Police have begun digging at the former home of a woman in Australia whose disappearance 36 years ago has become the subject of a highly popular podcast.
Lynette Dawson, a mother-of-two, vanished without trace from her Sydney home in January 1982. Her husband, Christopher Dawson, reported her missing the following month, insisting she had left the family.
Two coroners’ inquests found she was killed by a “known person,” though a body was never recovered. Mr Dawson has denied killing his wife.
Detectives from the unsolved homicide unit launched a reinvestigation into Ms Dawson’s disappearance in 2015, but the cold case garnered international attention with the launch of a podcast earlier this year by The Australian newspaper, titled The Teacher’s Pet.
On Wednesday, police said they had begun a five-day forensic search of the Dawsons’ former home in Bayview, a suburb of Sydney.
“This is all about getting justice for Lyn,” said Superintendent Scott Cook from New South Wales Police. He added they would pursue charges against Mr Dawson regardless of what was found during the search.
Supt Cook said officers would “hand dig” at the grounds of the property “until we hit rock,” according to the Australian Associated Press.
“Previously, when we conducted examinations here, there was a number of anomalies in the ground,” he said. “They were inspected previously. We’ll revisit them.”
Four areas around the home and in the backyard are being examined with technology that was not previously available.
Ms Dawson was last heard from on 8 January 1982, when she spoke to her mother by phone while at home with her husband.
They made plans to have lunch together the following day, but Ms Dawson never showed up. Mr Dawson reported her missing more than a month later on 18 February.
A 2003 inquest found Mr Dawson, a former professional rugby player, had been involved in sexual relationships with teenage students.
One 16-year-old girl moved in with him days after his wife’s disappearance.
