Family of missing woman Janine Vaughan describe shortcomings, 25 years after her disappearance

Posted Thu 10 Sep 2026 at 3:40pmThu 10 Sep 2026 at 3:40pmThu 10 Sep 2026 at 3:40pm

In short:

The brother and sister of missing woman Janine Vaughan have told a parliamentary inquiry their grief has been exacerbated by what they say are “serious shortcomings” in the police investigation.

The parliamentary inquiry into missing persons and unsolved murder cases has heard from the families and friends of dozens of missing or murdered people.

What’s next?

The inquiry will hold another hearing next month.

The family of missing woman Janine Vaughan has criticised the police investigation into her disappearance while giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry.

The inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons’ cases has held its third hearing in Sydney, where the Vaughan family’s grief was laid bare.

Ms Vaughan was 31 when she was last seen getting into a red car outside a nightclub in the central west New South Wales town of Bathurst in December 2001.

A 2009 coronial inquest determined she was likely killed by an unknown person, but her body was never found and her cause of death remains unknown.

Her brother Adam Vaughan and sister Kylie Spelde gave evidence to the inquiry today, describing waiting 25 years for answers as “torture”.

“The frustration of not knowing is devastating … her killer has never been brought to justice,” Mr Vaughan said.

“Losing a sibling in this way is not something you ever come to terms with.“

The inquiry heard the family had serious concerns around how aspects of the investigation into Janine’s disappearance were managed.

“What makes the grief even harder to carry is the knowledge that this was not just a tragedy, it was also a failure,” Mr Vaughan said.

“The early investigation into Janine’s disappearance was marked by serious shortcomings.“

The inquiry heard key pieces of evidence, including a knife found with blood and hair on it, were not forensically tested.

“It’s just not acceptable,” Ms Spelde said.

The family said they also did not feel police had adequately communicated with them about where the investigation was up to.

“We understand that the homicide unit cannot allow us to roam freely through all of its evidence related to Janine’s case, but … we believe families should receive regular updates,” Mr Vaughan told the inquiry.

CCTV analysis

Mr Vaughan also told the inquiry the family had consistently requested access to the original VHS tape with CCTV footage showing Janine getting into the red car outside the Bathurst nightclub, the last time she was seen alive.

“Technology is improving all the time and just because footage has been reviewed 5 or 10 years ago with what was then cutting-edge technology, doesn’t mean that advances in technology may reveal a different result.”

The family have engaged US-based forensic expert Bryan Neumeister to help them examine the footage.

Mr Neumeister also addressed the inquiry, telling it he believed if the original VHS tape was examined using new film restoration technology, it could help identify key details like the make and model of the car Janine got into.

“With an old … recording like that, if it’s ingested properly … you can get up to about 60 times the pixel resolution.

“That doesn’t mean you’re going to get more pixels that weren’t there. It’s just the clarity and the way it’s encoded gives you a better look at it,” he said.

‘Understaffed’ homicide unit

Former senior crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi AM KC told the inquiry he believed the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit was struggling with a lack of resources.

“The impression that I got is that they’re very dedicated, they want to do the best they can, but at least at that time they were understaffed and they had to allocate priorities and it was very difficult,” he said.

The daughter of missing woman Marion Barter told the inquiry earlier this year  that the unit has “no capacity” and called for more resources.

For Mr Vaughan, the search for answers will continue.

“There is a unique pain watching life continue without Janine,” he told the inquiry.

“It’s a form of ongoing torture that has been carried by our family for 25 years.”