On June 9, 1996, childcare worker Jane Rimmer, 23, disappeared from an upmarket nightclub in the Perth suburb of Claremont.
Fifty-four days later, her decomposing body was found, dumped on a lonely roadside verge 40km south of the Western Australian capital.
Five months before her abduction, Sarah Spiers, 18, had also disappeared from the same area and in March the following year, lawyer Ciara Glennon, went missing too. Her body was found 18 days later hidden in bushland north of Perth. Sarah’s remains have never been found.
The murder investigation that followed has been the longest and most expensive in Australia’s history and this year marks its 20th year.
In the June 2016 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, FBI-trained profiler Kris Illingsworth believes she has the key to solving these horrific crimes – and it all revolves around some grainy CCTV footage she is certain someone out there will recognise.
Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon.
It’s Jane’s last sighting and she is meeting an unidentified man,” Kris tells The Weekly. “Without a doubt, this footage of Jane Rimmer is the key to it all.
“The first we see of Jane is at 11.58pm, standing alone and facing the street. She is obviously waiting for someone. Then, right on midnight, a man walks straight up to her.
“We only see the back of him for a second, but that brief vision tells us volumes about him. He has straight, short, dark brown or black hair.
“He is taller than Jane, well dressed with a medium build and muscular upper torso, which suggest fitness. He probably presents similarly today, although perhaps now he has greying hair. He would be aged around 47 to 55 now.”
The moment Jane smiles at her mystery date.
In the days after Jane’s disappearance, no one was able to identify this man. Can you help? Watch the footage above and call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 if you have any information.
Read more of this story in the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly.
