Transcript of 6: Episode 6: Niamh’s last movements

Please note that some names in this episode have been changed. Additionally, some audio clips are voiced by actors reading from statements or transcripts. 18 year old Niamh May was supposed to catch a bus from Batlow on Easter Sunday, the 31 March 2002, to her sister Fionula's place in Sydney, but she never arrived. Within days, her family had reported her missing and her brother Kieran traveled to Batlow to retrace his sisters last known steps. He discovered that Niam went to the town of Jingellic to go camping with Jack Nicholson and his friend Garth. They left on Good Friday and Jack had promised to drop Niam back to Batlow in time to catch the bus home. Jack, the last known person to see Niam before she went missing, had been let go by police after questioning. Jack and Garth were itinerant fruit pickers and once they were questioned by police at the daniloquent police station, they went on their way even though Jacks story didnt make a whole lot of sense. Niam had bought a bus ticket departing from Batlow, but Jack said he dropped her off on the Gokup road just outside Tumut. This means he drove her past to Batlow where she was supposed to catch the bus on a ticket shed already bought, and dropped her off in the middle of nowhere to hitchhike to save money on a ticket shed already paid for.

Niam had told her family about Jack and Garth and the old fashioned hearse they drove around in. She told her sister fanula about the arrangement for her trip to Gingelic with them and how she planned on getting back to Batlow.

She said, oh yeah, they're going camping down there, but if I go with them, I don't know how to get back in time for the bus on Sunday. And then that Jack had said yeah, yeah, if you come with us I'll give you a lift back. And so it ended up the arrangement was she was going to get a lift from him to Batlow and she was going to camp at the caravan park at Batlow on the Saturday night and then get on the bus on Sunday morning, travel to Kutamundra, jump on the train, come to Sydney. She was very reluctant about going to Gingellic. She was really worried about catching the bus to catch the train and he persuaded her to go because he promised to bring her back in time Saturday night to catch the bus and train on Sunday.

Detective Steve Rose became one of the lead investigators on Niam's case. What did he find out about Niam's trip to Gingelic?

There was a bit of drinking, basically. The hotel at Gingellic is a pretty little place. There's a hotel there and there's camping area right down beside it on the little river.

The social scene in Jingelic sounded like the fruit picking scene in Batlow. Niamh had even tried out her new skill of fire dwelling that she was learning from Jess and Brodie, her friends from her hometown.

Yeah, you gotta get a skin full of grog, get some takeaways and go down to the camp and I think Niam is doing a fire thing. Might have been someone there playing a guitar and all that sort of stuff. Everyone's having a good time smoking bongs.

Whatever else they do here is what the police and Niam's family were able to piece together. On Good Friday, March 29, 2002, Jack and Garth left Batlow Caravan park and stopped at Ardrossen Orchard to pick up Niamh. The three then headed to Jingelic with Jack driving. A witness recalls seeing Jacks hearse stopped in the main street of Tumbarumba, a town between Batlow and Jingellic. Garth told detectives in his police interview that Jack stopped to use the ATM. This was confirmed by a check on Jacks bank records which showed an ATM withdrawal from the Westpac bank at 1154 amen I they then headed to Jingelic Hotel for lunch. Jingellic is a small New South Wales town that borders the state of Victoria. The two states are separated by the Murray river. Down a slope next to the Jingellic pub is a campground. Over Easter, the spot was popular. After drinking at the pub, campers could stumble down to their tents to sleep it off. Jack, Garth and Niam headed inside the Gingelic hotel for lunch and a few drinks. They chatted to other travelers who were camping for the weekend. They enjoyed the vibe of the place and Garth suggested to Jack and Niam that they should camp for the night because they didnt have their camping equipment.

The three make the two hour round trip from Gingelic to Batlow and back to grab some camping gear. After returning to Jingelic and setting up camp, they spent Friday night in the Jingelic hotel drinking and having a good time. Other campers and bar staff remembered them. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits, enjoying themselves. The bar staff would later say that Jack, Garth and Niam all appeared happy and friendly and interacted with everyone. Susie was working behind the bar at the Jingellic hotel that Easter weekend.

There's free camping below the pub and I noticed there were a lot of cars and a lot of people there, which is not that unusual, being Easter and a busy little touristy pub. But there seemed to be a lot of backpackers type people there. And I did hear from. Just listening to conversations that there was a lot of root pickers from up the Batlow area that had had a cut out and they'd come to celebrate the end of their picking period in batlow. Other than that, it was just an ordinary night. There were some strange characters, but you do get that in the hotel industry, you know, odd looking people compared to what your normal farmers are in a rural area. There was a lovely little girl. I did take particular note of her because she just was such a quiet little girl. Niamh, who I do remember coming up to the bar, she wanted to use the f poss.

Suzie remembers Niam not being able to withdraw any money and making the comment that her pay mustnt have gone in yet. Suzy recalls that Jack was happy to step in and pay for Niams drinks.

Yes, he was quite easy at pulling out his wallet and. And buying drinks for all his friends, so he wasn't tight at all.

Suzie didn't get the impression that Jack and Niam were anything more than just friends.

I think they were like workmates more than anything. I wouldn't say that they were an item, but they were. They knew each other like good friends, like they all knew each other. All the backpack types that were there from Batlow. Yeah.

The night didn't end when Gingelic pub closed. Campers headed to the campground. There was a folk band playing music. Niam did some fire twirling. Everyone was having a good time. The mood was festive and everyone was happy. When the night ended, Jack slept in his hearse. Niam slept in her tent about ten meters away, and Garth slept elsewhere in the campground. When they arose on Easter Saturday morning, it was time for Niam to head back to Batlow and pretty sure, if.

I remember right, Niam went to bed in the tent, woke up in the morning and she sort of tracked Jack down somewhere whilst having breakfast or something. What about an orange juice or plate of cereal or something? And just said, well, gotta get back to battle, mate. Yeah, no worries. Ready to go. And there wasn't much nuts said about that prior. Prior to leaving Gingelly. Like everything was normal. It's just a big night out.

On Easter Saturday morning, Niam got into Jack's hearse to head back to Batlow. She had plans to catch up with friends from the Batlow caravan park. Joel and Sol one last time. After the Saturday night catch up with the Joel and Sol, Niam planned to catch the countrylink bus, then a train to get to Fionula's place in Sydney the next day, Easter Sunday. After speaking with those who were camping in Gingelic with Niam and Jack, police established that they had left the campground there between ten and 11:00 a.m. on Easter Saturday, headed to Batlow. There certainly didnt seem to be any confusion about where Niam was headed. She had told her mom and sister about her plan to stay in Batlow this Saturday night to say a final goodbye to some friends. Independent witnesses at Gingelic also confirm this was in fact her plan. Like Justin, who was camping at Gingelic that weekend, I he remembers meeting Jack, Garth and Niam the Friday night they drank and played pool. He remembers Niam fire twirling later that night. He remembers the Saturday morning as well. The following is taken from his statement.

I think it was about 09:00 a.m. when Garth and Jack came over to my campsite and we started talking about cars. I have a big blue and white Chev and I remember Jack had this unusual car, a black hole in hearse. While we were talking about these cars, I saw neeve come up a few times talking to both Jack and Garth. I can't remember if it was Jack or Garth saying that Jack was going to take Nev back to Batlow. I can't remember. But I understood that she had to be back at Batlow by a certain time.

Justin thinks it was about 10:00 a.m. when they left Jingelic. He then ends his statement with when.

Nev left on Saturday morning. She was in a happy and calm mood and didn't seem reluctant to go with Jack to Patlo.

Another witness, Jessica, who had spent time with the Jack, Niam and Garth at Gingellic, told police this about Easter Saturday.

Morning, about ten or 11:00 a.m. that day, Jack and Nev left in the hearse. I'm not sure what we were doing, but I didn't actually see them leave and I'm not sure who told me what they were doing, but I was aware that Jack was taking Nev back to Batlow and then dropping her off somewhere.

After leaving Gingelic campground, a witness sighted Jack's hearse parked behind Tumberumba shops around midday. It's about a half hour drive from Jingellic to Tumberrumba.

Yes, there was a car park behind the shops on there's a little creek or river that runs through Tumbarumba and around the opposite side of the shops in the main street, there's a car park there, and when you come from Jingellic, you come up over the hill and along and down a hill into Tumberamba. As you cross the little bridge, you can turn left and park in the car park, and the car was seen there by someone. So the assumption is that they made a stop in Tumbarumba.

The next sighting of Jack's hearse was by a truck driver who saw it driving north on Batlow Road heading towards Batlow. The hearse was about ten minutes north of Tumberumba at the time of this sighting, meaning about 20 minutes south of Batlow. The truck driver was unable to say how many people were in the hearse. The next confirmed sighting of the hearse was at 03:00 p.m. on the southern outskirts of Tumbarrumba, heading back south to towards Jingelic. The witness noticed the male driver and no one else in the vehicle. Jack was then seen by witnesses returning to the Gingelic campground alone around 04:00 p.m. jack confirmed his return time as 04:00 p.m. when he was questioned by the detectives at the Daniloquin police station. It is a three hour round trip from Gingelic to Gokup Road and back, given Jack and Niam left between ten and 11:00 a.m. and Jack didnt return to Gingelic until around 04:00 p.m. this leaves two to 3 hours that are unaccounted for. Jacks version is that he drove Niam to Gokup Road in Tumut and then straight back to Jingellic, no other stops or detours. He didnt offer anything to explain this unaccounted four time and he was never asked.

Detective Steve Rose was not yet involved in the investigation. When Jack was interviewed in those early days, and the information from witnesses in Jingelic came too late. By the time strikeforciola detectives pieced together the timeline, Jack had already been questioned and released.

He went back to Gingelic wherever Niam stayed the night before. He gets back to the pub or wherever they were and talking to his circle of friends, I can't remember who they were, but there was a girl amongst them and there was a conversation that took place there between him and another person. He says to that person, I'm going to get off tonight. I'm going to get off tonight, which I felt was a really not a strange thing to say, but considering the circumstances, you know, he sort of made that public and from that point on he did.

Louise was a camper at Gingellic who had spent time with Niam, Jack and Garth on the Friday night. She told police this about Jack's return to Gingelic on Easter Saturday afternoon.

Jack had indicated that he was in for a pretty big night. He had said that he wanted to get smashed.

Louise also remembered that as Jack returned to Gingelic, Garth asked him what had taken so long. The three hour round trip to Gokup Road had taken upwards of 6 hours. Louise told police.

Jack walked up to where we were sitting. I heard Garth ask him words to the effect of what took you? I don't recall if Jack replied or acknowledged that. I then heard Garth say to Jack, did you pick up my gear? I can't recall the exact wording of Jack's reply, but it was similar to I didn't stop in Batlow. I'm nearly positive that's what he said.

It is a great pity that Garth didn't share his concern about the length of the trip with police in his subsequent interview at the Niliquin police station. In fact, he tell police the exact opposite, that Jack was only gone for a couple of hours at the same time. What Louise overheard suggests that Garth also believed that Jack was taking Niam to Batlow, so much so that he was expecting Jack to pick up more of his gear from Batlow Caravan park while he was there. Why he never shared any of this information with police in his first police interview at Daniloquinone is a mystery. This is what Garth said. How long was Jack Nicholson driving from.

Jingelic on that Saturday? No. A couple of hours, I suppose.

Do you know he was gone for a couple of hours or you're only guessing?

Well, I can't say how long he was going for, but. Cause I was drinking beer with the girls. With Louise and Jessica? Yeah.

Did you see him on his return to Jingellic?

Yeah. And what sort of mood was he in when he returned? He was just normal.

Did you give any instructions to Jack.

In relation to your property?

Have you asked him to do you.

A favor in relation to some property of yours? Yeah, yeah, I asked him to pick up some cam gear for me.

From.

Where was that? From Batlow.

From that Easter Saturday night in Gingelic. There are mixed recollections about Jack's mood. Some say he was completely normal, the same as the Friday night. But others say he was quieter. Suzie recalls Jack drinking at the bar alone not long after she started her shift at 05:00 p.m. he seemed a.

Little bit flat compared to the night before. And beginning of my shift, it's a bit quieter. So I did get a chance to talk to him and I've got a vague recollection that he talked about selling his car to a mate and he didn't know whether he made the right decision. He was a bit, you know, down the dumps about it, you know, I don't know what I'm going to do because I love my car and he was going to get a lift with his mate somewhere. I can't remember where they were going, but yeah, no, he did seem a bit flat.

We will be back after a short break. Suzie remembers correctly in her statement to police in 2002, she said that Jack appeared down in the dumps because he had just sold the hearse to Garth for $3,000. And Suzie isnt the only witness who recalls Jack agreeing to sell Garthys hearse that Saturday night at Gingellic pub. It was a topic of conversation. Garth was ecstatic. Garth loved the hearse and all along had wanted to buy it from Jack. Jack said he was having cash flow problems so had to sell it. It may have just been a coincidence that he wanted to sell his hearse merely hours after Niam was last seen alive. So that night at the Gingelic pub, Garth was celebrating the purchase of his new vehicle while Jack got to work getting smashed. During the night, he started talking to a woman named Simone. Simone had asked her friend Susie about Jack, who had made his way from the bar to the pool table. Simone introduced herself to Jack and they got talking.

I do remember seeing Jack. He was wearing a really nice jacket. That caught my attention. I did end up approaching him and we had some conversations and had a few drinks and he was telling me about a car that he was driving, which was a black hearse, eh, Holden, I think. I was curious to see his vehicle, so he invited me down to his campsite. I took a bottle of wine down with me.

Despite agreeing to sell his car to Garth, Jack was still very fond of the hearse. When they walked down to the gingelic campground to check out the hearse, Jack offered Simone a joint.

I did see his car. I remember him rolling me a joint. And from that point on, I really don't recall too much from that evening.

Simone blacked out and struggles to remember much of what happened next.

I had smoke and marijuana before. I think I had a pretty good tolerance for it, but, yeah, this particular joint pretty much wiped me out, so I have a suspicion that he probably put something in it.

Do you have any suspicion? What?

I have no idea. Someone suggested it could have been ketamine. I've never had. Had anything. I've never been drugged before, so I. I've never experienced anything like this. But, yeah, just absolute bugger all memory from that evening. Yeah.

Did you see him roll it?

I know he was rolling. I just couldn't see what he was doing, like. Cause, yeah, he was sort of sitting further away from me when he was rolling it. And it was dark. It's nighttime.

Suzie had arranged to drive Simone home that night, but as the bar was closing, Suzie couldn't find her.

And I went looking for her, went outside to see if I could see her, and I couldn't see her anywhere. I did go and find her after about ten minutes search in the toilets, and she sort of was on the ground, and she was just a little bit groggy, and it was just unusual to see her like that. And she mentioned something about she must have drunk something or taken something that didn't affect her or that affected her that way. She was sort of not flat out on the ground. She was maybe, like, up on her elbows, like, lifting her head, just, where am I? What am I doing? Who am I? Like, a bit vague. Bit. Yeah, vague and vague in her memories of what was going on.

So, had you ever seen Simone in that state before?

No, no, no. Um, she did like to drink. So do we all, but, um, no, she seemed very groggy, like it wasn't her normal self. But she came to quite quickly. I would say she'd never pass out on the floor. I've never seen her pass out on the floor.

Suzie knew Simone well, and it was totally out of character for her to end up like this. So what made this night different? She had accepted a joint from Jack a few hours earlier.

I don't remember passing out on the toilet in the bathroom, but apparently I did. The publican who was running the hotel at the time, I've spoken to him about that, and, yeah, he said, basically, it looked like someone had fired a shotgun in my face because I was really messy. And they were his words, so. And, yeah, I've known this publican for a while. This is my local hotel, and he's never seen me in that state before.

Suzie told Simone it was time to go home.

I said, well, we'll go home now. And she said, well, jack's coming with us. And I said, oh, okay. So he seemed to be in the beer garden area somewhere. And she's gone outside. Simone's gone outside and found Jack. And I've got in the car and taken them back to her house. Apparently, I insisted that he came home with me. A friend of mine was working behind the bar that night. She was the one that suggested I go out that evening and had organized her older daughters to babysit my children. And I remember going home and waking up on my lounge. I don't know where Jack was, but apparently I insisted him coming back with me. I don't know why. I think if I was more cognitive, I would have made different decisions, but, yeah.

Suzy's daughters, Megan and Michelle, who at the time were aged twelve and 14 respectively, were babysitting Simone's children that night and were at Simone's house when she arrived home with Jack. They were in a separate bedroom with Simone's kids in their beds. Michelle recalls someone walking into their bedroom that night.

I was babysitting for Simone with my younger sister. We put the kids to bed, went to bed ourselves and went to sleep. I woke up at some point through the night and saw the headlights of Simone's car. So she'd obviously come back, went back to sleep. And then I woke up a second time and something had obviously woken me suddenly because I was disorientated. And that's when I realized that there was just a cold, rough hand holding my hand. Cause I had my hand over the edge of the bed and I could see the outline of somebody leaning over the bed. So I whispered to my sister, asked her if she was awake, and she said, yes. I said, there's someone in the room. And she said, I know. And I said, can you turn on the light? And she said, no, I'm scared. So I jumped up and turned on the light. And there was a clearly drunk man sitting beside my bed, had his head in his hands. He kept asking if he was at the pub. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know Simone's name. But I just kept firmly telling him he needed to go back to her room.

And, yeah, eventually he did get up and I watched him walk away. So I just made sure he went into the right room. Yeah.

As Susie's daughter, Michelle watched Jack walk out of her room and down the hall, she noticed his thongs caked in mud laying in the hallway. Jack didn't enter the room. Michelle and her sister were staying in again. However, both remained awake all night, terrified. The next morning, Easter Sunday, Suzy returned to Simones house and dropped Jack and Simone back to the Jingellic Hotel. Jack met back up with Garth and Simone collected her car. Simone was still feeling the effects of something.

I did wake up feeling pretty, like, sedated, just lethargic, just heavy.

Simone and Jack said their goodbyes.

I remember exchanging phone numbers, like I didn't have any ill feelings towards him, like, I was. I was kind of glad that I met him, to be honest, because, you know, I was. Yeah. I just don't know. Don't know. Like, it just seemed like a normal goodbye, you know? Nice to meet you. You know, be in touch. Let me know if you're in the area again.

Simone initially thought Jack was charming. You mentioned before it was charming. How would you. Are you able to elaborate on the charm?

He was just nice. He was down to earth, friendly. He wasn't arrogant in any way, like, seemed interested, talkative. Yeah.

It was only after time passed that Simone realized there may have been something sinister in that joint that Jack gave her. Is there anything that made you aware of, like a light bulb that hang on about that night?

I think once I'd worked out that Neem had gone missing, that maybe there was something sinister that happened that night. Yeah, but that took some time for that light bulb.

Jack and Garth left Jingelic hotel around lunchtime on Easter Sunday. They headed back to Batlow Caravan park where they collected the rest of their gear, settled the bill and checked out Batlow Caravan park. Manager Penny remembers them leaving. They came to the office and said to me, sorry, we're running late getting the rent paid, but we've been away.

For a few days. And I said, oh, I didn't even.

Realize you were away. And they said, oh, yeah, we've been down at Gingellic, they said, but we're packing up now and we're leaving, so we just want to fix you up.

For what we owe you. So I wished them all the best and I think I said, where are.

You off to after here?

And I think I. They said something along the lines.

I think it was Queensland. They said they were going to go. And I looked at the bloke in the hearse and I said, are you.

Going to terrorize him up that way now or something or other, you know.

Referring to his hearse, you know.

Yeah. He laughed and said, yeah, that'll be our next stop.

Niam had plans to catch up with friends in Batlow that Easter Saturday, had a ticket home bought and paid for the following day and many people, including Garth, were all of the belief Niam wanted Jack to drive her to Batlow. But we have Jack returning to Jingelic on Easter Saturday saying he dropped Niamh off on Gokup Road in Tumut to Hitchhike and there are two to 3 hours unaccounted for in his timeline. Where did go cup road and hitchhiking come from? Niamh never mentioned hitchhiking or go cup road. Tume it to anyone else. Then within hours of returning to Jingelic that Easter Saturday, Jack had sold his beloved Holdenhurst to Garth, told everyone he wanted to get smashed, and then later gave Simone a joint which she believes may have been laced with something. All of this just hours after Niam was never seen again. When interviewed by police, Jack suggested that Niam wanted to hitchhike so she could save some money by eliminating the first leg of the trip from Batlow to Kuttimundra on the country linked bus. But of course she didnt need to save money on a ticket that had already been paid for in full.

Was it possible Niam could have got a partial refund to save money? Detective Steve Rose said Niam would have received a refund had she hitchhiked to Kuttimundra instead of taking the bus from Batlow.

She's going to be picked up by bus at Batlow and driven by bus to Kutamundra railway station where she hopped on a country link train. And if she would have cashed in on the bus league, you know she might have saved $2 or $3 or something like that. It just didn't sound right.

We checked and the exact refund Niam would have received was $5.50, but it defies logic to think Niam would spend hours trying to hitchhike to Kudamundra for the sake of such a small amount. Of course we must consider Niam wouldnt have been aware that she would have only been entitled to such a small refund if she did indeed plan to hitchhike. On the 27 April 2002, almost a month after Niam went missing, the Daily Telegraph printed an article that said police believe she was trying to save money on her ticket, so she chose to hitchhike instead. The road jack said he dropped Neame off to Hitchhike. Gokub Road is a 30 kilometer long stretch of road surrounded by farmland that links Tumut to the town of Gundagai. Hitchhikers and backpackers werent unknown on that stretch of road because it was the main road out to the Hume highway that connects Sydney with Melbourne. Nonetheless, Niamh could have spent hours walking along that road with no guarantee that anyone would stop to pick her up. And we cant forget that Niam had planned to stay with a friend at the Batlow caravan park on Saturday night so she could easily wake up to catch the bus on Sunday morning.

There was another one of the travelers who was going to camp with her in Batlow Caribbean park on Easter Saturday night and then she was going to jump on the bus the next morning.

If she decided to hitchhike to cash in part of her ticket, as Jack claimed, where did she plan on staying Saturday night? She knew nobody in Cootamundra and did not have money to spend on accommodation. It's not likely she would have swapped an easy trip to Sydney with free accommodation. With the uncertainty of hitchhiking, Niamh had planned to see her friends Joel and Sol that Easter Saturday before she left Batlow. Joel and Sol drove out to Ardrossen Orchard about 06:30 p.m. easter Saturday night to pick Niam up for their farewell. Niam wasnt there. In fact, no one was there. It was deserted. Assuming Niam had already made her way into town, Joel looked for her at the Batlow hotel and at the RSL, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Joel stayed at the pub waiting for her, hoping shed turn up. When she didnt, he returned to his caravan and went to sleep. Joel made sure he was up in time to say farewell to Niamh at the bus stop Easter Sunday morning. But when she didnt appear there either and failed to get on the bus, Joel assumed Niam must have made other plans.

But then Niam didnt make it to her sister Fanula's place in Sydney.

It just doesnt add up. I mean but then thats the frustrating thing with any missing persons cases. You just never really know. So you can go on as much. You know you do the whole standard. It's so out of character for her to not contact us. And all those cliches that you say early on, there's nothing stronger than gut feel. And we all knew as soon as she wasn't in Sydney on that day that she was supposed to arrive at my house that something was wrong.

Why was so much value placed on Jack's story? One reason why Jack's Go Carp road story grew legs was that an elderly couple named Val and Cole, who lived on a lane that runs off the Go carp road, came forward to say they had seen a woman resembling Neem walking along Gokhup Road around lunchtime on Easter Saturday. They described the woman as wearing a pair of khaki colored cargo pants and carrying a navy backpack. The couple said the woman appeared to be walking north in the direction of Gundagai and Kutamundra. Fanula and the rest of Nahems family found out about this sighting later, but are unsure if Val and Cole were interviewed at the time or weeks afterwards. When photos of Niam were shown in newspapers and television reports, Niams Mom, Ann, wrote in her diary, the person who reported seeing her has some serious omissions from his description and could have been imposing what he was seeing on the posters on another hitchhiker. For Niam's brother Kieran, the alleged sighting on Gokart Road doesn't make sense because Niam being dropped off there didn't make sense in the first place and it shifted the focus away from Jack.

I guess the hard part was there were sightings of a girl on Gokup Road north of Tumut.

Now that tended to corroborate what Jack.

Had said, that he'd dropped her off. So he had nothing to do with it and he was gone.

There had also been roadworks on the Go cup road, right at the spot where Jack claims he dropped Niamh off. On that Saturday, Niam went missing. There was a council worker operating a water tanker to dampen the road to minimize dust. He did not remember seeing Jack, a girl hitchhiking or a hearse. The catch 22 of a widespread media strategy is that people come forward weeks later when they see the case featured on the tv and swear they saw a girl fitting Niamh's description on Gokup Road? This happened in Niam's case. So what did the police think of the sightings?

So Steve is adamant that. He is adamant that she never made it to Gokup road. Stan is adamant that there's a credible sighting there. So I don't know.

The sighting reported by elderly couple Val and Cole seemed to be the sighting that was taken most seriously by the police, but it wasn't the only one. What did the other witnesses see? When we first started looking into this case, Gokup Road was a big point of contention. If Niam was seen on Gokup Road, then Jack could have been telling the truth about dropping her off there and more importantly, the focus in the investigation would turn away from him. But what really happened on Go Carp Road? On the next episode of Missing Niam.

Over time, we did keep an eye on his movements. Well, that's the first thing you think. I mean, there's nothing on Go Cub Road. There would be no point being dropped off the Gokup road. I think it was pretty bloody strange, actually.

Why wouldn't she just get on the bus here?

So that had sort of added a bit of spice to the Go cup road theory.