Home Bike News Rides Events Tech Links
A teenage girl missing from the NSW South Coast was in a sexual relationship with a bikie who later told an acquaintance he slit her throat and dumped her body at sea, an inquest has heard.
The 15-year-old girl disappeared from a small town near Jervis Bay in May 1999, Glebe Coroners Court heard on Monday.
Described as a "mixed-up young woman" who had dropped out of school, the girl rented a unit near the Rebel bikie gang's clubhouse.
The officer in charge of the investigation into her disappearance, Detective Sergeant Paul McCann, told the court he believed one of those bikies, Clinton Hanlon, had some involvement in her death.
Mr Hanlon, a married man who was allegedly in a sexual relationship with the girl, was one of the last people to see her on May 31 that year.
The court heard that members of the community came forward to police with different stories of what they said Mr Hanlon told them he did to the girl.
One version was that he brought her out on his boat, slit her throat and dumped her body in the sea.
The other version was that he hit her over the head with a motorbike helmet before burying her body in dense bushland.
These witnesses came forward despite being fearful of Mr Hanlon and his bikie associates, the court heard.
"It was common knowledge throughout the community that Mr Hanlon was in a relationship with this young girl, so why would anyone else step in and do harm to her?" Det Sgt McCann said.
The court heard some of the girl's personal items - including a dream catcher, some handwritten notes and a coat she was believed to be wearing the night she disappeared - were discovered in Mr Hanlon's home during a search in 2009.
"He put some of (these items) on display in his house. That to me is really odd," Det Sgt McCann said.
Mr Hanlon, who is in court for the inquest, has always cooperated with police and denies having anything to do with the girl's disappearance.
The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee.