12 June 2008

Friday 13 June 1980 Elizabeth Herfort 28 Years Missing

| Paisley
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9pm Friday 13 June 2008 marks 28 years since my friend Elizabeth Herfort was last seen.

I knew Elizabeth from my school days at Phillip College. She was one of my classmates and we ‘hung’ in the same large circle of friends. She was an intelligent, thoughtful and kind girl. She was a very nice person. In 1980 we were finished year 12 and had moved on to University. Elizabeth was studying at ANU as were others in our group that Friday night. I was studying at Art School.

I remember that day so clearly. Some of our group started to arrive at the Union Bar about lunchtime, others, including Elizabeth, arrived later after lectures finished. We stayed until the bar closed at 9pm. There was no live music planned for the Refectory or upstairs in the bar so we all said our goodbyes and went home our seperate ways. Although we had been at the bar for several hours we drunk slowly and chatted a lot… and I don’t recall anyone in our group being drunk. Binge drinking was uncool and we were more interested holding sophisticated, intelligent discussions on topical issues.

Elizabeth lived on the Southside and in those days buses were few and far between after 7pm. Canberra was a quiet place and kids felt safe hitching home.

Elizabeth was a happy girl, with plans and dreams for the future. It is impossible that she simply chose to ‘drop out’… it was not in her nature.

In the years that have gone past I can’t help but think of the fear and horror she must have felt later that night. I wish there was some sort of warning of the events that would unfold. There wasn’t. It was just a happy Friday night’s get together for a group of friends, just like others we had shared.

The night previous to Elizabeth’s disappearance two nurses disappeared after an evening spent at the TollHouse Hotel in Parramatta and I can’t help but wonder if this is more than coincidence.

Please, at 9pm on Friday night pause for a moment to think of Elizabeth. The family and friends she left behind would all like to help her find peace at last.

If anyone has any information regarding Elizabeth (no matter how insignificant it may seem to you) I urge you to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Hi Paisley

I was also a friend of Elizabeths and would go to the Uni bar with her sometimes, I wonder if you remember me.

I left Canberra, and I didn’t realise that Elizabeth had disappeared until a couple of years later and it has always stayed in my mind that she has not been found. Do you want to talk about it, two heads are better than one?

Sandy

Kris209 said :

I hate to stir the memories, but this story is before my being old enough to remember.
What happened? Were there clues and leads to what happened? or just simply dissappearance? From the original mention from Paisley it sound as though there was at least a suspicion as to what happened…?

There is that show on now where the psychics are hired to help solve these cases.
I think its great that this has come about, and hope that all these type cases are eventually unfolded this way or another.
Whether or not people believes in psychics, the amount discovered on that show (Sensing Murder i think its called) is usually uncanny. The few i’ve seen have involved psychic/mediums from New Zealand and Australia, so i assume that this opportunity exists here.

I love to think that those who would harm a stranger because they can, may be brought down of their cloud of sick, sneaky satisfaction this way.

Yeah but what shows like that DON’T tell you about are the majority of cases where the Psychic got it wrong, wasting time, effort & resources looking for a red herring.

Thank you for all your comments

Tybreaker, you are quite correct. Some people do choose to leave their old life and identity behind and start anew… and that is absolutely their right. The police go to lengths to ensure the community understands that going missing is not a crime. The police also respect the privacy of people who are located but wish not to have their new identity and whereabouts revealed… in which case the police simply advise the family that the person has been found, they are/are not well and don’t wish to make contact.

In 1990 the ACT Coroner conducted an Inquest into Elizabeth’s disappearance and found that the evidence indicated in all likelihood that she is deceased.

Makes you stop and think.

http://the-riotact.com/?p=7600

Elizabeth was last seen at the Australian National University Union Bar in Canberra after spending time with friends. Between 9:00 pm (21:00) and 9:45 pm (21:45) on June 13, 1980 a person fitting her description was seen hitch-hiking on the south bound carriageway leading to Commonwealth Avenue in Canberra. It is believed that this same person was then given a lift in a motor vehicle along Commonwealth Avenue to the intersection of coronation drive in Canberra. Elizabeth has not returned.

There is a possibility that Elizabeth was one of Ivan Milat’s victims. He was a road worker on the Hume Highway (main highway between Sydney and Yass and on to Melbourne) at the time of Elizabeth’s disappearance. Many of his victims disappeared from the Hume Highway and were murdered in a forest also on this highway.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/46dfact.html

Also, Paisley, I will pause for a moment tonight for this girl and all the others…

I hate to stir the memories, but this story is before my being old enough to remember.
What happened? Were there clues and leads to what happened? or just simply dissappearance? From the original mention from Paisley it sound as though there was at least a suspicion as to what happened…?

There is that show on now where the psychics are hired to help solve these cases.
I think its great that this has come about, and hope that all these type cases are eventually unfolded this way or another.
Whether or not people believes in psychics, the amount discovered on that show (Sensing Murder i think its called) is usually uncanny. The few i’ve seen have involved psychic/mediums from New Zealand and Australia, so i assume that this opportunity exists here.

I love to think that those who would harm a stranger because they can, may be brought down of their cloud of sick, sneaky satisfaction this way.

People go missing for lots of different reasons and it’s not always tragic. Sometimes it’s escaping a life of hell (in their view at least) and the type of hell they run from is not the type they discuss with their mates so it usually comes as a surprise to everyone.

Very sad story. I can’t help but think about her every time I’m driving south on Commonwealth ave. She lived so close to Megan Mulquinney who was also to vanish just a few years later. Woden had its fair share of tragedies in the 70’s/80’s with 2 disappearing women and the 1971 floods.

It’s always puzzled me as to why they didn’t post a better picture of her than the blurry black & white one on the missing poster. Surely her family had a better pic of her than that? Did Melrose or wherever she went not have high school yearbooks back then?

BTW I mentioned Elizabeth in a recent post on ACT’s missing women. Its in the “news” section. Hopefully someone’s consicence will get the better of them one day and the Herfort family can get some closure after all these years.

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