Jean Campbell never got to see her daughter Debra grow up. Forty years after their last meeting, she's still desperate to know what happened to her girl with the beautiful smile.
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Debra was just 21 when she disappeared from her Windsor home after a disagreement with her fiance on February 25, 1984.
After several unsuccessful appeals for information police reviewed the case in 2022, leading to fresh inquiries in Victoria and NSW.
A search warrant was executed at a home in a Cardiff South, near Newcastle, last month and a 65-year-old local man was spoken to.
Detectives believe Debra likely met with foul play the night she disappeared and are appealing for anyone who saw her to come forward.
Ms Campbell remembered her daughter as a beautiful, vibrant girl with her whole life ahead of her.
"It fills me with incredible sadness that she never got to do those things. I never got to see her get married or have children, or grow into the wonderful person I was sure she would become," she said.
Debra's disappearance had an immeasurable impact on her family still being felt today, Ms Campbell added.
"The most awful part is not knowing where she is or what happened to her and that the person responsible for taking my daughter away has not been held accountable.
"I'm desperately hopeful the re-investigation of my daughters' case may bring us answers after all these years.
"I love her and still miss her so dearly."
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dave Dunstan has no doubt there are people with information who could help solve the mystery.
"Missing people are not forgotten by their families and they are certainly not forgotten by police," he said.
"Forty years is an incredibly long time for any parent to wait for answers, however we do strongly believe those answers are still out there."
The young woman and her 26-year-old partner were members of the Royal Australian Air Force when she went missing.
Her disappearance was investigated by the force when she failed to report for duty two days later, on Monday morning, but her concerned mother reported her missing to police on Friday March 2.
A coronial inquest in 1998 declared she was most likely deceased though the circumstances of her death could not be determined.
It's believed she was last seen wearing blue jeans, a pink t-shirt with a Madness rock group motif on front and blue Adidas runners. She may also have been carrying a green handbag with a gold stripe.
Australian Associated Press
