A cold case in Qld may soon be solved

A TIMELINE OF QUEENSLAND'S MCCULKIN MURDERS:

1974

* Jan 16 - Barbara McCulkin, 34, and her daughters Vicki Maree, 13, and Barbara Leanne, 11, are last seen at their Highgate Hill home

* Jan 17 - They fail to meet family and friends

* Jan 19 - Barbara's estranged husband Billy McCulkin reports the trio missing to police

1980

* A coroner rules that two men be charged with the murders because a jury could reasonably accept that they had been at the McCulkin home on the night the trio vanished

* One of those men is known to Billy McCulkin, who had worked as a debt collector

1981

* Charges against the two men are dropped because there is insufficient evidence to convict them

2014

* Jan 16 - Family members appeal for witnesses or anyone with any information about the trio's disappearance to come forward

* Aug 5 - Police search two rural properties near Warwick and offer $250,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible

* The police investigation continues to focus on information and persons of interest identified in the original investigation and 1980 inquest

* Police continue to search for an unnamed man, who was not at home during the raids.

(Source: AAP Archive)