This page is dedicated to all the people who go missing in Australia every year and especially those who have come from overseas. Australia has around 2000 long -term missing people.
For some reason I was thinking strongly of Nancy Grünwaldt last night, the young German backpacker who disappeared while riding her bike down the East Coast of Tasmania in March 1983.
I don’t want to open old wounds, but I expect Nancy’s family and especially her sister cannot help but think of her either at this time of year and indeed, they may find comfort in the fact that someone in Tasmania still thinks of her and that she is not forgotten. I can never drive that road without thinking of her - so young, trusting and innocent, ready to explore the world which seemed a much more benign place then than it does now.
Nancy would be 66 by now. She might have had children and a family. We hope that anyone who knows anything will come forward and bring closure to the family and end a 40-year-old mystery. Was it an accident? Was she a victim of something more sinister? I can’t imagine the pain her family must be going through not knowing what happened to her in a far -off place. May you rest in peace Nancy, wherever you are.
Update: 22/3/2023 Police recently undertook another search in the Nancy Grunwaldt case after a tipoff from the public. although unsuccessful, the case is not closed and all leads are being followed up.
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