The nurses who never returned

Case 249: Lorraine Wilson & Wendy Evans
*** Content warning: Sexual assault ***

When trainee nurses Lorraine Wilson and Wendy Evans failed to return to work in Sydney after a holiday around Australia in 1974, fears arose that they could have fallen victim to the so-called Gold Coast Hitchhiker Murderer. But when a discovery is made in the rural town of Murphy’s Creek years later, an even more disturbing possibility emerges.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host
Research & writing – Milly Raso
Creative direction – Milly Raso
Production and music – Mike Migas
Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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[carolann]

Queensland police in this case were so incompetent and uncaring . The men who killed her were totally despicable sadists . The witnesses who turned away and did nothing, gutless and weak people . What a sad fate these poor innocent girls had to suffer .

[mcdougalvalentine]

A man once tried attacking me in a parking lot. I screamed as loud as my lungs possibly could. A random man popped his face over a nearby fence & confronted the first man. He even got a photo of him and his license plate. The man left me alone & vacated the area almost immediately. All it takes: is one witness to question the situation & potentially be a hero.

[brianziolkowski]

The level of incompetence in the police is truly mind blowing. And equally baffling is the absolute disregard of numerous witnesses who just couldn’t bevothered

[MetalGearsOfThought]

Imagine being those girls, knowing you were about to be raped and murdered, and a car drives by. You think you're saved, but no. They drive off and don't even tell the police until the NEXT DAY. Their blood is on those cowards' heads. I understand why they didn't stop, but they should have driven straight to a phone, a police station, anything. While they slept, those girls were tortured and killed. Disgusting.

[aryansawant]

the number of people that saw something but did nothing is just frustratingly astonishing

[seabisquick]

So to recap:

-Like 100 people saw everything
-Exactly 0 of them helped
-But about 50 told the cops what they saw at least 10 times each
-And the cops couldn't even pretend to give even a shit

I'm now I'm in a white hot rage and can't sleep. I'm gonna go punch some stuff until my eye stops twitching.

[jturtle]

The casual misogyny of dismissing a clearly violent assault as "probably a domestic", or being too afraid of their husband to report an obvious crime to the police even when the murders were in the news, is appalling.
Those women's lives weren't worth the effort to pick up a phone.

[cathal]

Damn: there is no "domestic" that allows one beating up the other. ALWAYS call the police and stop the violence. How awfull that so many reacted doing nothing when people were screaming for help

[KoffieConvos]

These poor girls probably thought they had been saved sooo many times!! Horrible way to die. The lack of care by the police sounds quite suspicious

[jorjabennett]

I've learned the real evil lies in those who witness, participate, observe haneous acts on others...yet remain silent & unaffected by human suffering.

[veganandlovingit]

Bloody disgusting that the council wouldn't support the memorial plaque.

[Aangel]

I dont understand how so many witnesses could not stand up for these girls by either intervening or making sure police were called straight away, especially the woman who sheltered one of the girls in her home for several minutes. And the police at the time who never took statements or even followed up on witness information. This is so disgusting, especially when we pay these forces to protect us and uphold the laws. Those poor girls were left to die at the hands of these monsters!

[Astrogirl]

I remember reading about this case in the Good weekend magazine. The author believed that the reason the police didn’t take the reports seriously is because they knew these men and their families on a personal basis. That’s the dilemma of working those types of jobs in the area you live in.

[TheBaronessIsAwesome]

The one thing I've learned from listening to every episode of Casefile is to never hitchhike. Ever.

[andyvankerkhove]

poor policework is the reason some of these monsters could terrorize the area for many years....

[primesspct]

honestly I hear this story and know it was very nearly my story in the 70's, when my friend and I hitch hiked all over. Foolishly thinking her mace would protect us. We were picked up by some guys with bad intent, started partying with them, when the one started to rape my friend in the back seat. We locked eyes and in our heads both prayed together with all our might. We were best friends and it was like our secret thing, in tricky situations. Their car broke down on a highway, we ran away. Miles from home, but enough traffic was around they didn't chase us. There was a gas station close by, we ran there. We were found by a grandfatherly man who offered to take us home, and chewed us out and made us promise we would never do it again. And we never did.

[britth]

The amount of people who might have seen some of this crime is crazy. It could have been reported during the crime about 5 times. If it had been reported properly and promptly they would have at least been caught way earlier. The police in the area knew the family and the car and had heard screams! She even went to a door to get help. Then not reporting it after you know someone was killed is just so wrong. The police are also so awful here. I hope all those people who didn’t report any part of the crime in progress feel bad.

[wendys]

I feel so sorry for the poor parents. No help from the authorities, who appear to have been grossly incompetent to the point of malfeasance. What a nightmare those families had to live through, aside from the murder of their poor daughters.

[ChrisAnn...]

So many opportunities to help these girls and not one did anything, unbelievable.

[staystrong]

These poor women begged for help from at least TEN PEOPLE who couldn't be arsed to put themselves out 😡 I can not imagine the utter despair they must have felt every time another person left them in the hands of their tormentors.