By Rowan Forster
In a campaign akin to Academy-award winning film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, family and friends of the six women callously murdered and dumped in Tynong North and Frankston are pursuing justice with a roadside advertisement.
The notorious cold case, which saw teenagers through to victims aged in their 70s killed and buried in Melbourne’s south-east from 1980, has baffled investigators for decades.
In the coming weeks, a mobile billboard will be showcased at the intersection of Cardinia Road and the Princes Freeway, Berwick – addressing the gruesome murders.
It comes after a lengthy crowdfunding initiative, which raised more than $1400 to fund the billboard design and rollout.
Alison Rooke, Bertha Miller, Catherine Headland, Ann-Marie Sargent, Narumol Stephenson and Joy Summers all separately vanished during the early 1980s.
They all disappeared when waiting for a friend, bus or when walking to the bus stop.
Their bodies were recovered in Frankston and Tynong North – all linked to the same serial killer who has never been caught.
Catherine Headland’s childhood friend, Vicki Ferguson, is behind the billboard initiative to raise publicity and awareness about the gruesome killings.
Ms Ferguson has spearheaded a lifelong campaign to pin down the 14-year-old’s killer.
“They’ve finally got the billboard ready and we’ll be doing an unveiling where Catherine used to hang around,” she said.
‘We’re all about keeping the story alive and keeping it on people’s minds, because we’re never going to give up on seeking justice.
“The more it is talked about and publicised, the sooner someone is going to come forward and put this all to rest.”
She told the Gazette that the murder has impacted her entire life.
“It still haunts me to this day,” she added.
Catherine Headland, Ann-Marie Sargent, 18, and Bertha Miller, 73, were found dumped near a quarry off Brew Road in Tynong North on December 6, 1980.
Each had disappeared months earlier.
Ms Headland, who lived in Berwick, was last seen on 28 August after leaving her boyfriend’s home on High Street Berwick and setting out for Fountain Gate Shopping Centre by bus.
About one year ago, Victoria Police announced an unprecedented $6 million reward for information leading to the resolution of Operation Lyndhurst – an investigation into the six murders.
Investigators have spoken to more than 2000 people in relation to the heinous crimes, but the murderer has never been apprehended.
The group is also contemplating using any additional funds to erect a memorial for Narumol Stephenson, who does not even have a headstone.
