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POLICE IN MELBOURNE investigating the disappearance of Irish woman Jill Meagher over the weekend believe they have identified images of the missing woman on CCTV in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Local police say CCTV footage shows the 29-year-old walking in the direction of her apartment shortly after 1:40am in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The sighting is about ten minutes after she had last been seen, leaving a bar where she had been socialising with work colleagues, and is about 350 metres from her home on nearby Lux Way.
Police are meanwhile now investigating whether the missing woman’s handbag, found on a side street yesterday, was deliberately planted there.
The Herald Sun reports that police believe it odd that a comprehensive search of a street about 500 metres from her home in the suburb of Brunswick had revealed no sign of the bag – only for the item, still containing many of Jill’s belongings, to show up later.
“On Sunday police conducted a full line search up and around Hope St,” Detective inspector John Potter told the paper.
“There’s two options – the original search found nothing and then on Monday the bag was found by a local resident. You’ve got to ask which is true.”
He added that the original police search of the area, conducted over the weekend shortly after her disappearance, had left “no stone unturned”.
The handbag had included Jill’s identification but not her mobile phone, which she had used to call her brother in her native Drogheda while on her way home. She had been checking on the health of her father, who had recently been unwell.
Her brother Michael, who has now travelled to Australia to help in the search efforts, said Jill had sounded uneasy on the phone and hung up abruptly. She had not answered when he tried to call her back.
Local radio station 3AW points out that a Facebook page set up to help the search efforts – which has now attracted over 60,000 ‘Likes’ – has attracted testimony from other local women who reported feeling threatened by a car following them – in areas close to where Jill was last seen.
Police have meanwhile removed as many as six bags of potential evidence from the apartment Jill shared with her husband Tom, who told the Herald Sun he could not allow himself to believe his wife may never be found.
“I just hope somebody saw something or she will just walk through the door,” it quoted Tom as saying.
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RIP,another family’s heartbreak this evening :(
RIP
I hope it’s not James it would be such a waste of a young life.
seriously,how many other bodies are floating around in that river at any one time?
It would be someone else’s waste if life then….
I hate to have say this why are people red thumbing that comment?
So sad news, I know body isn’t identified yet, thoughts with family at such a sad time, too young to die
What are the thumbs down about? I can’t see any contentious statements above!
Richard just ignore the red thumbs on this story We all try too it is such a sad story for the Family who have to deal with this R.I.P and thought for the family
Oh no… :-/
I hope it not James for hisfamly
Thumbs down because any loss of life is sad whatever the age.
I agree Laura but I thought the idea of the thumbs was to make a statement about the comment. Apologies if I have misunderstood.
you havent mis understood at all,the thumbs system is indeed to indicate ones aggreement/disaggreement with a comment..people will thumbs down anything said on this site,no matter what it is
well done to the boyne river rescue….a grim task indeed. my condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
at least who ever it is has been.found. not in the way any family Will ever hope for but it Will be at least some peace for them. what a heartbreaking time for all concerned. rip.
Dont worry I seen the red thumb record here 1097 so I wouldnt take it personal sometimes with the iPhone or smart (not so Smart) when scrolling down page sometimes ppl hit off it by error I know I for one have .
R I P . Condolences to the family of the deceased .
RIP to this poor soul, it’s someone’s son, brother etc. May his family gain the strength they will need to get them through the next week. how gives a flying f%@k about red thumbers. They are irrelevant. Trolls will be trolls.
at least who ever it is has been.found. not in the way any family Will ever hope for but it Will be at least some peace for them. what a heartbreaking time for all concerned. rip.
Very sad that someone’s son has be taken out of the river
As for the red thumbs why won’t the journal get rid of this red / green
Thumbs crap
People are saying ” I hope it’s not James” . It’s somebody, and someone’s son!! Whoever it is are facing devastation.. I hope it’s not James just pushes the reality to some other poor family
am I right that the body found was that poor boy James,tragic,his life taken so young,only making his way in the world god be good to him
Why was my comment deleted?
Because the journal is like that … Very picky in my opinion and just a tad conservative … It likes to think it’s an important broadsheet , but it’s not really that far removed from most Red-Tops!! Shrude and moronic!!
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