Warning: This article mentions a deceased Indigenous individual, including their name and images.
Colleen Walker-Craig was last observed in Bowraville sometime between Thursday, September 13, and Saturday, September 15, back in 1990.
After her family reported her disappearance, her clothing was discovered weighted down in the Nambucca River.
Though her remains were never found, the state coroner concluded that Colleen had passed away and was most likely a victim of murder.
The renewed investigation will concentrate on two specific areas along the Nambucca River.
Today, the search efforts will be directed at the region beneath Wilson Bridge in Macksville.
Tomorrow, the focus will shift to a section of the river found behind private property on Park Road in Bowraville, which is not accessible to the public.
Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi said there was no new information or specific tip that had sparked the new searches, but it was part of a routine process of review.
“It’s just a matter of the investigators wanting to be thorough and ensure all aspects of that search was complete,” he said.
Investigators will also meet with the family while in the area, he said.
A $1 million reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for Colleen’s murder remains in place, as well as for information leading to the location and recovery of Colleen’s remains.
Colleen was one of three children, all Indigenous, to have disappeared over the course of five months in the Bowraville area in 1990-1991.
In October 1990, Colleen’s cousin Evelyn Greenup, aged 4, disappeared after she was put to bed following a party at her grandmother’s house.
Her remains were found in bushland in April 1991, with the coroner unable to determine a cause of death but noting a skull injury consistent with a stab wound.
And early in the morning of February 1, 1991, Clinton Speedy-Duroux vanished after staying overnight with his girlfriend in a caravan following a party.
His body was found on February 18.
The initial police reaction has been criticised for its perceived laxity, which some critics have said was due to the victims’ Indigenous identity.
A man police ultimately suspected of carrying out the murders was acquitted in two trials in 1994 and 1996.
In March 2019, the High Court refused to allow the Attorney General of NSW to appeal against a decision forbidding the man to be retried.
