$1m reward to help solve 50-year-old Bendigo murder mystery
A $1 million reward is on offer for information on the alleged abduction and murder of teenagers Maureen Braddy and Allan Whyte 50 years ago in Victoria.
Police are hoping the financial incentive could help Missing Persons Squad detectives solve the five-decade-old disappearance of the pair.
Kevin Whyte looks almost every night at a photo of his younger brother Allan, who vanished with his sweetheart in Bendigo 50 years ago.
"I sit there and look at his photo nearly every night. It's stuck in my mind," a teary-eyed Mr Whyte told reporters on Monday.
Even after 50 years, police still believe somebody in Bendigo knows something about the disappearance of 17-year-old Allan Whyte and Maureen Braddy, 16.
The pair were last seen leaving the YMCA dance party on Mundy Street at the Bendigo suburb of California Gully on November 23, 1968.
"There is somebody in the Bendigo area that has information in relation to the disappearance of these two young people" Detective Inspector Steve Dennis told reporters.
Lyn Ireland said she just wants to find out during her lifetime what happened to her older sister Maureen.
"It would be nice to know before I do go instead of handballing it to my kids," Ms Ireland told reporters.
"Who wants to handball a nightmare to their offspring?
"They've got a life, they don't need to live my past."
A 2014 coronial inquest ruled the teenagers met with foul play and it was likely they died the night of the dance, but their families have never given up hope of getting answers.
The coroner heard it appeared police and others at the time considered that the pair had run away together.
But coroner Iain West said it was likely they died the night of the dance, saying the teenagers were unprepared to run away and took no clothes with them to the dance.
Braddy's sister Lynette Ireland gave evidence that on the night the pair went missing, she saw her father Stanley Braddy and his friend Ted Beasley carrying a bloodied body that she believed was Allan Whyte.
Ms Ireland was eight years old at the time and the coroner ruled there was insufficient evidence to suggest Braddy's father was responsible for the pair's death.
"If Allan was going to go anywhere, he would've taken the car. There was no money taken out of his account, no clothes... nothing," Mr Whyte said.
"After he went missing, I thought he might have gone back to another farm to work.
"I want to find his remains and have them brought back home."
Detective Inspector Stephen Dennis believes someone within the Bendigo community holds the key to solving this investigation.
“This disappearance has been extremely devastating to both families who have never given up hope,” Inspector Dennis said in a statement.
He hoped the $1 million announcement would encourage someone with crucial information or direct knowledge of the disappearance to come forward.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.
