Julie Cutler's decades-old disappearance may never be solved, family told

After a two-day hearing in Perth, the family of missing woman Julie Cutler was told the decades-old mystery might never be solved.

Roger Cutler is a father desperate for answers but left the inquest into his daughter's disappearance has put him no closer to the truth.

"I don't think something like this is ever finished," he told reporters.

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The family have been told his daughter Julie is no doubt dead but what happened to her that stormy night in 1988 will likely remain a mystery.

A cold case detective revealed during the hearing that Claremont killer Bradley Edwards refused to be interviewed over the 22-year-old's disappearance, which took place in the early hours of June 20 following a work function at a hotel in Perth's CBD.

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That's despite a curious link between the two - Julie and Edwards studied the same psychology degree at university.

However, Edwards' crimes then revolved around break-ins in Huntingdale.

Julie's car washed up on her favourite beach, Cottesloe Beach, two days after she vanished from the city. Her body was nowhere to be found.

Based on the damage to the car, experts believe it's more likely to have driven off a retaining wall than on the Cottesloe groyne, but whether or not her body was inside is impossible to know.

The gear stick was found in neutral, meaning it could have rolled on its own and the front door was ajar, allowing for a body to float out.

A detective on the original case called it "one of the most unusual" they've looked at.

Julie's family is adamant she didn't kill herself but rather that someone else did.

The coroner says she'll likely leave that question open.

"I wasn't looking for any justice, I was as interested in the outcome as much as you were," Mr Cutler said.