Rosemary Brown and Melissa Trussell

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2:17Today, I'm discussing the case of Rosemary Brown and Melissa Trussell. In the year 2000, in Adelaide, South Australia, a mother and her teenage daughter were last seen leaving their home at 2.30 in the morning. We don't know why or what happened to them after that. What we do know is that one of them was murdered and the other remains missing to this day. But thanks to a recent discovery just a few weeks before recording this episode, rewards totaling over a million dollars, and new technology, investigators are more hopeful than ever that this case can and will be solved. This is the case of Rosemary Brown and Melissa Trussell.

3:02It's Sunday, July 2nd, 2000, and siblings 10-year-old Sarah and 8-year-old James Vidocq are fishing with their father at Garden Island in northwest Adelaide, South Australia. But like a lot of kids, they got bored pretty quickly, and they decided to move on to something more exciting. looking for rock crabs along the shore. So they grabbed their buckets and began making their way through the dense mangroves when they stumbled upon something that would change the entire course of their lives. James was the first to see her. A woman lying face down in the mud, clearly deceased. When Sarah got closer and realized what her brother had found, she was terrified.

3:45She said that her first thought was that the killer could still be around. So both kids run back to their father, who was still blissfully fishing, to tell them about the horrific discovery. He immediately packs up everything and drives them right to the Port Adelaide police station. But when Sarah and James begin describing what they saw, the officers weren't so sure that this could really be a dead body. So they kind of ask the kids if they were certain that maybe it wasn't just a doll or a mannequin. And Sarah is very clear. She's like, no, we know what we saw. There's a body out there. Now, many years later, as an adult, she told reporters Sarah Mullins and Stephanie Richards for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, quote, I could describe what she was wearing.

4:32She was wearing black tracksuit pants. They had the elastic bands at her ankles. She was wearing sneakers, and she was wearing a flannelette top, and she had long hair, and she was face down, end quote. James added, quote, She was lying there, fairly decomposed at that point. I think some of the sea creatures must have gotten to her at that point too. End quote. Even decades later, the memory of that day is still fresh in their minds. I mean, trauma like that does have a way of embedding into your memory sometimes. But as the kids are describing in detail what they saw, the officers are finally starting to believe them and decide that it's worth investigating.

5:17By the time they all got back to the island, it was dark Sarah estimates that the location where the decedent was found Was about 150 meters or about 500 feet from the shore So officers give her some boots and follow her lead It takes about 30 minutes for Sarah to lead them back to the area And then they see it It wasn't a mannequin and it wasn't a doll It was 33-year-old Rosemary Brown She and her 15-year-old daughter, Melissa Trestle, had been missing for nearly two months, and investigators quickly determined that Rosemary hadn't drowned and washed back up to shore or succumbed to some horrific accident.

5:57She'd clearly been murdered. It is, of course, the worst outcome for any missing persons case, and they began to fear that her daughter, Melissa, may have also been the victim of a homicide. So they secure the scene, bring in forensics teams, and set up extensive searches for what they presumed would be her remains. They search, they dig, they dive, they scour the entire island looking for any trace of Melissa, or any other evidence that could lead them to a potential perpetrator. But it's dark. So dark that according to statements by former police diver Peter Menz, who was on the scene that day, they had to stop the search that night and come back the next day to continue.

6:39But try as they might, they find absolutely nothing. Melissa was still missing. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. Money is this invisible thread that ties us all together. It's something everyone has to deal with. That's why teaching kids about money isn't just smart, it's essential. Greenlight is a debit card and money app for families. It's a safe way to teach kids and teens about money. With Greenlight, parents can send money quickly, get spending notifications, and even assign chores. Greenlight turns responsibility into real-world learning. Kids and teens learn how to save, invest, and build money confidence, skills that can really make all the difference in their future.

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7:58As investigators begin to piece together what may have happened to Rosemary Brown and her daughter Melissa, the story that begins to form is far from ideal. A few years before they went missing, Melissa lived with her father, Barry Trussell, his wife Leanne, and five other children. Her sister Kayla has been outspoken in the media to help advocate for her sister. She says that they were best friends and completely inseparable. Melissa was her idol, and Kayla followed her around wherever she could, calling herself her brat sister. They enjoyed typical sister stuff like playing with Barbies and ponies together in their quote, pink and very girly shared room.

8:38But when Melissa was about to enter high school at the age of 13, she made a huge decision. She told her father that she wanted to go live with her mother, Rosemary, and her younger brother, Nathan, who would have been around nine. He had a different father. Specifically, she told her parents that she wanted to go to school in Adelaide. Barry was not happy about any of this, and he says that he will always regret his last conversation with Melissa. He tells her that he never wants to see her again, to not call him or have any contact with him. This is a conversation that he says he thinks about every single day of his life.

9:19Now, obviously, there seems to be more to this situation that we're just not privy to here. We don't know why Barry and Rosemary weren't together, or why Barry was so upset about Melissa choosing to live with her mother. Really, he's only made a few comments to the media. He specifically mentioned, quote, previous mishaps, end quote. And that's about it. I will say that I don't think we're owed any more information about this story, but I just want to be transparent about some of the holes we have here. Rosemary and Barry's history is one of them. Another hole is what their lives were like for the two years before Rosemary and Melissa went missing.

9:58According to an interview that Nathan later gave to Nigel Hunt for Adelaide Now, he confirmed that they did experience homelessness, despite Rosemary working three jobs to provide for her children. He says that she worked in cleaning and landscaping, including a cleaning position at a school in Windsor Gardens. He says he and Melissa would often help their mother with her work after school. It obviously wasn't the most ideal situation, but they seemed to make this new arrangement work. At least for a while, until May of 2000. Specifically on May 3rd, they were evicted from the Windsor Gardens Caravan Park in Adelaide.

10:37According to the Australian government website for missing persons, they were evicted due to unpaid rent and complaints of, quote, youths loitering around their caravan, end quote. Whether that was Melissa, Nathan, and their friends, or some other kids slash youths, we don't know. But I do think it's safe to assume that that was a likely scenario. Now, in addition to providing spots for caravans, camper vans, trailers, and motorhomes, Windsor Gardens Caravan Park also had cabins and other units on the property for rent. and it does seem likely that they were renting wherever they lived on the property, because after they got evicted, Rosemary, Melissa, and Nathan moved into the caravan of another park resident, a man named Mark Nichols.

11:22He invited the family to live with him. So it doesn't seem that Rosemary had a caravan of her own that she was moving from place to place, but this new living arrangement didn't last for very long. Just three days after this, all four were evicted from the park. From here, Mark Nichols drives his caravan to Garden Island where they spend the night. According to that same reporting by Nigel Hunt for Adelaide Now, the following day, Rosemary arranges for the caravan to be moved to the property of a man who's only been described as a friend or male associate. But the caravan does get moved to this property on Dover Street in the suburb of Blair Athol.

12:04They're only here for five days before Rosemary and Melissa go missing, and the circumstances that they were in when they were last seen are really just as puzzling as the rest of this case. According to a Facebook post by the South Australian Police, on Friday, May 12th, Rosemary goes to work like normal. After work, Melissa, Rosemary, and her son Nathan were all seen at the caravan park. Really, it seems like just hanging out with people that they knew. At some point, they all go back to the caravan on Dover Street. Nathan says that he remembers that night, specifically that there were quite a few people there, and that his mother did not look happy.

12:44He says he remembers her looking tense. But Nathan doesn't stay for long. He ends up sleeping over at a friend's house that night. Then something seems to happen. What exactly is one of the biggest mysteries in this case? Rosemary and Melissa were last seen by this unnamed male associate, this friend they were staying with, leaving his property on foot at 2.30am on Saturday, May 13, 2000. So essentially, in the middle of the night, for some reason, they up and leave. We have no idea why they left, but we do have some indication of where they may have been headed. According to the South Australian police, their intended destination was the nearby suburb of Klemzig.

13:33But, unfortunately, we do have some conflicting statements here. Other officials have said it's unclear why they were going to this area, literally saying, quote, It begs the question, where on earth were they going at that time of the morning? Had they had a fight? were they going to meet someone? End quote. This also directly conflicts with the Australian government's website page highlighting Melissa's case. That says that they left to go find Rosemary's son Nathan. I mean, just so you know exactly what I do, the page says, quote, when they left on foot to find Rosemary's son. End quote. So I'm not sure if something has changed or maybe there's been some type of mistake, but we do have conflicting reporting here between the South Australian police and Crimestoppers.

14:23They say that they don't know where they were going, that they did have an intended destination, they don't know why they left, that they were going to find Rosemary's son, and not to complicate things further, but in other reporting it says that Rosemary went for a walk and Melissa followed her. So I guess take all of that for what you will. and really that is all that we know like that quote said we don't know if there was some type of argument a fire if they had moved all their things out i mean we don't know anything about why they up and left in the middle of the night like that and we have no idea where they went just the area where they might have intended to go to either way the following day the 14th was Mother's Day, and both Rosemary and Melissa were reported missing to police by friends of Rosemary.

15:14These friends have also not been named in the media, but I think it's clear that Rosemary and Melissa were quite loved and missed soon after they went missing. And luckily, their being seen leaving in the middle of the night like this was not the last trace of them, or at least not the last trace of Rosemary. Her purse was found not long after she and Melissa were last seen. It's bright yellow with thin white stripes. Honestly, it's hard to miss. But as much as I hate to say it, we do have some more conflicting reporting here between the South Australian police and Crimestoppers. They've reported this happening on two different days, the day they were last seen and the following day.

15:55Either way, Rosemary's purse was found, quote, at a Northfield address, end quote, on Sterling Street, about 20 minutes north of central Adelaide. Now, I did look up Sterling Street, and back in the year 2000, and even today, to the east is basically parks, and to the west are homes. So, with so little information from authorities, I can't say whether Rosemary's bag was found in or around one of these homes, or at one of these parks slash reserves in the area. This case really is so far from simple. Like many key people in this story, the person who found Rosemary's purse has not been named in the media.

16:37We just know that it was a woman who found it who does not appear to be associated with them. And for some reason, she didn't turn it in right away. She held onto it for 10 days before handing it over to police on May 23rd. Essentially, this woman who found it says that she saw the story about Rosemary and Melissa on the news. Then she realized that those names were the same as the names on the identification found inside the purse. So she called the police to tell them what she'd found and where she found it. At this point, major crime squad detectives joined in the search and investigation as it was becoming more and more clear that the mother and daughter weren't just missing, but likely at least missing against their will.

17:20Two days later, on the 25th, the case officially shifts from a missing persons case and is declared a major crime. And of course, as we know, on July 2nd, Rosemary's body is discovered, while no trace of Melissa was found on Garden Island. Now, I do just want to pause here for a second to talk about the location where this purse was found in relation to where Rosemary was found. I mean, really, every location that I've talked about thus far is relatively close together. But this area where the purse was found, now and even in the year 2000, was far from desolate. There are some parks and reserves, a large sporting arena, a high-security men's prison, and quite a few residential areas.

18:05So if Rosemary and Melissa were in this area, it could have been for really any number of reasons. It's possible Rosemary sat her purse down and forgot it. Maybe it was stolen from her and dumped. or maybe her killer left it there. The possibilities unfortunately seem pretty broad. We also have no idea if Rosemary had a cell phone, if there was a wallet that was supposed to be in the purse, or if any money had been taken. We just know where it was found and that identification for both Rosemary and Melissa were found inside. So seemingly, however this purse ended up on Stirling Street, there was no effort to hide who it belonged to.

18:47It's a small but I think important detail to consider. And it's only about a 20-minute drive from Stirling Street where the purse was found to Garden Island where Rosemary's body was discovered. This area has been described as mostly industrial, and to be honest, it is a bit hard to make it out on old maps, but there are certainly fewer buildings and homes around Garden Island than near Sterling Street, so I could see why somebody might believe that it's a good place to potentially hide a body. Investigators do believe that Rosemary was in the water for about a month before she was found, so it seems that she was killed shortly after she and Melissa were last seen.

19:27They also believe that Rosemary was killed before being taken to Garden Island and then placed in the mangroves, and that likely Melissa was too. They just haven't been able to recover her remains. When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life. And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at goodtoknowfacts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients.

20:08Visit goodtoknowfacts.org It's Hulu-ween on Disney+. Watch frightful family favorites like Hocus Pocus and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas on Disney+. I am the pumpkin king! Then take the terror to ten with a thrilling new remake of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Scream, and more with Hulu-ween on Disney+. All these and more screaming this Halloween season with Hulu on Disney+. Bundle subscription required. 18+. Select Hulu content via Disney+. Additional content on Hulu app. Terms apply. Visit Disneyplus.com slash Hulu for details. According to South Australian police, both Mark Nichols and the unnamed male associate slash friend that Rosemary and Melissa were staying with before going missing have been interviewed and are considered persons of interest.

20:57Specifically in relation to Mark Nichols, the owner of the caravan that they were staying in, Detective Sergeant O 'Brien said, quote, He had contact with Rosemary in the days leading up to her death, but police have an open mind in relation to what occurred in this matter, end quote. So again, take that for what you will. Now, I don't think that there's any denying that he's at or near the top of most people's lists in this case, Especially because he took Rosemary and her kids in his caravan to Garden Island, where Rosemary's body was later found, just days before she was killed. But I have to say that when researching the area, I found that it wasn't unpopular with people who enjoyed fishing and boating.

21:40So I think it's safe to say that he is far from the only person who spent time in that area. It could completely be this crazy coincidence that they were all there before she was murdered. Or it could be something deeper. As I always say, we just don't know. But that is really what they've said in relation to those two men, who for again obvious reasons make the top of that persons of interest list due to their proximity to Rosemary and Melissa. There have been some other very vague statements that they've interviewed many people who were close to them, but no one else has been named in the media, no one has been officially named a suspect, and no arrests have been made in this case.

22:22Unfortunately, it does seem like the list of potential persons of interest could be quite long. And while it's hard to dig up exactly what Windsor Gardens Caravan Park was like back in 2000, we do know that there was some type of police activity there just a few months before Rosemary and Melissa went missing. It just so happens that the very last images of Rosemary and Melissa are from March 2000, when they appeared in at least one of the local television broadcasts covering the incident. I mean, maybe they ended up back at the caravan park where something happened. Maybe they made it to Klemzig and were hurt by somebody there.

22:59Or they were picked up by a complete stranger along the way and were met with foul play. Now, I will say that investigators believe that whoever did this knew Melissa and Rosemary. So that last theory does seem unlikely according to their statements. In addition to not being able to identify Rosemary's killer, they also still don't have a motive. They have no idea why someone would want to hurt either Rosemary or Melissa. But, like I said earlier, they do not believe Rosemary was killed on Garden Island. They believe that she was killed in another location and later placed in the mangroves, which is a naturally difficult environment to search.

23:41Some have theorized that maybe Melissa saw her mother get killed, and was subsequently killed herself Melissa's father, Barry Trestle, has said that he believes there's more than one person involved in this But he has not said who he thinks that may be Unfortunately, not long after Rosemary's body was found, the case went cold In 2004, the case was reviewed as a part of a long-running police cold case campaign called Operation Persist They essentially went back over all the details of the case, scouring it for any loose ends or leads that need to be pursued. They also arranged for Melissa and Rosemary to be featured in a set of playing cards that were distributed throughout prisons in South Australia.

24:26The next major effort didn't come until a decade later. In 2014, the South Australian police announced something huge. Something that I wish we saw in all cases. Crimestoppers was offering a staggering$1 million reward for information. Basically, anyone who can come up with information leading to the apprehension and conviction of the person responsible for her disappearance and suspected murder or information that would lead them to her remains can claim this reward. And this was a part of a larger$13 million initiative to solve 13 South Australian cases involving the murder or disappearance of children.

25:08That includes a case that we've talked about here on this podcast, the case of the Beaumont children, who also went missing from Adelaide. But it's been 11 years since that was announced, and no one has come forward to claim that reward. Again, it's about another decade before the next major development in this case happens. On the 25th anniversary of Rosemary and Melissa going missing, so this year in 2025, major crime detectives with the South Australia Police released a new image of Melissa. Their hope was to renew some interest in this case. On their Facebook page, they highlighted these efforts and said, quote, Despite the passage of time, we remain dedicated to uncovering the truth and holding those responsible accountable.

25:53We encourage anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward. Your assistance could be crucial in helping us piece together the events surrounding this tragic incident. End quote. They also performed another comprehensive review of the case to look for any stone that may have been unturned. And this time, they found one. Through doing this review, investigators identified a new area of water and mangroves on the northern side of Garden Island that has never been searched. Now, this is my fourth time mentioning those mangroves. So if you don't know what they are, I think it's really important to understand.

26:34They're sometimes called trees, sometimes called shrubs, but according to the images I've found of the mangroves in this particular area, they look a lot more like trees with these thick, like extensive, invisible root systems. They intertwine and they're tangled kind of like bad Christmas lights. They're sometimes on land and they can creep into the water. Again, really the best way that I can describe them are like this set of tangled cords that are thick and dense like tree branches. So they are incredibly difficult to search through, but obviously very crucial in this case considering where Rosemary was found.

27:09So when this was announced in July 2025 that this new unsearched area was discovered, people were understandably confused about how they could miss searching an entire area. In a press conference, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke reiterated that no new evidence had led them to this area. It was just something that they missed the first time around. And apparently in that second review. He also confirmed that since their appeal to the public on the 25th anniversary, they have received new tips that they plan to pursue. And this might be one of the most exciting elements as well. They were sending off many items to be retested since technology had advanced so much since they first went missing.