Bonus: What It's Like To Be A Missing Persons Detective

Lawrence, tell me what you know.

We do this every two weeks we speak to a member of the Victorian Police who do an extraordinary job. Now we've spoken to people from all different departments this year, guys, and this next policeman that we're about to speak to has a very important role. He's acting detector Detective Inspector Tony Combridge from the Missing Person Squad.

Good morning, morning, Jace, Morning, Lauren, Morning Clint.

Now the Missing Person Squad. I feel like this is something we see on in like movies, but this is something that is happening around Australia. Each year in Victoria, twenty thousand people are reported missing, ninety nine percent of them a found.

There was only there was two recent cases where children were almost abducted here in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. If the kids weren't missing, it would be your unit that would investigate that.

It would probably the crime Squad to take that. Initially we'd have some input to it with some subject matter expertise, but be crime would do that.

Yeah, So how long once someone is missing, because people might report someone missing, how long does it take for the Missing Person Squad to get involved?

Well, Lauren It's a bit of a nuanced question because we're really involved once we establish that the likely cause of someone going missing is because they've been murdered.

Right, okay, right, so as soon as if our player is detected, then you guys get involved.

That's correct, Yes, yeah, right.

You might not be able to answer this question.

I was talking to the guys about I had a friend of mine who lived in Seattle over in the States for a while. She was running me through the whole Amber alert system over there, where if someone goes missing, say missing child, an Amber alert will be blasted out to everyone's phone and there'll be a photo on description.

Clink. You mentioned you've got a couple.

Before in New South Wales. Actually right, New South Wales Police, is it quite effectively?

Do we have a system like that here?

There are Amber? New South Wales have a really good system, Clint. They have GEO targeted se missing. So what they'll do if they've got somebody, say who's gone missing in a in South Melbourne, They've can send a text to everyone in the postcard to South Melbourne and so keep a lookout for this person. We haven't got that technology here as yet.

Isn't that insane like they're just right across the border. If there is an incredible service that one state has, we should have it everywhere, right.

I absolutely agree, it's a it's a really good tool. Unfortunately, it does come down the cost.

And this was by way of example, I was at the Airport's in the airport and missing child. There was an active missing child's case in Mascot, so that's close the airport. I had a question about when a missing person becomes a cold case, do you have to sort of hand that over? How long do you sort of actively investigate a missing person before you have to make the harrowing decision to obviously cease the investigation.

Well, as far as missing person's investigations can Clint, they all stay with us. Anything anything that comes to us as in relation to a missing person where homicide is suspected, they stay with us. And they're all open. They might not all be actively worthd on at any one time, but they'll all be open and as soon as new information comes to us, we will recommence that investigation.

It must be a role that when you're working on a case, it must never stop because you, in the back of your mind must constantly be trying to think of different things and ways and ideas. Does it wear you down mentally doing a job like this.

I'm lucky, Lauren, because I've got a really good team around me and I don't have to do all the thinking. I just get to make some of the harder decisions, which is a really good role to be in. But the Victorian public can rest assured they've got some of the finest detectives in Victoria Police working at the Missing Person Squad that are doing a lot of the work that in that space. For me, they just come up with new and improved ways to get through cases all the time. Yeah.

You know, when Lauren was mentioning, the stats say ninety nine percent of the twenty thousand people each year that go missing in Melbourne are found alive. What normally is the way you find people? Is it mobile? Phone tracking?

Would have to be.

It's a really good question, Jakes, because there's so many different ways to go missing.

Yep.

You know, we look at one very specific part of it, and we average probably around about four or five cases a year that are homicide. So that's we're looking through twenty thousand cases to try and find four or five. So yeah, right, a little less like looking for a needle in a haystack and more like looking for a needle in a stack and needle. Yeah, But most people self recover. They basically either they go home with their own accord or they turn up at a police station

Do you ever watch that TV show Hunted and think I'd find a minute a minute.

I haven't got time aways work jokes.

Aside, In twenty twenty four, it would be hard to go missing if you wanted to.

Surely you'd think just with all the technology the cameras, every.

Cameras, even like dash cams and doorbell cameras.

The other day were like in the news because they're using facial identification cameras.

Look, it is more difficult now, and when we look back at some of our older cases, you can see how what we would do today just can't be applied. So it's a very different investigation when you're looking at something so pre ninety ninety even, Yeah, which doesn't sound that long ago for someone in my age, but it is a fair one.

I think just from walking for the car park here at night to the studio, fifty cameras we swipe in with a car like our digital footprint would be unbelievable.

And that's we rely on that and part of what we look for around suspicious circumstances. You look at you look at people's normal digital footprint and if that's just stopped, that's usually pretty good indicator that something's happened.

To I tell you where there wasn't really a digital footprint, and that was in Victoria's High Country.

How know?

You presided over the case of Russell Hill and Carol Clay, which was very very high profile. There has been a prosecution very recently, the appeals the appeals process at the moment, but they're the campers that went missing in the high Country. That must have been a harrowing case to work on because there was a fairly substantial spotlight on that case as well in terms of public interest.

Pretty much every job we work on, Clint gets that spotlight. The missing person's cases that we do are classic who done it murder mysteries. I think I think it attracts a lot of a lot of public attention. But also there are peoples and people and families involved here, So there's two sides to that. There's a lot of attention. Our people are trained and they know how to how to deal with that additional scrutiny, but it's more around trying to shield the families.

It's just the way society is at the moment. Look at crime podcasts and all that's sort of well.

The Victoria Police have a podcast now, Police Life the Experts, which is a podcast. People are fascinated by this stuff.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back.

I want to talk about a case that you guys are chatting about on Police Life the Experts podcast. In fact, you've actually bought in. I've heard this audio. This is incredible audio. We're about to play. It was from inside the interview process of the accused.

We'll play it for you. We're going to chat about that case. Next. We are doing probe the Pope with the Missing Person's Unit.

We're about to talk about a case from here in Victoria. So if you've got little ears in the card, just be mindful that this is a very heavy conversation we're about to have.

Police are searching a rubbish chip in Melbourne's North for the body of a missing Epping mother. Her parents are refusing to believe the thirty three year old is dead, even though her boyfriend has already been charged with murder.

Wow, she was a famous case. Tony Missing Person's Unit worked on it. He was found guilty, yes, and he's currently serving time for murdering the single mum.

She Zang was her name. It's a terrible, terrible story. I think they were they were dating, she wanted to break up. I mean, we hear about this stuff way too often.

By the way, here's the thing. These these are people with families, right, and your job is to not just locate the body in this case, but also.

To prosecute absolutely. It's there's two aspects. And Clint, you hit it on the head that we have the whole people accountable for these crimes, but we hold a whole other responsibility to the community, and that's to try and provide these families with finances. Absolutely, and that's where we were fortunate in this case that we were able to

This poor woman was put in a rubbish bit yes, and the council came around picked up the bins. There weren't cameras on this particular truck.

There was actually a camera on it, Lauren, but unfortunately the truck was incredibly busy, and by the time we got to the CCTV that truck had overwritten, there were six other trucks collecting in the area as well that did have footage, and we watched all the footage from those trucks and realized that she wasn't in the first six trucks, so she's going to be the boy process illumination. We said that she came in the.

Seventh, so then that truck goes to the tip or the rubbish trucks go and your department have to do the ungodly job of trying to re possess that body.

We were really lucky that we came across the people who ran the tip out at WI Alert, the good people from Hanson and Grabner who helped us immensely. Now those guys find stuff out there all the time. He'd be surprised when it ends up in the tip that shouldn't yep. So they were amazing with their assistance that they provided us. But yeah, we had to put people on ground out there for We were planning for probably twelve weeks. It ended up being about four days.

Wow.

Wow.

So once you got the body, you need to prosecute, right, And this is where the interview process kicks in.

Jason, Now this features on Police Life The Experts. It's a Victorian police podcast which is out now. When it comes to prosecuting, this audio was played at court. This is from the interview process. Take a listen to.

This, June. Your phone has been analyzed. When we download your phone, we can see everything that you have done on the phone, who you've called, who you've messaged, what you've been searching on the internet, what I socially on the internet? Yes, on Saturday afternoon, you triped this into a Google search. How many years you get for killing someone in Australia. Why would you search?

I don't know.

On the same night, at nine pm, he tripes this into Google. How to deal with sinking rubbish in Australia. Why are you searching them.

I have has no idea.

Oh my goodness. I mean, well, he did a terrible job trying to cover his tracks. But when someone something like that happens, are you guys like this is I mean, we got him.

Yeah, we're pretty confident we've got the right person around that time.

Yeah, when someone goes missing or you detect foul play, do you want me look at the partner first?

Well, look, look look at the people close to the miss. Obviously, statistically they're the people that have got the most opportunity.

Yeah.

So and realistically we're probably going to the last person that sees them. Yeah, because they're a crucial witness. And in this case it was this man. He was the last person that had seen it.

Wow.

And being able to obviously you deal so closely with the families of these victims. Being able to sit down with the family post and tell them that the person that has murdered their daughter or their sister is now incarcerated, what's that like?

Yeah? Oh, look at it. It's powerful, but it's never going to provide them with what they want. They want their daughter to come home, and that wasn't going to happen.

And it is grim news, but it's the best news they've had. Jesus shocking.

Can I say to you and your team, Tony, you guys do an absolutely remarkable.

Job, unbelievable work. In Victoria, twenty thousand people are reported missing each year and ninety nine percent of them are found, almost all alive and well, but there is that terrible one percent, and you do do an amazing job. Tony. Thank you so much.

Thanks.

Can I end on a lighter note if I'm losing my keys all the time, do you lose stuff and are you able to track it down?

Pretty pretty well? Yeah, you'd be surprised how much stuff we lose.

You'll find you like all well, I see you at Westfield going police car.

Should have taken a photo.

Green zone entirely likely, Tony, Thanks so much for coming in.

Thanks Guys. Lauren Wake Up Feeling Good on No.

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