Garden island cold case revisited mother daughter rosemary brown melissa trussell 20250802 p5zfsz.html – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
Advertisement
Advertisement
This was published 1 year ago

Detectives re-visit Garden Island cold case by looking for remains of missing Melissa Trussell 25 years on

9News Staff

Powered by

It's a cold case that has been brought back into the spotlight.

South Australia's major crime detectives are re-visiting the murder of Rosemary Brown and her daughter Melissa Trussell in 2000.

Tonight, a former police diver exclusively told 9News of his role in the investigation, while supporting this fresh search for answers.

Advertisement

READ MORE: Man and woman hurt in shooting during attempted home invasion in Brisbane

Melissa Trussell

South Australia's major crime detectives are re-visiting the murder of Rosemary Brown and her daughter Melissa Trussell in 2000. 9News

Peter Menz spent over three decades below the surface, helping solve some of the state's biggest murder cases.

But, it's this unsolved one from 25 years ago at Garden Island that he'll never forget.

"It was a request from Port Vixen 10, to assist with a body badly decomposed, female," Menz recalled.

The retired police diver was among those first on scene and tasked with retrieving the body of Brown from the Mangroves in 2000.

The mother and her 15-year-old daughter, Trussell, had been missing for weeks.

"We went in there and there was other police officers there as well, forensics and... crime scene, I should say," he said.

Advertisement

READ MORE: Man fighting for life after stabbing at Airbnb in Sydney's west

Peter Menz

Former police diver Peter Menz exclusively told 9News of his role in the investigation, while supporting this fresh search for answers. 9News

Police divers

The retired police diver was among those first on scene and tasked with retrieving the body of Brown from the Mangroves in 2000. 9News

A crime scene was immediately set up, with Menz hoping they'd locate the missing teenager too but she has never been found.

Advertisement
Advertisement

"We were there for a while, we had a bit of look around but because it was dark we couldn't do a proper search that night because of the lighting," he recalled.

In the past month, major crime detectives have re-visited the cold case and conducted a number of searches around Garden Island.

Authorities are hoping to finally find Trussell's remains and those responsible for the murder of the mother and daughter.

Melissa Trussell

Authorities are hoping to finally find Trussell's remains and those responsible for the murder of the mother and daughter. 9News

Advertisement

Menz said at the time they carried out a thorough search at Garden Island but 25 years on, technology and tactics have changed and he welcomes the recent searches.

"I think it's very good, because we would all like to see closure, for the family especially," he said.

He's now waiting, along with many others, for a breakthrough.

"Obviously they have got some good information and hopefully this case will be solved."

Advertisement
Advertisement

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

email icon

Contact us

Share a tip-off, video or photo with us

Most viewed in SA

More to explore