Posted on 04/18/2003 7:35:44 AM PDT by Loyalist
Australian authorities were in the midst of prosecuting a man for the murder of a 14-year-old girl who vanished in 1998 when the Crown attorney made a startling revelation: Natasha Ryan was alive and well and had been hiding for nearly five years in her boyfriend's home.
It was firmly believed that Natasha had fallen prey to a suspected serial killer who was stalking women in the area. A long and expensive search was conducted and eventually an emotional memorial service held when hope for Natasha faded.
In fact, she ran away from home and became a hermit in her boyfriend's rental house, less than two kilometres from where her mother lived, hiding for hours in a wardrobe when visitors came and rarely venturing outside.
As a stunned nation learns more of the back-from-the-dead story, the joy that greeted news of her safe return is turning to anger.
Frustrated residents who searched frantically for her feel deeply betrayed.
Others question how a girl could let her parents go through the anguish of losing a child and force a man to wrongfully face a murder charge without intervening.
And when she almost immediately signed an exclusive promotional contract with a television and magazine conglomerate and a celebrity agent opened bidding to secure book and movie rights, it sent critics screaming.
"This is bizarre in the extreme and, now, to have a commercial arrangement where the alleged victim, or the family, or somebody else is going to be paid to tell the story, I just think cannot be tolerated," Lawrence Springborg, the opposition party leader, told reporters. "It shows absolutely no set of scruples or basic understanding of what the community at large is feeling about this."
On Sept. 2, 1998, Natasha vanished after leaving school in Rockhampton, a beautiful city 40 kilometres inland that sits astride Queensland's largest river.
Her disappearance rattled the community.
It was eerily timed. In quick succession, four other women and girls disappeared. It seemed a serial killer was in their midst.
Three months after Natasha disappeared, Julie Turner, 39, went missing. Three months after that, Beverley Leggo, 36, vanished. The next month, two victims fell: nine-year-old Keyra Steinhardt was snatched as she walked from school, raped and killed; and Sylvia Benedetti, 19, disappeared, her body later found by hikers.
Leonard John Fraser was a suspect in each of the incidents.
The serial sex offender was convicted for killing young Keyra and, while serving his sentence, took police to the remains of Ms. Turner, Ms. Leggo, and Ms. Benedetti.
Fraser had served 22 of the last 29 years in jail -- where he was nicknamed "Lenny the Loon" by prisoners -- before being released just months before Natasha disappeared.
It did not seem an inordinate leap for the family, the community and police to lump Natasha in with the list of the deceased.
Police said Fraser confessed in graphic detail to murdering Natasha to a cellmate.
Although her body was never found, the mystery, at least, seemed solved.
Natasha was found a week ago in the house of her boyfriend, Scott Black, a 27-year-old milkman, after an anonymous letter was sent to police.
It is suspected Natasha may have sent it, although others suspect members of Mr. Black's family.
She told police she stayed hidden because "the lie had become too big."
"I'm totally mixed up, I really am," her father said when told the news.
It would be difficult for Natasha not to know of the frantic search and anguish of her family during her self-imposed detention. She watched television and surfed the Internet, authorities said.
Her name was repeatedly in the news.
After the first Christmas passed with Natasha still missing, newspapers wrote of her mother, Jennifer Ryan, giving up hope.
In 1999, when a newspaper reported a possible sighting of Natasha, police were quick to deny the report. Mrs. Ryan said it was impossible: "I don't believe Natasha would have let me go through all the pain if she was out there," she said.
In May, 2001, about 70 family and friends gathered for a memorial service outside a crematorium chapel and released a bouquet of balloons on Natasha's 17th birthday.
Now, Natasha is shielded from the media by her agent. Turning 19 next month, she was seen frolicking in a bikini on the beach for the television show with the exclusive rights to her story. The station is withholding the interview until the ratings sweeps are on.
Disgust is palpable in the community. "Hermit turns bikini babe for TV" reads a headline in a local newspaper.
Authorities said they will look into the arrangements and see whether any money involved can be confiscated. An estimated $500,000 Australian was spent in searching for Natasha. It is possible she and Mr. Black will be charged for their deception.
Meanwhile, Fraser, 51, has been cleared of Natasha's murder but his trial continues on charges he murdered the other three women.
His lawyers have suggested they may call Natasha to the stand to discredit the prosecutor's case.
© Copyright 2003 National Post
Throw the book at her and sue her for everything she's got or will ever have.
This story seems to show that teenagers are capable of even stranger things.
Otherwise, bodies could be dumped at sea with impunity.
Teenagers do run away from home for stupid reasons, but that does not absolve adult men who lure them.
Interesting.
Otherwise, bodies could be dumped at sea with impunity.
I regret to inform you bodies ARE very often dumped at sea with impunity.
-archy-/-
Note: corpus delicti means "body of the crime" not "dead body." There must be some evidence (body) of a crime or at least the word of a snitch.
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