‘You know who you are’: Daughter of missing mum’s message to cold case suspects

Days after Christmas in 2005, Katie O’Shea was driven into a remote Queensland town by her son.

She had been visiting from Melbourne, eagerly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild with her son Alan O’Shea.

But that day in Atherton, in the state’s far north, was the last time Katie was seen alive.

Twenty years have passed since the 44-year-old disappeared in the rural town surrounded by rainforest about a two hours’ drive south of Cairns. And her killer is yet to be brought to justice.

Speaking on the 20th anniversary of her mother’s disappearance, Lily Parmenter detailed how it had been two decades of torment – wondering what happened, missing her mother’s smile, her warmth, and the way she always made her feel safe.

“I would also like to convey a personal message to the two persons of interest in this case,” she said.

“For the integrity of the ongoing investigation, I won’t name you, but you know who you are.

“Our mum is missing, and we are exhausted and broken from not knowing. Your silence is a betrayal, and it’s tearing our family apart.

“If you know anything, you need to stop and co-operate with the police.

“We deserve answers. She deserves better, and you know what the right thing to do is. It’s just a question of whether or not you will do the right thing.”

Days before her disappearance, Katie had boarded a plane from Melbourne, carrying three bags full of baby items in her luggage.

The baby was born in January, and Katie’s daughter Lily, O’Shea’s half-sister, called to congratulate him. It was then she realised her mother had not been seen since December 29.

Katie’s son told police he drove his mother to the Ravenshoe pub that morning, where she purchased a six-pack of Coopers Stout, according to a 2014 inquest.

He then drove her into Atherton, dropping her off halfway down a street, he said, so she could walk into town while she finished her beer.

“Our mum is missing, and we are exhausted and broken from not knowing. Your silence is a betrayal.”

Katie told her son she was going to see a friend in nearby Mareeba, but would make the rest of the way herself after Atherton.

When O’Shea spoke to police that January, he said he did not think this was unusual as his mother had said she wanted to play pool at the pub.

O’Shea has long been in the sights of police as a person of interest.

He has declined to participate in police interviews and did not attend the coronial inquest.

The findings suggest he made that decision because he believed police were treating him as a person of interest.

Police also harboured strong suspicions about another man – convicted killer Frank Wark, who knew O’Shea, and who was in the area at the time of Katie’s disappearance.

Wark was sentenced in 2021 over the manslaughter of teenager Hayley Dodd, last seen in July 1999 while walking along a road in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt.

He also pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault and deprivation of liberty after holding captive for six hours a woman he had picked up on the Palmerton Highway in 2007.

O’Shea reported his mother’s disappearance to the Atherton police on January 13.

Speaking to this masthead in 2024, Lily Parmenter said: “My older brother took so long to report her missing. The crucial period was way past gone, almost like a day or two past gone.”

Detective Senior Sergeant Brett Devine, who has been investigating the case since 2006, on Tuesday said police were still trying to find Katie’s killer.

“For the past 20 years, Christmas reminds the O’Shea family that their mother will not be there to celebrate with them,” the policeman said.

“They do not know why she is not there, or how she came to be missing – these are the questions they live with every day.

“Someone in the community knows why Kathleen O’Shea is missing or has information which may assist police to investigate her disappearance, and the Queensland government has granted a substantial reward for this information.”

A $500,000 reward announced in 2024 remains on offer, and anyone with information was urged by police to come forward.

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