On May 8, 1986, the 20-year-old vanished without a trace.
Despite decades of investigations, theories, and even a deathbed confession, her fate remains unknown.
What really happened that night? Let's get into the details
Who Was Sharron Phillips?
Sharron Phillips was a happy 20-year-old living in Brisbane when she mysteriously vanished in 1986.
She was the daughter of Bob and Dawn Phillips and the eldest of their nine children.
Her father, Bob Phillips, was a truck driver and he was known for being strict and tough.
Despite this, people said he still loved his kids and would do anything for them.
Sharron got her height from her father - she stood nearly 6'4" tall, with a strong, athletic build
At the time of her disappearance, she had just moved into her own small apartment which she decorated with plants and family pictures.
Her younger brothers and sisters often stayed over on weekends at her place.
Sharron worked at a fruit and vegetable shop at the time, and her coworkers remembered her as reliable and full of energy.
Sharron was known to be careful with spending money but she had one habit - she never filled her gas tank all the way.
She preferred to put in just enough to get by.
Tragically, this habit left her stranded on the night she disappeared.
Shortly before Sharron vanished, she had just started seeing a man named Martins.
They had already gone on a promising first date and she was eagerly preparing for their second date.
Sadly, she mysteriously vanished in the early hours of that special day.
The Night Sharron Phillips Disappeared
Sharron Phillips was last seen by friends and family on May 8, 1986
On that fateful day, Sharron spent the afternoon shopping at Sunnybank Plaza with her friend Samantha.
She was excited about her upcoming date with Martin which was planned for the next night.
She even bought some new lingerie for their upcoming date while she shopped.
Sharron was in good spirits that evening as she and Samantha headed home.
Around 11:00 PM, Sharron dropped Samantha off at her house.
The two friends said their goodbyes, and Sharron turned her car around to drive back to her apartment in Archerfield.
But when she got to Ipswich Road in Wacol, her car suddenly stopped - she had run out of gas.
Stuck on the side of the road, Sharron saw lights and heard noises coming from a nearby army barrack.
She walked over and asked some soldiers if she could use their phones.
They said no and sent her away.
 |
| Sharron Phillips |
Left with no other options, Sharron continued walking down the road until she found a public payphone near a Shell petrol station.
It was now 11:18 PM.
She didn’t have any coins, so she made a reverse-charge call to Martin, explaining her situation and asking him to pick her up.
He agreed and said he would leave right away.
Sharron waited by the phone booth.
When Martin didn't show up, she called again at 12:03 AM (now May 9).
This time Martin's roommate answered and said he had already left.
Some people walked by at this particular time and asked if Sharron was okay.
She told them she was fine and was just waiting for her boyfriend.
Martin finally arrived after midnight - but Sharron was gone.
Her yellow sedan was still parked where she had left it, keys inside, but there was no trace of Sharron.
Her last confirmed sighting was near that payphone, waiting for help that arrived too late.
What happened in those final minutes remains an unsolved mystery.
Did someone approach her?
Did she accept a ride from a stranger?
Or did she wander off, only to meet with foul play?
 |
| Sharron Phillips parents |
The Search and Investigation That Followed
Sharron Phillips' disappearance led to one of the most intensive missing person investigations in Queensland.
When she didn't show up for work at the fruit shop the next morning, her coworkers contacted her family right away.
By evening - nearly 24 hours after she was last seen - her parents officially filed a missing person report with Wacol police.
The search began immediately.
On Friday, May 9, Sharron's father Bob, and her siblings searched the area where her car was found abandoned.
They checked nearby streets, knocked on doors, and searched empty lots - all before police had even secured the scene.
But they found no sign of Sharron.
The next day, Saturday, May 10, police organized formal search parties with tracker dogs along Ipswich Road.
Local volunteers joined in, carefully searching the bushland and drains near the phone booth where Sharron was last seen.
But there was no sign of Sharron.
A major breakthrough came on Tuesday, May 13, when Sharron's white sandals and purse were found in a drain.
This was just a few meters from where her car had stopped.
This discovery was strange because police had checked that spot before and didn't see anything there.
This made people wonder if someone had come back to the scene and dropped these items
 |
| Sharron Phillips's car after it was found abandoned |
Police conducted thorough interviews with everyone who might have seen Sharron that night.
They spoke to the soldiers at the army barracks who confirmed they sent her away when she asked for help.
Workers at the Shell petrol station were questioned, as well as motorists who remembered seeing a tall woman at the payphone that night.
But nothing concrete came up.
Sharron's boyfriend Martin was interviewed extensively, and his story of picking her up late checked out.
Forensic experts carefully examined Sharron's car but found no signs of a struggle or anything suspicious inside.
Despite these efforts, the initial police investigation hit dead ends.
Early suspicions fell on Sharron's father Bob, but these were quickly dismissed as there was no evidence linking him to her disappearance.
As days turned into weeks without any solid leads, the case grew colder.
The Queensland Police kept it open but had little to go on beyond theories and rumors circulating in the community.
 |
| Sharron Phillips |
Why Sharron's Father Bob Was Considered a Suspect
After Sharron vanished, police briefly looked at her father Bob as a possible suspect.
Several things made investigators suspicious of Bob at first:
1) He didn't wait for the police before he started looking for Sharron after she went missing.
2) He had Sharron's car towed from where it broke down before police could examine it properly.
3) He went into her apartment and looked through her things before officers secured it as a possible crime scene.
4)He even started questioning neighbors himself.
While these were clearly the actions of a desperate father, some detectives wondered if he might be trying to hide something or mess with evidence.
Family dynamics also raised questions.
Some relatives told police Bob had a short temper and was strict with his kids.
There were suggestions he might not have been happy about Sharron moving out on her own.
Bob's story about his own whereabouts that night didn't help.
He said he was picking up a truck, but couldn't account for all his time and didn't have solid witnesses to back him up.
According to the local police department, his story was "too vague"
The way Bob and other family members handled potential evidence also looked suspicious.
By moving Sharron's car, touching her things, and walking around areas that might have held clues, they accidentally made the investigation harder.
Some cops wondered if this interference was on purpose.
But within weeks, police realized Bob wasn't involved in his daughter's disappearance.
Witnesses confirmed the main parts of his story and forensic investigations found nothing connecting him to a crime.
At this point, his initial behavior made more sense as a scared parent than a guilty one.
As other, stronger suspects came to light, police moved on from focusing on Bob.
However, the investigation damaged Bob's reputation.
Despite being cleared by the local police department, some of his relatives still believed Bob might have been involved even after many years.
This resulted in a strained family relationship between Bob and some family members.
The coroner later confirmed there was never any real evidence against him.
Bob lived the rest of his life haunted both by not knowing what happened to Sharron and by this unfair suspicion.
He died in 2015 without ever getting answers.
 |
| Sharron Phillips and her siblings |
Recent Developments: A Shocking Deathbed Confession
For more than 30 years, Sharron Phillips' disappearance remained one of Queensland's most frustrating unsolved mysteries.
But in 2016, a shocking deathbed confession brought new hope for answers.
A man named Ian Seeley came forward with disturbing information about his late father, as seen on 9News.
Ian claimed that his father, Raymond Mulvihill, made a chilling confession before he died of cancer in 2002.
According to Ian, his father admitted to killing Sharron Phillips on that fateful night in 1986.
Mulvihill's alleged dying words were: "You have to tell them about the girls... It's time to give the girls back."
This chilling statement suggested that Sharron was probably not his only victim.
Ian provided investigators with disturbing details about that night.
He claimed his father, who worked as a nighttime taxi driver in the Wacol area, had been drinking on the job when he crossed paths with Sharron that night.
Mulvihill reportedly told his son that he had forced Sharron into the trunk of his taxi.
This was after she asked him for help near the phone booth where she was last seen alive.
 |
| Raymond Mulvihill |
One of the most important pieces of information Ian shared was about finding Sharron's belongings.
He told police he had found her shoes and purse in his father's car, only for Mulvihill to angrily order him to return these items to the area near Sharron's abandoned vehicle.
This explained why they were found days later in a spot that had already been searched.
Acting on this new information, Queensland police launched an intensive investigation in May 2016.
They conducted a major excavation of a stormwater drain in Carole Park.
This was the location where Mulvihill allegedly told his son he had disposed of Sharron's body.
Unfortunately, the search came up empty.
Law enforcement officials believe council workers may have unknowingly removed crucial evidence while cleaning the drains years earlier.
While there was no concrete physical evidence, investigators found multiple elements of Ian's story credible.
They verified that Mulvihill did indeed work as a taxi driver in the area at the time.
They also confirmed that his taxi would have been parked near where Sharron made her final phone calls.
Finally, investigators found police records that confirmed that officers had stopped Ian's vehicle in the area that night, just as he had described.
Most compelling was the testimony of a couple who came forward after news of the excavation went public.
They both remembered seeing a man who looked like Mulvihill coming out from the bushes near the drain that night.
He was reportedly carrying a shovel, with his taxi's interior light on and doors open.
Their story which was given without knowing any details of Ian's story, perfectly matched key elements of the confession.
Despite these developments, the case took another frustrating turn during a 2021 coronial inquest.
The coroner acknowledged Mulvihill as the prime suspect.
But they ultimately ruled there wasn't enough evidence to formally declare him responsible, citing inconsistencies in Ian's testimony.
 |
| Ian Seeley |
Other Possible Theories and Ongoing Efforts
Early in the investigation, police considered the possible involvement of soldiers from the Wacol Army Barracks.
This was where Sharron had asked for help before disappearing.
Some soldiers were initially uncooperative with investigators.
Also, rumors circulated about one soldier who allegedly boasted about killing Sharron.
However, authorities ultimately ruled out this theory due to insufficient evidence.
Despite the case going cold after the 2021 inquest, Queensland's Cold Case Unit continues to review evidence periodically.
Advances in forensic technology, including improved DNA analysis and ground-penetrating radar, may help in future investigations if additional evidence ever surfaces.
Police maintain their appeal for anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it might seem, to come forward. Media coverage and true crime podcasts continue to keep Sharron's story in the public eye, hoping to generate new leads.
The disappearance of Sharron Phillips remains one of Australia's most perplexing unsolved cases.
While Raymond Mulvihill stands as the prime suspect, the absence of concrete evidence means Sharron's family may never get full closure.
But as long as the case file remains open, there is hope that the truth will come out someday.
Someone, somewhere, likely holds a crucial piece of information that could solve this decades-old mystery.
If you have any information about Sharron's disappearance, Raymond Mulvihill, or suspicious activity in Wacol during 1986 please come forward.
No matter how small or insignificant it may seem, please contact Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.
Sharron's family deserves answers, and Sharron herself deserves justice.
This case remains open with Queensland Police, and any new information could prove vital in finally solving this heartbreaking mystery.
According to The Guardian, there is a $250,000 reward for any information that can bring answers.
Here is a podcast episode from Maimamia about Sharron Phillip's disappearance.
Comments
Post a Comment