VIC:New clue in 1992 missing teen case

AAP General News (Australia)
02-02-2011
VIC:New clue in 1992 missing teen case

MELBOURNE, Feb 2 AAP - Police have received new information about the 1992 disappearance
of Melbourne teenager Prue Bird and are asking once again for community help to solve
the case.

Prue was 13 years old when she went missing from her Glenroy home on February 2, 1992,
leaving a hot lunch uneaten on the table.

She was last seen being driven away in the backseat of a car with her hands against
the back window.

Police now know the type of car she is suspected to have been abducted in was a blue
1986 Ford Laser hatchback and are looking for the car.

Homicide Squad detective John Potter said someone in the community knew what had happened
to the teen.

"For nearly two decades the Bird family has been left with many unanswered questions
regarding Prue's disappearance and we want to provide them with answers," he said in a
statement.

"This new piece of information could prove to be the breakthrough we needed to solve
this case and it's now crucial that we find this car."

Prue's mother Jenny Bird last spoke to her daughter the night before her disappearance
and looked in on her asleep in her bed before leaving for the day.

Left at home with a friend living at the house, Prue was last seen that day in the
kitchen preparing lunch, when the friend went out to the garage to pack some boxes.

When she returned inside about 2pm, the front door was open, the television was on
and a hot meal was sitting on the table, but Prue was gone.

She has not been heard from since, despite an extensive police investigation.

"The Bird family need and deserve closure so we ask anyone with information on Prue's
disappearance or the blue Laser to please contact police or Crime Stoppers," Det Potter
said.

There is a $500,000 reward for information leading to conviction in the suspected abduction
and murder and the Department of Public Prosecutions will consider granting indemnification
from prosecution to anyone giving information on the identity of the main offender or
offenders.

AAP kn/gfr/dep

KEYWORD: BIRD

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