Sunday 9th May 1976 – Mother’s Day: They waited … and waited. The family home on Chevron Island channelling an impending doom. As the hours passed, the dread amplified to each member of the Rosewarne family, whether near or far. Where was Margie? And why had she not come home? Missing for the past 4 days, Mrs Nellie Rosewarne, Margie’s mum, had held out some hope that her daughter would visit to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day. But she never arrived….

As the second youngest of 12 children, Margaret Rosewarne, 19, was believed to have disappeared whilst attempting to hitchhike from Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads on the evening of Wednesday 5th May to meet with friends at the Lounge Bar of the Gold Coast Hotel.

After not returning to her parent’s home on Mother’s Day, Nellie subsequently told local newspaper The Gold Coast Bulletin of her overwhelming concern about Margie’s whereabouts. “I just know something terrible has happened… I think she has met foul play. No matter where she was, she would have contacted me last Sunday (Mother’s Day) – if it was at all possible. She is not the type of girl to run away on the spur of the moment”.

Margie would be described by friends and family as a care-free person with a vivacious personality. She liked to enjoy herself and made the most of living on the Gold Coast. But where was she? It would take another gut-wrenching 12 days for her whereabouts to be established. And when this question was finally answered the superficial veneer of the Gold Coast would be in tatters.

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The mid-1970s were considered the halcyon days of the Gold Coast. A growing region bathed in natural beauty with a variety lifestyle options to indulge in – be it the endless stretch of white sandy coastline with it rolling swells or the pristine sub-tropical rainforest of the hinterland. For an easy-going girl like Margie this was a great time to be alive. As a teenager without too many responsibilities, the expanding pub and club scene looked like real fun – being a rite of passage into the mundane nine to five existence of adulthood.

To envision 1976 on the “glitter strip” you would bear witness to: white shoes, long lunches, meter maids, pinball parlours, milk bars, surf mats, sunbaking, silly cycles, panel vans, recently dug backyard pools, dole bludgers, big nights at the Playroom, across the Broadwater swims and newly built high rises coming out of the ground like imposing monoliths – paying homage to an emerging economy. The movie blockbuster of the moment was “Jaws” and it would have an extended stay on the big screen at cinemas and drive-ins for several months. “Fernando” by ABBA was the number one singles hit on the Top 40 countdown of local radio station 4GG. The ongoing construction of the new Pacific Fair Shopping Centre at Broadbeach, promoted to be the largest retail outlet in the country, had created real excitement amongst the local population. To those who called the Gold Coast home, this was a kinder and simpler but exciting time for the region. Aspiration was the order of the day.

Yet beneath the excess of sun, surf and fun lurked something more sinister. Someone seemingly out of tune with the welcoming external environment. It was a man who compulsively cruised the roads of the Gold Coast looking for vulnerable young women to prey upon. An evil predator who was driven to kill.