A FORMER Queensland tourism executive and resort manager accused of abducting a 16-year-old girl at Gateshead more than 40 years ago has had his matter mentioned in court.
Warren John McCorriston, now 62, chose not to appear in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday after he was charged in January over the cold case abduction.
He has not entered any pleas to four charges, including forcible abduction, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and detaining for advantage, and will remain behind bars until the matter is mentioned again in May.
McCorriston was arrested earlier this year as part of Strike Force Arapaima, which was launched in 2019 to re-investigate the unsolved murders of Lake Macquarie teenagers Robyn Hickie, Amanda Robinson, and Gordana Kotevski.
As part of the re-examination into those cases, police said they received new information about an abduction at Gateshead that led them to Silverwater Correctional Centre and Mr McCorriston.
He is accused of abducting the teenage girl at Gateshead between January and March, 1980, less than a year after Ms Hickie and Ms Robinson disappeared.
Investigations by Strike Force Arapaima continue and it's been more than two-and-a-half years since investigators spent the day combing an old Lake Macquarie scout campground after police uncovered information they believe strongly linked the site to the disappearances of Robyn Hickie and Amanda Robinson.
An excavator and officers from Operation Utah and Strike Force Arapaima searched the former Camp Kanangra site at Nords Wharf in August 2021.
NSW Police and the NSW government announced earlier that same week two $1 million rewards - one each in the two unsolved missing person cases.
Ms Hickie was 18 years old when she was last seen on the Pacific Highway at Belmont at about 7.15pm on April 7, 1979.
A fortnight later, on April 21, 14-year-old Amanda vanished after attending a dance at a high school in Gateshead - she was last seen on Lake Road at Swansea.
Gordana Kotevksi, 16, was snatched from a suburban Charlestown street in 1994.
No one has been charged in relation to their disappearances and suspected murders.
- Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000
