, or persons, responsible for Lisa’s murder.
The Government may be prepared to consider recommending a protection from prosecution, or pardon for any informant with information that leads to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for Lisa’s death, provided that the informant was not directly responsible for the death of Lisa Mott.
If you have any information about the disappearance of Lisa Marie Mott, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make an online report below. Please remember that you can remain anonymous if you wish and rewards are offered.
Lisa Marie Mott was born in May 1968, she was 12 years of age at the time of her disappearance and lived on Atkinson Street in Collie with her Mother and two sisters.
CASE DETAILS:
At 6.45pm on Thursday 30 October 1980, Lisa left her home address to go to the local basketball courts situated on Throssell Street, Collie. At the time she was accompanied by a friend and had her mother’s permission to attend the courts on the understanding that she would get a lift home with the mother of Lisa’s friend. This was only the third time Lisa had been permitted out at night time with all previous occasions; to attend the basketball courts.
Lisa shot some goals at the courts but spent most of her time talking and socialising with several friends. At 8.45pm Lisa and a friend went to a pizza shop opposite the courts and returned to the courts a few minutes later.
At 9pm Lisa decided to walk home, with a friend accompanying her part of the way. They walked along Throssell Street, turning right on to Harvey Street towards the railway crossing. Within this vicinity Lisa’s friend stopped as she had to return to the basketball courts, and watched Lisa cross the railway line to Forrest Street.
This was the last time Lisa was sighted and she has not been seen since. The person or persons responsible for Lisa’s disappearance have not yet been identified.
In 2000, Western Australian police reopened the case. 12-year-old Lisa was last seen speaking to a person in a yellow panel van in Forrest Street after a basketball game at about 8.30pm on October 30.
Retired CIB detective Reg Driffill, who headed the investigation into Lisa's disappearance, believes serial killer David Birnie* should be interviewed by police about the disappearance. Birnie and his de facto wife Catherine Birnie were jailed for life in 1987 for the abduction and murder of four young women. A report in The West Australian said Mr Driffill had interviewed the Birnies in 1986, but both denied any involvement in Lisa's disappearance. Mr Driffill said David Birnie had lived in Bunbury (near Collie) in the late 1970s and was working in Collie as a crane driver at the time of Lisa's disappearance.
"He has had all these years to think about it and if he was involved he may now consider assisting police," Mr Driffill said. "He was picking girls off the street (when he committed the murders) and the way Lisa disappeared was a similar thing."
Det-Supt David Caporn, of the major crime division, said an investigation team was following new leads in the case. He had spoken to Mr Driffill about aspects of the case, including information relating to the ownership of yellow panel vans. Det-Supt Caporn said police were reviewing a number of unsolved crimes, including the disappearance of Lisa Mott.
If you have any information on this matter, Please contact CrimeStoppers 1800 333 000.
- Crimenet
*Editor's note - David Birnie has since died in gaol.
Marion Powell's voice trembles as she explains the hurt she has felt almost every day for the past 30 years since her 12-year-old daughter Lisa Marie Mott vanished while walking home from a basketball game in Collie.
"It's 11,000 days that I have lived with this," she said.
"That's a lot of days, it's almost like 11,000 days waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's probably the hardest thing anyone could cope with and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. It's terrible.
"It's like you've got a stone in your shoe. That's the best way I can explain it.
"I have had a stone in my shoe for 30 years because it's a physical pain as well as an emotional one."
Saturday marked the 30th anniversary of Lisa's disappearance. She was last seen speaking to someone in a yellow panel van shortly after 8.30pm on Forrest Street and has never been found.
"Lisa would be 42 now," Ms Powell said. "That's a whole life that she has missed out on, that the family has missed out on."
Ms Powell, who moved back to her home State of South Australia, said her daughter was a happy child.
She was the third of five children and her father Brian Mott died of lung cancer in September without learning what happened to his daughter.
"She was always at my elbow and I got on extremely well with her," Ms Powell said. "Kids are kids. There were ups and downs with her, she played the clarinet and I just remember she was really happy."
She said the disappearance struck the family hard and she believed somebody had information that might solve the case.
"Somebody has to know something," she said.
There has long been speculation that serial killer David Birnie was involved in Lisa's disappearance because he drove a yellow panel van and was working in the Collie area at the time of the disappearance.
Police interviewed Birnie, who took his own life in jail on October 7, 2005, several times over the matter but he denied any involvement.
The reward for information that could help solve the 1980 disappearance of a Collie schoolgirl has been increased from $10,000 to $250,000.
Twelve-year-old Lisa Marie Mott disappeared while walking along Forrest
Street approximately 8.30pm on October 30, 1980.
She was last seen talking to a person in a yellow panel van and no information has been received in regards to her whereabouts since that time.
Police Minister Michelle Roberts announced last week that Lisa Mott’s disappearance was one of 11 cold cases that had seen its reward rise to $250,000 for information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the person responsible.
The previous reward for information, set in 1981, was just $10,000.
“I’m keen to support police with the offer of rewards to help apprehend
offenders and bring justice to grieving families,” Ms Roberts said.
“Rewards can be a valuable tool in cases where investigators believe they have the potential to generate new information or bring forward new witnesses.
“The hotchpotch system of disparate rewards we inherited needed review and I wanted to ensure we kept pace with other jurisdictions.
“Hopefully the offer of a quarter of a million dollar reward may be incentive enough to get someone to come forward with information.”
The announcement came after the state government set up a working group to review the reward system and to address concerns regarding the differing rewards offered for cold cases.
The review concluded that reward amounts offered in Western Australia had fallen behind those offered in other states, where automatic rewards are often applied to all unsolved homicides and suspicious disappearances.