On a Thursday night in November 1994, sixteen year old Gordana Kotevski left Charlestown Square to walk about 500 metres to her aunt's house on Powell Street. A passing driver saw two young men at a white Toyota Hilux, then a girl walking with a shopping bag. Minutes later her aunt heard screams and men's voices. Gordana's torn bag and her purse were left near the house. A 2003 inquest found she was deceased, most likely as a result of foul play. In 2026 police searched properties at Edgeworth and West Wallsend, excavated an Edgeworth backyard, and appealed for two anonymous callers from 1994 and 1996. Nobody has ever been charged.
Suggested by listener Rene.
IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING
A NSW Government reward of $1,000,000 is offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person or persons responsible for Gordana's disappearance.
Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or nsw.crimestoppers.com.au (confidential).
Strike Force Bambil, Belmont Detectives: 02 4922 8774, SFBambil@police.nsw.gov.au (per NSW Police, June 2026).
Police want to hear from the man who rang Newcastle Police Station about 6.50pm on Monday 5 December 1994, and the man who rang KOFM Newcastle about 9.25pm on Wednesday 18 September 1996, and from anyone who saw a light coloured, single cab Toyota Hilux with a silver work tray around Charlestown in late 1994.
The NSW Legislative Council inquiry into unsolved murders and long term missing persons cases (1965 to 2010) names Gordana, Robyn Hickie and Amanda Robinson in its terms of reference. Submissions close 30 October 2026.
A NOTE ON SOURCING
Nobody has ever been charged over Gordana's disappearance and no court has found anyone responsible. Corey Lovett was named as a person of interest at the 2003 inquest; he has never been charged and is presumed innocent. The allegation about him was never tested, and we could not find whether he gave evidence. He is named because the inquest named him and the lost statement is part of the case. The written 2003 finding is not published online; inquest evidence comes from contemporaneous ABC and Sydney Morning Herald court reports. Police have not said what was seized in April 2026 or what the May excavation found. The theory in Part Three is the host's reading of the public record, not a police or coronial finding. The investigation is open.
SOURCES
NSW Police reward page and releases, 4 May and 26 June 2026: police.nsw.gov.au
SMH, Greg Wendt, Witness hypnosis called for in lost girl case, 6 Nov 2002
SMH, Les Kennedy, On the scent without a clue, 9 Jul 2003
ABC News, 5 and 6 Mar 2003; 27 Feb 2009; 25 May 2022; 24 Nov 2023; 18 Jul 2025; 4 May 2026
ABC News, Hickie and Robinson rewards, 16 Aug 2021; Torana lead, 25 Nov 2019
Newcastle Herald, 2009 to 2026 coverage, incl. Dan Proudman (2011)
Newcastle Weekly, Rod Thompson, 2024 to 2026
New Idea, 2020 (Peggy Kotevski interview)
news.com.au, Nathan Jolly, 2016
NSW Legislative Council, Q&A No. 78 (2023) and inquiry 3148 terms of reference
NSW Coroners Court, State Coroner's report on deaths in custody 2006 (Coroners Act 1980 s 19)
Crime Commission Act 2012 (NSW), ss 21, 24, 39, 39A
AAP, October 2024 (police statement on common offender)
Australian Missing Persons Register profile: missingpersons.gov.au
SUPPORT
This episode discusses the abduction and suspected murder of a teenager. Australia: Lifeline 13 11 14, 1800RESPECT 1800 737 732. New Zealand: 1737, Safe to Talk 0800 044 334.
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