Mums' plea over mystery of missing girls

By Dan Proudman Chief Police Reporter
Updated October 31 2012 - 1:34pm, first published April 20 2009 - 12:11pm
DESPERATE: Leanne Goodall's mother, Beth Leen, and stepfather Dan Leen.  Pictures by Simone De Peak
DESPERATE: Leanne Goodall's mother, Beth Leen, and stepfather Dan Leen. Pictures by Simone De Peak
PLEA: Amanda Robinson's parents, Ron and Anne.,
PLEA: Amanda Robinson's parents, Ron and Anne.,

THE mothers of missing girls Amanda Robinson and Leanne Goodall have made an impassioned plea for fresh information to allow their daughters to rest in peace.On the 30th anniversary of Amanda's disappearance, Anne Robinson and Beth Leen have courageously gone public to tell the "people who know" that they need to find their daughters. "All we need is a phone call to tell us where the girls are," Mrs Robinson said. "We just want to bring them home." Mrs Leen, profound grief still evident on her face more than 30 years after her daughter was snatched, said: "We are desperate, that is what we are."We need to know, you have to come forward."The girls, if they had died and we had them, at least we could visit them and lay flowers but there is just nothing there."That is the hardest part." Leanne Goodall, 20, was dropped off at Muswellbrook train station on December 30, 1978, and later seen at the Star Hotel in Newcastle before vanishing.Today marks 30 years since Amanda Robinson, 14, got off a bus near her Swansea home after going to a dance and was never seen again.The pair, along with Robyn Hickie, who was snatched off the Pacific Highway at Belmont on April 7, 1979, have left an imprint in the region's psyche following several high-profile police investigations and inquests.Serial killer Ivan Milat remains a person of interest in the girls' disappearances."We want people to know it is never closed," Mrs Robinson said. "We know there are people out there who know and we want them to know we want answers."They will be dead one day and they want to tell the truth before they meet their maker." After an inquest in 2001 in which then state coroner John Abernethy found the three had been abducted and killed by people unknown, Leanne Goodall's family held a memorial service."I need proof first," Mrs Robinson said. "We are just in limbo."We are in this terrible place and there are no words to describe it. After this long it is not going to be good news but you can't give up hope."Amanda's father, Ronnie, said finding his daughter would come as a huge relief but he needs to know who was responsible."It is not just where she is, it is what happened to her, I still want to know," he said.

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