The story of Lynette Dawson's disappearance has sparked interest around the world after it was featured on a podcast called 'The Teacher's Pet', produced by The Australian newspaper. 'We didn't mention my mother. She was last seen in January. In 1975, the Dawson brothers and their spouses appeared on the ABC documentary program Chequerboard to discuss how the twins' close bond affected their lives. She couldn't believe what was going on. Today her name has been cleared she loved her family and would have never left them of her own accord. Charges, however, were never pressed, as the powers that be felt there was not enough evidence. Though it was never closed, the trail had all but run cold; no arrests were made and no new evidence seemed to come to light. She also told The Teacher's Pet podcast - which brought Lyn's disappearance back into the spotlight - that her mother was rarely spoken about after she went missing. Dawson's legal team has argued the witnesses' testimony has been contaminated because they had talked about the case with each other and had listened to The Teacher's Pet podcast about the mystery surrounding Mrs Dawson, arguing it was broadcast with an assumption that her husband was guilty. Lyn Dawson with daughter Shanelle Shanelle, who was four years old at her mother's disappearance time, is now a married lady in her 40s in 2022. He finalised divorce proceedings against Lynette in 1983, and married Curtis the following year. '(He) said she'd gone away and doesn't want them anymore. How do they reconcile that? Michelle Lynn Monaghan (/ m n h n / MON--hn; born March 23, 1976) is an American actress. One of Joannes friends told A Current Affair on Monday that her former friend was scared of Chris. Though the likelihood of a doting mother simply leaving her two young daughters behind out of the blue was incredibly low, Chris defense team maintained that this wasnt that far-fetched. Now a suspect awaits trial as investigators, lawyers, and police work tirelessly to tie up loose ends and interrogate new witnesses. Ms Dawson, a mother herself, said the poem 'inspired those of us when we forget to do so'. [4], After investigations by the New South Wales Police proved inconclusive, the NSW State Coroner conducted two coronial inquiries into Lynette's disappearance. Australian Story first covered the story of Lyn Dawson nearly 20 years ago. Broken-hearted and alone, she avoided reporters for decades and refused to condemn her father amid the speculation about who killed her mother. In 1980, Chris began a relationship with his 16-year-old Cromer High School student Joanne Curtis. "Clovelly is part of the Simms family, it's in our blood," he explains. Her husband Chris Dawson was suspected of killing. Over the years, two families have been at war over these different stories. [4], Lynette was phoned by her mother on 8 January 1982, the last time they would communicate with each other. What could have possibly caused a mother of two to leave her young family behind? To the untrained eye, it is just a regular wooden park bench, but to Lyn's family it has always been a very special place. Toni Melrose-Mikeska became friends with the former babysitter turned Chris Dawson's second wife at Dreamworld in 1987 when 'JC' and her young daughter attended her performances as Coo-ee the Gumnut Fairy in the Kenny Koala show. It was published in 2018, at the same time as NSW police were again investigating Lynette Dawsons disappearance. It was a bond that was mirrored between Lyn and her own mother, Helena, whose 66th birthday Lyn was planning when she disappeared. He claimed to have dropped Lyn off at a Mona Vale bus stop on January 9 before she called him at the Northbridge Baths about 3pm to say she needed time away. By 2003, a second coroner's inquest had recommended that her then-husband be charged with murder but after each inquest the DPP declined to proceed. In January 1982, a small neighborhood in Sydney, Australia was devastated by the disappearance of doting wife and mother Lynette Dawson. While the investigators were building their official case in the matter of Lynette Dawsons murder, another man was building an unofficial one of his own. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Speaking from the witness box, JC claimed she drove with Dawson to a building somewhere south of the Sydney Harbour Bridge where he tried to hire a hitman to get rid of his wife. "The handcuffs going on. Lynette Dawson with husband Chris and daughter Shanelle. But it will never be enough. In December that year Dawson was sensationally arrested. Nationwide News Pty Ltd 2023. She said her father looked her in the eye and swore he never, ever hurt her mother. Lynette Joy Dawson (born 1948) was an Australian missing person who disappeared on 9 January 1982, leaving two daughters and her husband, former rugby league footballer Chris Dawson. 'I remember it very clearly because it was so odd.' Chris Dawson's murder trial has been shown haunting sketches Lynette Dawson commissioned of her two daughters but never got the chance to collect before her disappearance. Then, check out the story of Amy Lynn Bradley, who seemingly vanished from a cruise ship. Especially people who are quite angry, and rightfully so, wanting answers about my mum. Today, he awaits his trial at home, after being released on bail. I really hope they have been able to establish their own families outside this drama to lean on now. She said when Chris asked to use it, she had said 'Yes', and then agreed not to tell Lyn or anyone else about it, as Chris and the babysitter had secretly returned to Sydney after going away to Queensland together. When both twins moved to the Gold Coast, Chris with JC as his new wife, the twins built houses 500m metres from one another behind wire fences, each with a swimming pool and tennis court. In 1982, Sydney mother-of-two Lynette Dawson vanished and was never seen again. The interviews led to a phone tap on both Chris Dawsons phone and his twin brother Pauls, though neither turned up much. "One minute you got your hopes up, in the next minute, it's not going to happen.". How A Podcast May Have Solved The Lynette Dawson Disappearance 36 Years Later. January 1982 - Lynette "Lyn" Dawson, 33, disappears from her home at Bayview on Sydney's northern beaches, leaving behind two young daughters. ChrisDawson, 73, is accused of killing his wife Lynette Dawson and disposing of her body in January 1982 so he could have an unfettered relationship with one of his former students, known as JC, while holding onto assets including the family home in Bayview, Sydney. This strange coincidence certainly helped Chris defense make their case. But she hadn't really discussed her marriage to Dawson until the night she left him when she stayed atMs Melrose-Mikeska's Southport home before escaping to Sydney with her daughter. JC and her daughter attended her performances every week and the little girl even had her own mini gumnut fairy costume made. She also received recognition for her starring role as Julia Meade in the action spy film . 'It's still possible in the end to realise why you are here and why you have endured, and why you might have suffered so much,' the poem continues. The couple's daughter, Shanelle Dawson, who was just four-years-old when her mother Lyn vanished, has not been in court for her father's trial but appeared to address the case on Wednesday morning. This inquest determined that despite the lack of a body, it was likely that Lynette Dawson was dead and had been killed by a known person, heavily implying it was her cheating husband Chris, against whom they recommended charges should be pressed. Harrison said Dawson "lied" about receiving phone calls from his missing wife, and concluded she died on or around January 8, 1982. Mr Whealy joined thousands of others to watch the verdict read out via a live stream of the court proceedings to provide comments to ABC's Australian Story. Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia, 'I couldn't breathe, he could have killed me': Friend tells murder trial Lyn Dawson's exact words after she allegedly had her face pushed in mud during FIGHT which made her fear for her LIFE, How Lynette Dawson had a 'grapefruit-sized bruise on thigh' weeks before alleged murder - as another babysitter describes accused's furious outbursts if their home wasn't kept PERFECT. Chris was careful in his initial reporting, denying that anything tragic had happened to his wife. She has starred in the films Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Gone Baby Gone (2007), Made of Honor (2008), Eagle Eye (2008), Trucker (2008), Source Code (2011), Pixels (2015), and Patriots Day (2016). Without a body, without knowing first of all whether in fact she is dead, without knowing secondly if she is dead, how she died, its very hard to mount a case of a reasonable prospect of conviction just on motive and the undefined existence of means and opportunity. She was 33 at the time . [4] He claimed that she left after marital problems caused over her Bankcard spending. It's an impossible place to be; this place where seeing justice served for a member of your family means losing another, when you have already lost so much already. She didn't drive, so she'd take the train up to the Central Coast because that's where Chris had said that Lyn had rung from.". Princess of Wales channels the Welsh dragon in a bright red coat at St David's Day Mike Tindall's latest money-making scheme! denying that anything tragic had happened. (60 Minutes) The then-33-year-old mum of two little girls has never been heard from since. On the surface, the event was puzzling. A few years later, he divorced Lyn in her absence and married JC. "We did it, Lyn . [20] Chris Dawson chose not to give evidence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAgltfUt0Uc. Chris was a popular high school PE teacher and talented sportsman. The glass was dirty, so he ranted at Lyn for putting a dirty glass in the cupboard. Now millions of people around the world, who were waiting for that all important verdict to come through, are rejoicing on their behalf. Rishi Sunak looked like he had won the lottery. 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