Fresh search underway for missing person Melissa Trussell in 25-year Adelaide cold case
Melissa and her 33-year-old mother, Rosemary Brown, were last seen in Blair Athol, in Adelaide's north, at about 2:30am on Saturday, May 13, 2000.
Ms Brown's body was found seven weeks later in mangroves at Garden Island in Adelaide's northwest on July 2, but Melissa's body has never been found.
Today, police divers are hoping to find Melissa's remains in a previously unsearched area of water and mangroves on the northern side of Garden Island.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said the "extensive and thorough" search may take several days.
"The reason we are here today is purely as a result of the work that the major crime detectives have done in the cold case team to identify areas that haven't been searched prior to today," he said.
Asked why the area was not searched before, Superintendent Fielke said he did not know.
"It is just one of those areas that we have identified during our cold case review that just wasn't done," he said.
"So I can't speak to why it wasn't done 25 years ago.'
Police believe the teenager and her mother were murdered but detectives have no motive and no one has ever been charged for any offence relating to their disappearance.
According to SA Police, a number of people have been identified as persons of interests over the past 25 years.
"25 years is a long time, a lot of water goes under the bridge, people's allegiances change overtime, people forget about it, some people don't forget about it," Superintendent Fielke said.
"We are always in there prodding and poking away trying to get a breakthrough.
"So, in some ways, the passage of time is helpful to us because of those allegiances that break down, it might just be time for someone to come forward and tell us what really happened."
Earlier this month, Melissa's father, Barry Trussell, and her sister, Kayla Trussell, joined renewed calls from police for information on the case.
The appeal marked 25 years since Rosemary's body was discovered.
Since that appeal, police have received a number of calls which investigators are now working through.
Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said the information has been useful.
"We are always looking for information no matter how minute that information might be, how insignificant someone might think that information might be," he said.
"It might just be the piece to the puzzle we are looking for in terms of trying to solve this long-term investigation."
SA Police also released a new image this year of Melissa in an attempt to spark public interest in the cold case.
According to Crime Stoppers SA, Rosemary was evicted from the Windsor Gardens Caravan Park on May 3, and moved around in the days before her disappearance.
A reward of up to $1,000,000 has been on offer for information and assistance that leads to the conviction of those responsible for the suspected murder of Melissa, while a reward of up to $200,000 has been on offer for the same in Rosemary's case.
Those with information are asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.
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Daily Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Daily Telegraph
Eugene Gligor police interview surfaces
Don't miss out on the headlines from World. Followed categories will be added to My News. The display put on by a cold-case killer confronted with evidence of his horrific crimes is perhaps best described as 'squirming'. Eugene Gligor's police interview, 23 years after he murdered Leslie Preer in her home in the US state of Maryland, resurfaced this week. First published by The Washington Post, 24-minute interrogation shows Gligor pretending to be shocked when told his DNA was found at scene of the grisly murder. In the recording, filmed in June last year, Gligor is told: 'Well honey, your DNA was in the crime scene.' Having escaped scrutiny for the murder that took place in 2001, Gligor replies: 'I don't remember. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' He says he is 'confused' and 'at a loss', adding 'I don't have any recollection of being involved with any of this'. Sat on a metal chair across from two detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department, Gligor tries to plead his case. His attempt at feigning ignorace includes fake tears. But police are having none of it. 'If somebody was not involved it would be an adamant, (saying) 'I didn't do it.',' one of the officers tells the then-44-year-old. 'Oh, I didn't do it,' he says. 'I definitely didn't do it.' 'There's no tears coming out of your face,' an officers tells him. 'I'm very dry right now,' Gligor says. 'You want me to drink water so I can tear? What are you trying to say?' 'I'm just trying to say that this seems a little put on,' an officer tells him. The police interview was the culmination of years of work including a breakthrough in the way DNA was analysed. Montgomery County Police Department has released footage of Eugene Grigor's police interview. DNA breakthrough that solved cold-case In the days after the murder, police took as much evidence as they could, which included processing the scene for fingerprints, swabbing suspected blood samples, taking photographs, and vacuuming the foyer area for hairs and other artefacts. DNA evidence was also able to be extracted from underneath Leslie's fingernails — a sign she tried to fight off her attacker — and was matched an unknown male suspect. However, due to limited technology at the time, they were unable to match it to anyone. Detectives spoke to a handful of potential suspects, including Leslie's husband, Carl. However, DNA soon ruled him out. With no other leads, the case went cold. Despite the odds, Lauren said she had always held out hope that one day her mum's killer would be brought to justice. Finally, earlier this month, this dream seemed like it might become a reality. 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While it did not amount to much at the time, it ended up being the smoking gun that lead police to Eugene. Eugene Grigo pleaded guilty to murder in May and faces 30 years in prison. The only thing detectives needed was a sample of his DNA to see if it was a match for that left at the crime scene. And so the hunt began. Plain-clothed detectives tracked him down at Dulles International Airport, where they waited and watched as he finished off a bottle of water and disposed of the plastic bottle in a nearby bin. After he walked away, they pounced. With the fresh evidence in their clutches, forensic labs were able to extract his DNA from saliva left on the bottle. It was a match. Gligor was charged with first-degree murder. The crime that tore a family apart Leslie Preer worked at a popular advertising firm in Chevy Chase called Specialities Inc., and was a beloved employee, known for her dedication and punctuality. So when she failed to show up for her shift, her colleagues knew something just wasn't right. Leslie's boss called her husband and the pair went to her home just before midday. There they found blood spattered and smeared on the walls before discovering her body in an upstairs bathroom. She was face down inside the shower and it was clear her death had been horrific. She had multiple lacerations to her head and bruising to her neck which indicated strangulation. It would be 23 years of waiting for Leslie's family. In May, Gligor pleaded guilty to murder. 'It doesn't bring Leslie back, but now they know who did it to her,' Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a press conference. 'There's no such thing as closure, but I'm proud of what we do together, and I'm proud of our continuing search to find creative ways to make people in this community safer.' He faces up to 30 years in prison. — with Jasmine Kazlauskas Originally published as Footage emerges of cold-case killer Eugene Gligor's police interview
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Footage emerges of cold-case killer Eugene Gligor's police interview
The display put on by a cold-case killer confronted with evidence of his horrific crimes is perhaps best described as 'squirming'. Eugene Gligor's police interview, 23 years after he murdered Leslie Preer in her home in the US state of Maryland, resurfaced this week. First published by The Washington Post, 24-minute interrogation shows Gligor pretending to be shocked when told his DNA was found at scene of the grisly murder. In the recording, filmed in June last year, Gligor is told: 'Well honey, your DNA was in the crime scene.' Having escaped scrutiny for the murder that took place in 2001, Gligor replies: 'I don't remember. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.' He says he is 'confused' and 'at a loss', adding 'I don't have any recollection of being involved with any of this'. Sat on a metal chair across from two detectives from the Montgomery County Police Department, Gligor tries to plead his case. His attempt at feigning ignorace includes fake tears. 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DNA evidence was also able to be extracted from underneath Leslie's fingernails — a sign she tried to fight off her attacker — and was matched an unknown male suspect. However, due to limited technology at the time, they were unable to match it to anyone. Detectives spoke to a handful of potential suspects, including Leslie's husband, Carl. However, DNA soon ruled him out. With no other leads, the case went cold. Despite the odds, Lauren said she had always held out hope that one day her mum's killer would be brought to justice. Finally, earlier this month, this dream seemed like it might become a reality. Back in 2022, hard-working cold case investigators sought to use genetic genealogical analysis in a bid to close in on who murdered Leslie. The technique is relatively new, and involves taking an unknown suspect's DNA from a crime scene and comparing it to millions of DNA samples that customers have submitted to ancestor research companies. This can help detectives potentially track down family-tree connections to the perpetrator's DNA, hugely narrowing down the suspect pool. In this case, genetic genealogical analysis was able to yield one common surname: Gligor. While it did not mean much at first, this clue would end up the vital clue needed to find Leslie's alleged murderer. On June 4, 2024, police uncovered an old tip off submitted back in 2002 about someone called Eugene Gligor. The caller, who is understood to be a neighbour, had been suspicious of him and decided to share their thoughts with detectives. While it did not amount to much at the time, it ended up being the smoking gun that lead police to Eugene. The only thing detectives needed was a sample of his DNA to see if it was a match for that left at the crime scene. And so the hunt began. 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She had multiple lacerations to her head and bruising to her neck which indicated strangulation. It would be 23 years of waiting for Leslie's family. In May, Gligor pleaded guilty to murder. 'It doesn't bring Leslie back, but now they know who did it to her,' Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy said at a press conference. 'There's no such thing as closure, but I'm proud of what we do together, and I'm proud of our continuing search to find creative ways to make people in this community safer.' He faces up to 30 years in prison.
ABC News
19 hours ago
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