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#truecrime + #history Exploring the unsolved & unexplained at the heart of a nation. Season 1 - Keren Rowland: The 50-year mystery. Over half a century, within the orbit of the Australian capital, Canberra, there have been multiple mysterious disappearances and murders specifically of young women. Each remains unsolved. Many of them bear chillingly similar hallmarks to each other, heightening the gnawing dread: could any of them be linked in the most insidious manner? This podcast is an original, in-depth investigation into all of the cases. Someone out there knows the truth. This is the chance to discover it.
Keren Rowland: The 50 year mystery
Case File Fragment II - Could you detect a mystery?
Created & hosted by journalist, history investigator & author, Nichole Overall.
Are you able to recall what you were doing last Tuesday at around 4.30pm?
Where you were, who you spoke with, what they were wearing?
What if I asked you for such a recollection from five years ago? Or maybe even 10?
If there’s a chance you were about five decades ago, how sharp are your memories viewed over that distance when it comes to a single event?
These are just some of the difficulties facing a renewed focus on the disappearance and death of 20 year old, pregnant Keren Rowland on a summer evening 50 years ago in the usually sedate national capital of Australia, Canberra.
I’m Nichole Overall, creator and host of the Capital Crime Files podcast in which I explore this still open-ended mystery, these Case File Fragments providing updates and extra information pertaining to the investigation.
As time slips away - with memories fading, people moving on or dying - the need to try to tap into as many recollections as possible is ever more pressing.
If you are old enough and were in the region between February 26, 1971, when Keren vanished and May 13 of that year when her remains were found, do you remember anything at all that could be even remotely connected?
Or, do you know anyone who might?
Alternatively, have you heard something subsequently that could assist unlock the confounding case?
There’s even the chance for a connection or link further afield - to be looked at further in future episodes.
On that basis, could you have heard, been told, or noticed something that might relate, even after so long?
Indeed, is there anything about this situation you’d like to get off your chest, because the one thing we know with certainty is that someone out there knows the truth.
Can you help uncover it?
****
I’m here at the Winchester Police Centre in the western Canberra suburb of Belconnen.
The well-secured, somewhat bunker-like concrete building sits not far from the area’s large shopping plaza, within walking distance to another of Canberra’s artificially created waterways, Lake Ginninderra, constructed in 1974.
It’s the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) headquarters of the Australian Federal Police (AFP), named for one of its former Assistant Commissioners, Colin Winchester. In 1989, the dedicated policeman was gunned down in his own driveway by two bullets from an assassin’s silenced Ruger semi-automatic rifle.
Still something of a thorny issue to a degree - a local man who served almost 20 years for the murder was found not guilty in a 2018 re-trial - I’ll be discussing more on Assistant Commissioner Winchester’s history in relation to his involvement in Keren’s case in future episodes.
ACT Policing is the portfolio of the AFP responsible for Canberra, following a 1979 of merger of the ACT Police of 1927 with the Commonwealth Police.
I’m at police headquarters to talk with the current lead investigator, Detective-Sergeant Adam Rhynehart, for some of his insights on what remains one of the oldest unresolved criminal mysteries in Canberra’s history.
Ushered into the Media Room - just a table and small raised platform hosting a lectern emblazoned with the AFP badge: upon a silver wreath - the symbol of victory - the seven-pointed “Commonwealth Star” representing the united states and territories of the Australian Federation formed on January 1, 1901; topped by the “Queen’s Crown” - such placement in military and police badges a tradition reaching back to 1751; and bearing the national Coat of Arms of 1912 - a shield with the emblems of the six states, flanked by a kangaroo and an emu.
The room cocooned with a backdrop of a heavy, navy curtain - almost a physical representation of what’s referred to as the “thin blue line”: the men and women in uniform who serve and protect.
Taking a seat across from the dark-haired detective who might potentially be in his mid-30s - as is often the situation, a well-trimmed beard making that a difficult judgement.
He is though, open and forthcoming - at least as much as he can be in the face of an ongoing investigation.
Some of his answers are by needs off the record, but helpful for me regardless in order to ensure that the most accurate picture possible becomes public record.
“I joined the AFP in 2005 and my first foray into the Criminal Investigations was in about 2008, properly joining in 2010, so about 10 years within CI and I think seven of those have been in homicide-related investigations”.
As with many a resident of the ACT - and not only those old enough to remember the actual circumstances - Keren’s name wasn’t unknown to Detective Rhynehart.
“It’s a job where being a Canberra local, I knew of the job, of the investigation into Keren Rowland, but never knew much about it”.
In late 2020, he was appointed to review local unsolved homicides and long-time missing persons.
Despite the fact the official Coronial Inquest findings into Keren’s death were inconclusive in virtually all respects, including the very nature of how she died - details of which are to be explored at length in upcoming Episodes - her case remains open, police continuing to probe for a more conclusive outcome.
The current undertaking involves a re-examination of everything previously known as well as pursuing newly emerging aspects.
“We spent a considerable amount of time searching the National Archives, forensics, exhibit offices, looking to get as much information about the job as possible”.
“We’ve even spoken with former members to get their recall about the investigation. So things that weren’t written down or recorded or obtained, we’ve tried to get their view of what the investigation was back in the 1970s.”
“I’ve found it a fascinating investigation and quite a privilege to be involved and I think as we go, we’re finding more questions than answers”.
According to Detective Rhynehart, public contributions in such circumstances can be of considerable value.
“I think if one thing hasn’t changed between 1971 and today is the investigation’s reliance on the public”.
“They needed the information 50 years ago from the public about what they might have seen or heard and the same thing exists today”.
“We are relying on someone that saw something or heard something or that final bit of the jigsaw that we just don’t have, that part hasn’t changed.”
My own earlier articles in publications such as Canberra City News about Keren and other local women who have disappeared without trace, died in suspicious circumstances or been murdered has also produced encouraging community interaction.
So too, this podcast, launched on December 9, 2020 - the date that marked what would have been Keren’s 70th birthday.
Along with attempting to provide the most comprehensive and historically accurate coverage of the case to this point, the interviews with some of those directly involved and impacted, including Keren’s younger brother, Steve, who had never before spoken publicly, has generated much response.
Detective Rhynehart’s view of the benefit of such initiatives is positive.
"In the short time that we’ve been reviewing this investigation, I’ve spoken to people saying ‘well, I’ve heard the podcast and I’ve spoken to Nichole’ … they’re aware of the podcast and they’re aware that Keren’s investigation is still running, we’re still looking for information that could help us.”
“Even the smallest, little bit of media, people are still remembering what they’ve got on their chest and want to tell us, so things like this podcast … if it helps generate a bit of information that might assist us get some answers, then I’m very happy for it.”
The explanation as to why people might have anything new to share now compared to then may range from perceived significance, to concerns for the potential repercussions.
“In fact, there was an elderly lady who rang up who for 50 years has held onto fear. She’s held onto a story that she thought her ex-partner may have been involved in Keren’s disappearance and for so long she’s been holding onto that and finally got it off her chest and said ‘well, I need to tell you about my situation, what happened to me way back when and I feel that could be related to Keren Rowland’s death and disappearance”.
“So it could be someone holding onto something for 50 years through their own fear”.
For others it may be encountering a distortion of what actually occurred, including some of the more outlandish stories to have circulated over the years - just one, the false assertion that Keren was in a relationship with a married man - that could lead to people questioning or dismissing their own accounts.
“That’s an issue with that false information. If a potential witness has correct information and they’re being fed a story, that might make them reluctant to come forward and tell us”.
Even in the face of the heightened activity and interest, the search remains a challenge for a multitude of reasons, as acknowledged by Detective Rhynehart.
“I think sometimes we don’t know exactly what we are looking for or what exists, so we might be searching for a long time for something that might have been either disappeared or destroyed a long time ago or never existed”.
“So we’ve got to ask the questions, ask people tough questions and look in areas that we might not think there’ll be something to find but we need to say with our hand on our heart that we’ve looked for everything and obtained as much as we can”.
In addition to evidence that may no longer be accessible or even able to be located, the quality and variance of recollections as well as the opportunity to re-verify them after so long poses problems of its own.
“Some people have approached us 50 years later saying ‘I gave this information back in the 70’s and this is my information again today’ and some of the information is exactly the same as they remember it”.
“And that information in the 70’s was investigated and looked into, it’s just a little bit harder now to go back and find records to corroborate what they’re saying. So things like Motor Registry details - they’re very hard to find, if you can find them at all”.
Something generations born after the mid-1990s can scarce imagine is a time when mobile phones were only the stuff of imagination - think Secret Agent Maxwell Smart’s shoe phone in the ‘60s or the 1946 appearance of cartoon crime-fighter Dick Tracy’s “wristwatch radio”.
From the late 60’s, Canberrans were early adopters of telephones in the home. Should though, a need to call arise when out back in that day, it required finding a public telephone or a service station that had one - not forgetting that you’d have to have handy the coins to use it.
In 1971, along with these options not being overly in abundance in the capital, neither truly offered the chance for someone to track your final movements in the event that all other trace of you vanishes.
“Major difference between ’71 and today is our reliance on things like CCTV, mobile phones, that digital footprint that we all leave without realising it - that didn’t exist 50 years ago, so we were relying purely on witness details, someone to remember a rego, someone to remember a make and model of a car or a description of someone they saw, whereas today, we’ve got a little device in our hip pocket that follows us and tells us everything”.
Despite the lack of physical evidence that can be sourced in Keren’s case, a large volume of other material and information was retained by the police. Now again the subject of scrutiny, it is held close, but more details about it all, how much remains and what may otherwise have happened to components of it, will feature in forthcoming episodes in the first season of this podcast.
“Whilst we might not have the physical evidence, then we’ve still got the witness accounts, we’ve still got the statements, we’ve still got information about what they might have seen or heard. I mean, not every investigation is solved on DNA”.
Detective Rhynehart confirms that earlier investigators indeed spoke with literally hundreds of people, a smaller percentage providing what might be deemed more valuable contributions. Whittling down those numbers is another time-consuming element of the entire process.
“I can’t give you an exact number but there are plenty.
“I mean, you compare an occurrence sheet where they spoke to ‘Person X’ versus a witness statement, in terms of how many people they’ve spoken to, it would certainly be in three figures”.
“Who knows how many witness statements we have that are directly involved with Keren’s death and disappearance - hopefully one day we’ll give you an exact number - but there’s plenty of statements and plenty of pieces of information that investigators compiled over the time”.
Fingerprints were also recovered from what was found when Keren’s body was located in May, 1971.
Regardless of what we see on crime-busting TV dramas though, this is the real world and it’s rarely as easy as depicted.
“Fingerprinting was a thing back then. What we have available to us has been fingerprinted, or reviewed. They’re not for a standard that we can make any identification”.
“Maybe it was never, ever a good enough sample or good enough print.”
So too, a relatively lengthy of list of persons-of-interest which Detective Rhynehart and I discussed at some length, also to later be explored more fully.
“The investigation I think at last count, when I last looked, was 30 or so people nominated as potential offenders and even today, that list is growing as people are providing us with more information”.
“And they investigated every single person to work out where they were, what they were doing, trying to corroborate an alibi if one existed. Some can be ruled out straight away but also there’s a smaller list of people that you can’t rule in or you can’t rule out”.
Keren’s ex-fiancé - their engagement called off only a few months before she vanished - and the father of her keenly expected child, was one person of interest who continues to generate much discussion.
Detective Rhynehart confirms the official view that her former partner was ruled out early as a serious consideration in anything untoward and his checked and corroborated alibi remains consistent.
“The ex-partner was one of the first inquiries that they made, even on the night when Keren was reported missing they spoke with him, got his version of events of where he’s been and what he has done, and the investigation then went to corroborate his alibi and proved that he was where he said he was at the time”.
“So he was eliminated as a suspect and remains that way today”.
****
Policing, detective work and the judicial process itself has also evolved over the intervening decades, as Detective Rhynehart explains.
“The expectation of the community and the court system about what’s required for a homicide investigation has changed quite a lot”.
“I know we dot the i’s and cross the t's probably more than we should but there’s a good reason for that and that makes sure our investigations and convictions withhold, are strong. Back 50 years ago, they did the same inquiries but perhaps not to the same depth or without realising what might be required 50 years later”.
“What the investigators did, they did a great job, in fact there’s far more material in the investigation than I realised and they were very, very committed to the investigation and it shows with the amount of work we have recovered”.
In answer to questions on whether cases such as Keren’s are a lost cause given the time that’s elapsed comes the successful unmasking and convictions of the American serial rapist and murderer Joseph De Angelo and closer to home, the Claremont Killer in Perth.
The crime spree of DeAngelo, aka the Golden State Killer, spanned 40 years, 11 Californian counties and dozens of victims. He’d be brought undone by DNA and genetic-matching courtesy of a genealogy website - not though, without controversy around the potential ethical implications of people’s genetic information being used without their express knowledge in order to solve crimes.
DNA and fibre evidence also assisted in solving the almost 25-year-old murders of two young women that traumatised residents of Perth. In late 2020, Bradley Edwards received a life sentence for both as well as a 1988 rape and another assault on an 18-year-old female two years after that.
However, such forensic techniques weren’t even a hypothetical consideration in 1971 - the first DNA-based case not until 1985. And for that, some physical evidence that may still bear even the tiniest traces is required.
In the face of all of these elements, the Canberra investigation of Keren’s perplexing case continues, no stone left unturned, no witness statement unread.
“What we’re trying to do in part of this review is not only get new information or that same information provided again, but reviewing the documents from 1971 and working out what avenues of inquiry have been ticked off and what avenues of inquiry are still outstanding”.
“So we will identify what further work needs to be done and how we can go about achieving that work”.
“It’s no small job, I mean there’s boxes and boxes of material available to us, and we are going through page by page, statement by statement, trying to work out what exists and what opportunities are available to us”.
Detective Rhynehart is also mindful to point out that not all of the progress, findings - and dashed disappointments when it comes to red herrings - can be relayed in real time.
“If we advertise every step that we make, then we’re planning an opportunity for someone to create a defence in court later or for the investigation to be side-tracked in a way that it shouldn’t be”.
“Whilst I’d love to be able to tell everything about the investigation, there’s very good reasons why we don’t do that”.
With so much to cover, rediscover, and uncover, the path forward is still one filled with uncertainty, hurdles and ever more sand through that hourglass.
“Going through all those records and reading them, everyone’s review or view of what they saw doesn’t make it clear as to what actually happened”.
“And when you’re not ready to pay attention - we do it all the time, what’s the car we just drove past? - you’ll get different answers all the time from everyone, really”.
All involved are acutely aware of the pressures and the expectations that weigh upon them, from so many quarters.
“I think Keren’s case is certainly one of the more interesting ones where it’s just one of those ones you want to know what happened. I mean it’s not fair that a family lost a daughter and a sister in such unusual and quick circumstances … quick in terms of it just happened ‘like that’. It didn’t need to be long, it was just a fleeting opportunity and before you know it, a family’s life has been changed forever”.
The more personal nature of such a tragedy in what remains a relatively small community - as has been proven to me personally throughout the research and preparation for this podcast, it’s rarely six degrees of separation in these parts, more like two - means it has impacted many and continues to resonate down that tunnel of passing years.
“You know, I’ve seen those two white lines on Parkes Way and it almost gives me chills driving past it knowing what happened at that spot 50 years ago, well before I was around, but now I know all about it and want to give answers to Steve and the family".
Coming up in Capital Crime Files, more in-depth details of the elements discussed during this interview and additional information including the emergence of a name that will give most who hear it pause - no less than the man dubbed the “Backpacker Killer”, Ivan Milat.
“That is a significant part of the investigation. At the moment where we are, I can’t rule him in and I certainly can’t rule him out. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to try”.
For more, find us at capitalcrimefiles.com.au, subscribe wherever you download your podcasts and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
©Nichole Overall 2021