opinion
Joe Spagnolo: Little girl’s story still haunts me as mystery of Lisa Mott continues

Every journalist has at least one story they’ve covered during their career they can never forget. That story, for me, as I approach 40 years in journalism, is that of Lisa Mott. Lisa was just 12 years old when she went missing from Collie 44 years ago. She vanished in a blink of an eye, her disappearance baffling police for more than four decades. Today, as I have done many times throughout my career, I’d like to remember Lisa through this column. I was in Year 11 in Bunbury when Lisa disappeared on October 30, 1980. I doubt I took much notice of the story back then. I was probably more interested in Bruce Springsteen and singing along to Hungry Heart. But years later, working as a journalist in Bunbury for The South Western Times, Lisa’s disappearance would both fascinate and upset me. As a young father in the 1990s, Lisa’s story took on a whole new meaning as I asked myself how her parents and siblings could possibly be coping with not knowing what happened to this little girl? And so began a long journey over my journalistic career to try, through my stories, to keep Lisa’s memory alive. I did countless interviews with Lisa’s mother and father, Marion and Brian, as they told of the devastation of not knowing what happened to their daughter. I will never forget the tone of devastation in their voices — the look of complete and utter despair in their eyes as I did those interviews. It was horrible. Brian has since passed away, never knowing what happened to Lisa. I’ve lost touch with Marion, but the last time we spoke she was of ill health. She still dreamt of Lisa, she told me. Lisa was shooting hoops with a friend about 7pm on a Thursday night in Throssell Street, Collie, when she decided to head home about 8pm. The last person to see her alive was a nine-year-old girl who had played basketball with her and afterwards walked with Lisa along Throssell Street, down Harvey Street to a railway crossing that overlooked Forrest Street. Lisa crossed the road and walked to the Hot Spot fast food shop. She was dressed in dark blue shorts with light trim, a light-blue T-shirt and brown sneakers, with her light-brown hair in pigtails. She then turned around and walked to a yellow panel van parked in the street. Lisa got into the van and it was driven away. She was never seen again. In 2001, I tracked down the girl who last saw Lisa. She could not add anything significant to what she had already told police, not having seen the face of the person Lisa spoke to as she got into the van. But the memory of Lisa getting into that vehicle still haunted her. I also tracked down the investigating police officer at the time, Reg Driffill. He urged police to go back and interview the now well-known serial killer David Birnie, who worked in Collie as a crane driver at the time of Lisa’s disappearance, and who allegedly either owned, or had access to, a yellow panel van. Police re-interviewed both David and his partner in crime, Catherine Birnie, about Lisa’s disappearance, but both denied any knowledge of it.. David Birnie died in jail in 2005. Catherine Birnie remains in jail. Four years ago the State Government approved a reward of $1 million for any information that leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person, or persons, responsible for Lisa’s disappearance. Cold case detectives last week stationed a mobile police facility in Collie as part of ongoing investigations into Lisa’s disappearance. Please contact police if you have any information that may help police solve this baffling case — for the sake of her remaining family. Crime Stoppers can be reached on 1800 333 000.

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Joe Spagnolo: Little girl’s story still haunts me as mystery of Lisa Mott continues

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opinion
Joe Spagnolo: Little girl’s story still haunts me as mystery of Lisa Mott continues