Case 249: Lorraine Wilson & Wendy Evans
Added 2023-05-27 07:00:02 +0000 UTCWhen trainee nurses Lorraine Wilson and Wendy Evans failed to return to work in Sydney after a holiday around Australia in 1974, fears arose that they could have fallen victim to the so-called Gold Coast Hitchhiker Murderer. But when a discovery is made in the rural town of Murphy’s Creek years later, an even more disturbing possibility emerges.
Team:
Anonymous Host - narration
Elsha McGill - research, writing
Milly Raso - creative direction
Mike Migas - production, music
Andrew D.B. Joslyn - music
Comments
One of the most frustrating and depressing Casefiles ever.
Michael Brodie
2024-08-12 02:05:15 +0000 UTCWho ever wrote this one is a genius! I could actually envision the landscape, the wallaby, the fence, AMAZING!! I’ve heard a lot of this case but the number of people that could have changed the outcome if they did something, i can’t even imagine how that feels for the girls families.
Sarah X
2023-06-03 21:17:34 +0000 UTCI’m horrified that so many people could have intervened to help but didn’t. How do they live with the guilt?
fiona liston
2023-06-03 05:59:41 +0000 UTCYes! I GREATLY appreciate when podcasters label cases with "unsolved" or "wrongful conviction" in the episode notes, because depending on the case I sometimes can't handle the lack of resolution or failed resolution, especially if there's a wrongful conviction or a deeply corrupt or mishandled investigation. It can make me very anxious. (I know, I know, and I'm just a listener.)
AR
2023-06-01 05:57:29 +0000 UTCMy god… the number of compounding tragedies in this case is almost unbelievable. And the intro makes for such a haunting metaphor for how the investigation unfolded.
Eli Savage
2023-05-31 17:01:13 +0000 UTCSylvia Likens, Janet Chandler, Leigh Leigh, and now Lorraine Wilson and Laura Evans...I'm starting to lose all faith there are good people in the world when so many people just did nothing to help them.
Demi
2023-05-30 12:29:25 +0000 UTCI consider myself pretty well versed in Australian cases (for an American) but I had never heard of either of these series of crimes. What a complete failing from so many people, it's infuriating.
Amber
2023-05-29 21:59:18 +0000 UTCI’m 100% with you. I’m so livid right now, I’m half way through and I also came here to vent. I realize as the “see something, say something” generation that this kind of shit is why we changed things. No one should have to beg for help and be turned away SO. MANY. TIMES. 😡
Saraneth
2023-05-29 18:04:26 +0000 UTCTo think that the absolute animals that killed Anita Cobby and Janine Balding are household names, and those cases are earmarked as triumphs of investigation and solid police work, contrasted against such incompetence is absolutely disgusting. I’d never even heard of this case. The people that drove by this, protected and ignored it deserve no sleep. A very sad and dark story. Thank you teams
Jay Tuckwell
2023-05-29 11:50:13 +0000 UTCI remember the frustration when it was in front of the coroner. Love the local cases, so thank you for this well researched case
Michelle Gray
2023-05-28 11:45:41 +0000 UTCThis episode was a very difficult one to listen to. To hear about the blatant misogyny, lack of empathy and just general incompetence of the police, it made me so angry that I wanted to scream. And I when the husband said ‘It’s probably just a domestic’!? This episode made me thankful for having been born in the 80s, because at least now violence against women is not as acceptable as it was at the time. It made me thankful for how far we have come, even though one can always argue that we should be further along. But at least now we have terms like domestic violence, marital rape, incest, child abuse. And at least now the threshold for ‘acceptable’ violence towards other people is lower than it was then.
Hjordis Elma
2023-05-28 04:39:24 +0000 UTCI agree!! Genuinely, something like optional links to click to see "unsolved" or "infuriating investigation".
Carolyn Powell
2023-05-28 03:19:10 +0000 UTCOh my god this case. The number of people who witnessed and didn't help is absolutely horrific! The police negligence adds another level of outrage. It reminds me of the Leigh Leigh case.
Laura Dunn
2023-05-28 00:34:50 +0000 UTCThe bystander effect is so so powerful and so sad….. Great episode as always!
Olive
2023-05-27 23:40:42 +0000 UTCProbably one of the saddest/angriest cases I’ve heard. To think that so many people saw/heard these young women and did little or mostly nothing is unconscionable. While I can understand why some folks wouldn’t be willing to physically intervene, especially if out numbered, but there would be no reason at all why they wouldn’t emphatically relay the incident to the police. Each and every time Lorraine and Wendy saw that people had seen or heard their pleas for help, they would have thought they’d be saved, but then to find out that help would never come would have been agonizing, I can’t imagine the horror they felt, an unbelievably sad crime.
Brett_T
2023-05-27 23:35:39 +0000 UTCWho on earth wrote this episode ??? Very very well done
Emily Duncan
2023-05-27 13:32:38 +0000 UTCThis was such a heartbreaking one to listen to. Like a nightmare where no one can hear you scream. I grew up in toowoomba and know exactly all the places mentioned in this one. Extra chilling and just so sad.
Louisa
2023-05-27 08:39:48 +0000 UTCObviously idk what content warnings you plan to include on this one, but god I wish "will induce extreme outrage and frustration" or maybe even just "extreme police incompetence" were standard content warnings. This is one of the most outrageous and frustrating and heartbreaking cases I've heard about in a while. I had to stop mid-listen just to come vent. GOD. Those poor women, begging for help and meeting with nothing but cowardice and apathy and a lack of urgency from absolutely everyone.
AR
2023-05-27 08:33:16 +0000 UTCI live in Queensland and enjoy hearing about local cases, thank you :)
Alien Princess
2023-05-27 08:05:31 +0000 UTC
