Australia RACHEL JOY ANTONIO: Missing from Bowen, Queensland, Australia - 25 April 1998 - Age 16

Rachel Joy Antonio
Missing since April 25, 1998 from Bowen, Queensland, Australia
Classification: Endangered Missing




Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: March 20, 1982
Age at Time of Disappearance: 16 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 5'3" (165 cm)
Distinguishing Characteristics: White female. Sun-bleached brown shoulder length straight hair; hazel eyes. Slim athletic build.
Clothing: A short sleeved, collarless T-shirt with horizontal blue and white stripes, a green skirt above the knee with large brass buttons down the front and black dress sandals.
AKA: Joy

Circumstances of Disappearance
At about 18.00 on Saturday, 25 April 1998, Rachel's mother drove Rachel to the "Summer Garden" Cinema at the corner of Beach Avenue and Murroona Street, Queens Beach.
As the movie did not commence until 19.00, Rachel intended to walk down to the 'stinger nets' at the end of Beach Avenue, some 200 meters from the Cinema.
She was seen leaving the beach by a number of persons at 18.45. She was seen walking on Queens Beach Esplanade shortly after, but has not been seen since.

Foul play is suspected.
A man was found guilty of Antonio's manslaughter in 2000 but was acquitted on appeal in 2001.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:

Brisbane Police
(07) 3364 6122
Or
Crime Stoppers
1800 333 000

Source Information:
Queensland Police
Townsville Bulletin
Missing Persons

2350DFQLD - Rachel Joy Antonio

www.doenetwork.org

RACHEL JOY ANTONIO has been missing from Bowen, Australia since 25 Apr 1998 - Age 16

Rachel's mother drove Rachel to the "Summer Garden" Cinema Queens Beach. As the movie did not commence until 19.00, Rachel intended to walk down to the 'stinger nets' at the end of Beach Avenue, some 200 meters from the Cinema.She has not been...

www.crimewatchers.net

 

[SheWhoMustNotBeNamed]

Twenty-five years after her murder, Rachel Antonio's parents are still without answers, or a place to mourn

The day 16-year-old Rachel Antonio disappeared is etched in her parents' minds. But they have nowhere to mourn.

www.abc.net.au

Rachel Antonio's parents hope for answers 25 years after Bowen teen's murder​

Posted Mon 24 Apr 2023

For 25 years, Cheryl and Ian Antonio have had no place to mourn their daughter.

There was no funeral, no memorial and no goodbye.

And there won't be until they have a body, or at least answers.

"We couldn't bring her home, we couldn't have a memorial service and put a real plaque so we could put some flowers there," Ms Antonio said.

Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Rachel Antonio is believed to have been killed.

The day she disappeared is etched in her parents' minds.

It was Anzac Day, 1998.

Rachel had spent the morning attending the dawn service in Bowen, a small town south of Townsville, before marching in the local parade.

She was a cadet and had aspirations to join the Air Force.

Afterwards, she asked her mother if she could go to the movies that evening.

Ms Antonio agreed and dropped her off.

"I think about [that day] a lot," she said.



Bowen Cinema owner Ben De Luca said even after more than two decades, he can still remember who was at the movies that night.

But Rachel wasn't one of them.

"A few of the people reporting the incident said that she came to the movies here [that night], and that was not the case," he said.

"Rachel did come to the movies here often as a young high school girl [but not that night]."

Instead, witnesses say she walked down to the beach, telling those she spoke to she was meeting her boyfriend.

A coronial inquest heard the person she met was Robert Hytch — a then 25-year-old surf lifesaver nearly a decade her senior.

The magistrate in those proceedings named Mr Hytch as Rachel's likely killer, stating he believed she died after a violent altercation with him.

He was found guilty of her manslaughter in 1999 but the conviction was overturned on appeal and Mr Hytch was then acquitted at a retrial.



A $250,000 reward remains on offer for information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Rachel's murder.