It’s a cold case that has been brought back into the spotlight.
South Australia‘s major crime detectives are re-visiting the murder of Rosemary Brown and her daughter Melissa Trussell in 2000.
Tonight, a former police diver exclusively told 9News of his role in the investigation, while supporting this fresh search for answers.
Peter Menz spent over three decades below the surface, helping solve some of the state’s biggest murder cases.
But, it’s this unsolved one from 25 years ago at Garden Island that he’ll never forget.
“It was a request from Port Vixen 10, to assist with a body badly decomposed, female,” Menz recalled.
The retired police diver was among those first on scene and tasked with retrieving the body of Brown from the Mangroves in 2000.
The mother and her 15-year-old daughter, Trussell, had been missing for weeks.
“We went in there and there was other police officers there as well, forensics and… crime scene, I should say,” he said.
A crime scene was immediately set up, with Menz hoping they’d locate the missing teenager too but she has never been found.
“We were there for a while, we had a bit of look around but because it was dark we couldn’t do a proper search that night because of the lighting,” he recalled.
In the past month, major crime detectives have re-visited the cold case and conducted a number of searches around Garden Island.
Authorities are hoping to finally find Trussell’s remains and those responsible for the murder of the mother and daughter.
Menz said at the time they carried out a thorough search at Garden Island but 25 years on, technology and tactics have changed and he welcomes the recent searches.
“I think it’s very good, because we would all like to see closure, for the family especially,” he said.
He’s now waiting, along with many others, for a breakthrough.
“Obviously they have got some good information and hopefully this case will be solved.”
