Police call off search for Julian Story's remains, but divers continue Melissa Trussell investigation
Warning: This story contains content some readers may find distressing.
Searches around the Port Lincoln area for the missing remains of 39-year-old Julian Story, whose dismembered body was found on June 19, have been called off — a move that will allow his family to make preparations for his funeral.
In a separate matter, divers have returned to waters off Garden Island in Adelaide's north-west to conduct further investigations in relation to the cold case disappearance of teenager Melissa Trussell and a submerged vehicle that could be linked to her suspected murder.
SA Police's Major Crime Investigation Branch today issued a public update on the state of both cases.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said police had "exhausted all the areas of interest" that had been identified in relation to the missing remains of Mr Story.
He said police had kept in close contact with Mr Story's family, who had been "completely understanding" about the decision to end the search.
"They are also very keen to lay Julian to rest and have his funeral so they can start to move on. If we ultimately provide or locate remains down the track they're aware of how that might reinvigorate their grief.
"We will, however, go back and search if we receive specific information about where Julian's remains might be — but in terms of general searching in Port Lincoln, that has now stopped."
Mr Story's 34-year-old partner — former Beauty and the Geek contestant Tamika Chesser — has been charged with his murder, and appeared in court last month.
Superintendent Fielke said it remained unclear when police would be able to interview her.
"We're not in a position yet to be able to talk to Tamika. She's currently detained in James Nash House and we don't have the opportunity at this point in time to interview her," he said.
Police on Wednesday told the ABC that they had found an Elvis T-shirt, a drink bottle and a wristband in scrubland.
Superintendent Fielke said those items were potentially linked to the case and had been seized, including for potential DNA testing, to determine whether there was a connection to Mr Story's alleged murder.
"It was just a very unusual thing to find in that location. What we do know is that both Tamika and Julian were Elvis fans, which kind of sparked our interest a little bit more given what was on the T-shirt," he said.
"That's why all those items have been seized for further testing."
Meanwhile, police have continued to conduct underwater searches for the remains of 15-year-old Melissa Trussell, who is believed to have been killed in a suspected double murder in Adelaide's north 25 years ago.
Melissa and her 33-year-old mother Rosemary Brown were last seen in Blair Athol about 2:30am on Saturday, May 13, 2000.
Ms Brown's body was found weeks later in mangroves at Garden Island in Adelaide's north-west, but Melissa's body has never been found and police believe she was also murdered.
"We're conducting a very active investigation in relation to Melissa's disappearance and Rosemary's murder," Superintendent Fielke said.
Last week, police launched a new search for the body of the 15-year-old in a previously unsearched area of water and mangroves.
Police divers returned to Garden Island today.
A submerged vehicle found towards the southern end of the island has been described as being "of interest to the investigation" at this point in time.
But Superintendent Fielke said further work, including potentially lifting it to the surface, would have to be conducted to determine whether it was connected to the case.
"Divers will be back there periodically for the next few weeks," he said.
"Trying to ascertain exactly what that vehicle is will have its challenges.
The vehicle has been described as being "not structurally very sound" and "submerged in quite a deep volume of water".
"We're trying to establish make, year, model of that vehicle," he said.
Melissa's father Barry Trussell and her sister Kayla this month spoke of their need to secure justice for the 15-year-old, as well as answers about how she disappeared.
"Any little bit of information you've got can help, no matter how small — it can be what breaks the case," he said.
Earlier this year, SA Police released a new image of Melissa in a bid to prompt public interest in the unsolved crime.
According to Crime Stoppers SA, Rosemary was evicted from the Windsor Gardens Caravan Park on May 3, 2000 and moved around in the days before her disappearance.
Her handbag was found in Stirling Street at Northfield at the time of her disappearance, but it was not handed into police until May 23 after a public appeal about the missing mother and daughter.
Ms Brown's body was discovered by two siblings, Sarah and James Fidock, who had gone to Garden Island to fish with their father.
The sister and brother recently spoke out about their wish for grieving relatives.
"There's a family that don't know where she is and who need her home," Sarah said.
"We do hope that they find the missing piece of this, and I hope they do get closure."
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