THE 1986 disappearance of Sharron Phillips remains one of Queensland’s oldest cold cases, with a $250,000 reward still on offer for crucial information leading to a conviction.
Following a second inquest, State Coroner Terry Ryan handed down his findings on Monday after being tasked with investigating the young woman’s mysterious disappearance.
The 20-year-old Phillips vanished from Wacol in 1986, after her car ran out of petrol on Ipswich Rd – about 10km from her home – just before midnight on May 8 that year.
She had walked back to the phone booth at Wacol Station Rd and made a call to her boyfriend, and was never heard of again.
Her parents, Bob and Dawn Phillips, now both deceased, worked tirelessly for years to discover their daughter’s remains.
Mr Ryan said his findings were that Ms Phillips was dead and that the circumstances surrounding her death were suspicious and indicated a third party was involved.
However, he was unable to be satisfied from the evidence heard during the inquest that a man suspected of being the alleged murderer was involved.
Late taxi driver Raymond Peter Mulvihill was the name heard during the inquest, as he was in the area at the time Phillips went missing.
Mulvihill’s son come forward with a 2002 deathbed confession from his father but no one has never been charged in relation to the disappearance.
The State Coroner said he was not able to conclude that Mr Mulvihill nor his son had played a role in Ms Phillips death because the evidence and death bed confession had many “inconsistencies and a lack of credibility”.
“(Sharon’s death) remains with the cold case investigation for timely review and monitoring of any new information,” Mr Ryan said, concluding she was dead.
“How she died, and the precises circumstances of her death is unknown,” he said.
Ms Phillips’ body has never been found but the $250,000 reward remains on offer for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible.
