Free Republic

Homicide detectives will today search bushland at Bellingen, on the New South Wales mid-north coast, as part of a cold case investigation into the suspicious death of a woman more than 10 years ago. Police say Bernadette Donaldson, 46, had planned to fly to the Gold Coast in April of 1998. But Ms Donaldson never made her flight and has not been seen since. Today, officers will start clearing bushland at Bellingen looking for possible skeletal remains. The search is expected to take about a week, and comes after a coronial investigation in 1999.

VICTORIA Cross recipient Trooper Mark Donaldson is not just a national hero but a young man who has overcome extraordinary tragedy. Residents of Dorrigo in northern NSW are so proud of Australia's latest Victoria Cross recipient that grown men shed tears in the street late last week. Trooper Donaldson, 29, was 19 and his brother Brent 20 when they were orphaned. Their mother Bernadette, widowed after the death of her husband Greg from a heart attack three years earlier, disappeared after planning to fly to the Gold Coast for a holiday. She never made her flight, and her disappearance -...