General News
7 August, 2023
Private investigators hear from new witnesses
New witnesses have come forward in the search for missing Maryborough boy Terry Floyd, after private investigators took statements and gathered evidence in Avoca last week. A team of private investigators, headed by retired homicide detective...
New witnesses have come forward in the search for missing Maryborough boy Terry Floyd, after private investigators took statements and gathered evidence in Avoca last week.
A team of private investigators, headed by retired homicide detective Charlie Bezzina, spent four days in Avoca last week gathering additional information relating to the now 48-year-old case.
Terry Floyd was 12 when he disappeared, last seen on the side of the Pyrenees Highway in Avoca on June 28, 1975.
Almost 50 years on, investigators took more than a dozen statements from witnesses last week, including from witnesses who had not been spoken to by police in the past.
“It was a very worthwhile effort to do what we did,” Mr Bezzina, who’s working as a private investigator in the case, said.
“We got five independent witnesses who can place Terry at the location he was last seen alive which is significant.
“One witness was brand new and another has expanded on statements they’d already made to police.”
It’s understood that information provided in October 2021 could hold the key to unravelling the case and Mr Bezzina said investigators are looking at two suspects.
“There are two specific individuals that have been identified as persons of interest, we believe they are involved in Terry’s disappearance,” he said.
“In a nutshell we’re trying to build a case around these individuals and pass that on to the cold case detectives.
“Ideally we’d be in a position to progress the investigation to charges, otherwise we’re looking to have a new coronial investigation given this new and compelling evidence.”
While Terry has never been found, Victoria Police Homicide Squad detectives reopened the investigation into his disappearance in 2000 and in 2001, a coroner determined the boy had been abducted and murdered.
There is a standing $1 million reward offered by police for information that could crack the case.
Terry’s brother Daryl, who’s been searching for his brother for almost 50 years, said the statements taken last week confirmed existing beliefs.
“We’ve always wanted answers and now, some of those boxes have been ticked. This has confirmed some of what we’ve always believed were true,” he said.
“We understand now that police could have arrested someone in the first two weeks of my brother going missing.
“Police knew who the person was that picked Terry up and that would mean my parents would know who’s responsible for picking up their son.
“Because that opportunity was missed, my parents passed away without ever knowing what happened to their son.”
Investigators are still taking statements from witnesses and Mr Floyd said any and all information was valuable.
“It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant people might think the information they have is, it helps us see the bigger picture and corroborates other evidence,” he said.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the investigators atfindingterryfloyd@ gmail.com