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On Wednesday 6 October 1993, seventeen year old Allison Newstead went into Cessnock, a coal town in the NSW Hunter Valley, and never came home. Her car was found the next morning in the ex-servicemen's club carpark. A week later two men walking a bush track near the disused Pelton colliery found her body under two sheets of corrugated iron. She had no wounds and no fractures, toxicology ruled out an overdose, and the cause of her death has never been established. Her clothes turned up a year later in a plastic bag in other bushland. A man charged with concealing her body was acquitted in 1997. Police now say several people may have been there when Allison died. Who were they, and why has nobody spoken?
Thanks to listener Caroline for suggesting this case.
IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING
The NSW Government reward of $750,000 for information into Allison's death still stands. The case is with the State Crime Command's Unsolved Homicide Unit, Strike Force Bain. Police especially want to hear from people who knew Allison in 1993 and have never spoken to them, including anyone who may have been present when she died or who knows the circumstances of her death.
Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. Please do not report information via NSW Police social media pages.
The NSW Legislative Council inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases (1965 to 2010) is taking submissions until 30 October 2026: parliament.nsw.gov.au (search "unsolved murders inquiry").
A NOTE ON SOURCING
No one has ever been convicted in connection with Allison's death. The 1994 inquest was terminated and referred to the DPP, so no coronial finding exists. A man charged with concealing her body and perverting the course of justice was acquitted by a jury in 1997; he is not guilty in law and is not named. A second man, per 2013 reporting, pleaded guilty to supplying amphetamines; no court has linked that offence to her death. The account of three people denying they saw Allison that night is her mother's, given to the Daily Telegraph in 2013; police have made no finding against anyone. The 1993 timeline comes from AAP reports in the Canberra Times. The purse detail is from 2018 reporting only. Police say evidence including her clothing is being re-examined; no result has been published. The working theory in Part Three is the host's reading of the public record, not a finding of any court or coroner. As of 26 October 2026 nobody has been charged over how Allison died.
SOURCES
NSW Police, $750,000 reward, Death of Allison Newstead: police.nsw.gov.au/can_you_help_us/rewards
NSW Government Gazette No. 11, 3 Feb 1995, p700 (reward notice, 9 Dec 1994), via Trove
Canberra Times (AAP), 10, 11, 15, 16 and 17 Oct 1993, via Trove
Janet Fife-Yeomans, Daily Telegraph, 7 Oct 2013
Belinda-Jane Davis, Maitland Mercury / Newcastle Herald, Oct 2013
Matt Carr and Nick Bielby, Newcastle Herald, 5 and 6 Oct 2018
Krystal Sellars, Cessnock Advertiser, 29 Jun 2022; Gabriel Fowler, Newcastle Herald, 23 Jun 2022 (Operation Veritas)
Carly Cook, ABC News, 22 Oct 2022
Simon McCarthy and Sam Rigney, Newcastle Herald, 22 and 23 Oct 2022
NSW LC Portfolio Committee No. 1, inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases, hearing transcript 11 Jun 2026 and terms of reference
Cessnock Advertiser, Pelton colliery history, 2016
SUPPORT
This episode discusses the death of a teenager and its effect on her family. If it raises anything for you: Lifeline 13 11 14 (Australia), 1737 (New Zealand).
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