Casefile True Crime - Case 294: Ray & Jennie Kehlet

Episode Date: August 31, 2024

When married couple Ray and Jennie Kehlet went on a prospecting trip to the Western Australian outback in March 2015, they had one thing on their minds and that was to find gold. But when the couple suddenly disappeared without a trace, one of the biggest searches in WA history ensued, prompting the question – were Ray and Jennie lost or had they fallen victim to foul play? --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn A special thanks to Dave Kehlet for certain information provided in this episode Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium Spotify Premium Patreon For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-294-ray-jennie-kehlet

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. The remote Shire of Sandstone sits roughly 715 kilometers northeast of Perth in the heart of the Murchison district. Once a thriving gold mining town, by 2015 Sandstone had a population of less than 90 residents. While some outsiders still venture there to try their luck on the goldfields,

more are drawn by the natural beauty and outback charm of the area. At night, the rugged red terrain gives way to uninterrupted sky views, providing tourists with unforgettable sunsets and world-class stargazing. Many visitors to Sandstone choose to camp in the surrounding outback, but those seeking greater creature comforts have the option of staying at the Caravan Park, conveniently located in the centre of town. On Saturday March 28, 2015, the park's manager, Caroline Cramp, noticed an unfamiliar presence wandering through the grounds. It was an ageing black and white Great Dane that appeared hungry, as though she hadn't eaten for several days. Caroline approached the dog with a bowl of water. She thirstily accepted.

Despite being tired and a little on the thin side, it was clear to Caroline that the dog was domesticated. She was friendly, wore a collar and appeared to be well taken care of with no blisters or burns at the bottom of her paws. Caroline spent the next two days looking after the dog, expecting that her owners would show up to claim her. When nobody did, Caroline contacted the local shire and gave them the registration number on the dog's tag. They identified the Great Dane to be named Ella. Her owners, Ray and Jenny Kellett, were registered as living in Beverley, a country town 710 kilometres south of Sandstone. Calls were placed to both Ray and Jenny's mobile phones. Neither of them answered. 47-year-old Ray Kellett and his wife, 49-year-old Jenny, had adopted Ella from the Great Dane

Lovers Association of Western Australia in 2009. A rescued breeding dog with a history of being mistreated, the Kellets were able to offer Ella the good life she deserved. The couple lived on a 150-acre hobby farm just outside of Beverley where they raised cattle and sheep and grew their own herbs and vegetables. Although Ella had plenty of space to run around, she mostly chose to stay by Ray and Jenny's sides. The couple had met in 2004 and they'd been inseparable ever since. Both were divorced with children from their previous marriages, Jenny with three kids and Ray with two. With a mutual love for the outdoors and a shared passion for working on their farm,

Ray and Jenny were described as being laminated together. Ella became like their shadow. Wherever Ray and Jenny went, Ella went too. Therefore, when Ray's daughter Melanie received a call from the council on Tuesday March 31 2015, saying that Ella had been found wandering alone at the Sandstone Caravan Park, she immediately knew something was wrong. Melanie sometimes helped take care of Ella, and she'd been listed on her registration in case of emergency. She tried calling Ray and Jenny but with no success. She then called Jenny's daughters, who immediately shared Melanie's concerns. They all knew how attached Ray and Jenny were to Ella.

If they'd become separated from her for any reason, they'd be doing everything in their power to get her back. The fact that they'd made no apparent attempt to do so was a major red flag for the families. The last any of them had spoken to Ray and Jenny was 13 days prior on Wednesday March 18. The couple had mentioned they were going on a gold prospecting trip out near Sandstone and they planned to return in early April. They said they'd be unreachable for about 10 of those days because they'd have no mobile phone reception for the bulk of the trip. Nothing about this was out of the ordinary for Ray or Jenny. They were both avid, experienced campers who spent a majority of their spare time outdoors.

Avid experienced campers who spent a majority of their spare time outdoors. Prospecting was a new hobby of theirs and they'd been excitedly preparing for the trip for months. Ray and Jenny had been secretive about where exactly they were heading, which was nothing unusual for prospectors. Their research had led them to believe there were hopes of finding gold at their intended site and they wanted to keep the location under wraps. Ray and Jenny had left their families the number for a satellite telephone they could call in case of emergency. One of their daughters dialed the number. A male answered, but it wasn't Ray. It was Graham Milne, an older co-worker of Ray and Jenny's. The trio worked together at Cloudbreak, a fly-in, fly-out mining site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, and it was through Graham that Ray and Jenny had developed an interest in prospecting. For the past few months, he'd been teaching them the basics in preparation for the trip.

Graham Milne said that he'd joined the Kellets for the first leg of their prospecting trip. They'd set up camp at Bell Chambers, a remote area 30 kilometres south of Sandstone. Graham had only stayed for a few days because he was due back at work, but he said Ray and Jenny had plans to travel onwards after he was gone. Graham said he'd departed the camp in the early hours of Sunday March 22 while Ray and Jenny were still sleeping. He hadn't heard from either of them since. He hadn't heard from either of them since. The closest police station to Sandstone was 155 kilometres west in the town of Mount Magnet. Ray and Jenny's family immediately contacted the station to file a missing persons report.

Although they had very little information about where the couple could be, the Constable on duty contacted the Shire of Sandstone and advised council workers to be on the lookout for Ray and Jenny, who were driving two vehicles between them, an old beige Land Cruiser Ute and a new black Land Rover Discovery. Both vehicles were towing trailers, one of which contained a red quad bike. But two council workers were already onto it. One of them had seen Ella a week earlier in an area known as Bell Chambers, a five kilometre stretch of flat ochre desert pockmarked with old mineshafts, trenches, mulga trees, and saltbush. Ray had also previously contacted the council seeking information about the area, so this

seemed like a good place to start. The council workers headed out to bell chambers and soon came across a group of campers who pointed them towards a campsite they believed might belong to the Kelletts. The council workers promptly located the campsite, which was set between a low granite outcrop and a creek bed. Ray and Jenny's two vehicles were there, along with what looked like a typical camp set up. There was a trailer top tent, a washing line with clothing hanging on it, a table containing a dirty frying pan and unfinished cups of coffee. But when the council workers got out to take a closer look, they noticed some unusual details.

Untouched food, including a rancid slab of meat, sat out in the open. A portable fridge was no longer cold and its contents were spoiled. The council workers approached Jenny's Land Cruiser. The doors were unlocked and the keys were still in the ignition, but there was no sign of Jenny or Ray. They turned their attention to Ray's new Land Rover. This too was unlocked with the keys in the ignition. Some of the windows were slightly ajar and the interior was wet from the recent rain. On the right hand door handle was a wasp nest which

looked like it had only recently been built. Inside the vehicle on the back seat were two firearms. One was in its case while a.22 Magnum rifle sat in the open loaded and wet from the rain. Clothes and cartons of cigarettes were also strewn around to the back seat. While it looked as though the campsite had been unoccupied for some time, nothing found there raised any alarm. It looked like its occupants had simply abandoned it all of a sudden. The council workers used a satellite phone to inform the constable what they'd found. He advised them to take the firearms back to Sandstone so they could be secured. The council workers then wrote a note for Ray with their

contact details on it, explaining why they'd taken his guns and left it on his dashboard. They had a quick look around the surrounding area, calling Ray and Jenny's names and peering down some of the nearby mineshafts. Finding nothing of note, they headed back into town. By this point, it was after 5pm and starting to get dark. At the advice of the Western Australia Police Emergency Operations Unit, who specialise in land-based search and rescue operations, the police decided not to visit the site unless Ray and Jenny still hadn't returned to the camp by daybreak. A Mount Magnet Police Constable arrived at Bell Chambers the next morning of Wednesday April 1 and confirmed there had

been no recent movements at the campsite. However, they'd received some interesting information overnight. The group camping nearby had informed the council workers that a red quad bike appeared to have been abandoned approximately 500 metres north of the Kelletts campsite. They'd noticed it when they first arrived in the area on Friday March 27, and it hadn't moved since. The quad bike was located and confirmed as belonging to Ray Kellett. It was parked two-thirds up the side of a small hill facing away from the campsite and partially hidden amongst bushland. There were no keys in the ignition or any fresh tracks to suggest it had

been driven in the past few days. It was still filled with petrol and showed no obvious damage to indicate why the driver would have suddenly abandoned it. obvious damage to indicate why the driver would have suddenly abandoned it. The constable conducted a cursory search of the Kellett's campsite. Inside Ray's glove box was Ray's wallet. It contained multiple cards, but no cash. Whatever had happened to Ray and Jenny, the state of their campsite indicated that they hadn't intended to be gone for long. It was theorised that they could have gotten lost while out prospecting, or had fallen down

one of the many abandoned, unmarked mine shafts in the area. Some of these shafts were upwards of 100 years old. Over time, the soil surrounding the shaft openings had become unstable. If anyone stood too close, there was a genuine danger that the soil could fall in and cause the mine to collapse. A local prospector who had expert knowledge of the bell chambers area joined the constable and directed him to several of the mineshafts in the vicinity of the Kellerts campsite. At each one they shone a torch inside, but this only gave them visibility to around 10 metres deep. Some they could see all the way to the bottom, others they could not.

They soon crossed paths with the other group who had been camping nearby. The group advised the constable to check out a mineshaft approximately 100 metres from where they'd been staying. Days earlier, they'd noticed a horrible odour emitting from within. days earlier, they'd noticed a horrible odour emitting from within. They'd assumed it to be a decaying kangaroo, but given the recent revelations, they weren't so sure. The mineshaft they were referring to was located atop a small mound roughly 1.8 kilometres north of the Kellett campsite and 1.2 kilometres north from the abandoned quad bike. It had two entrances which was common for the larger gold mines as it provided a second point of escape in the event that the mine collapsed. The two narrow openings were marked by worn

timber frames. At around 1.5 metres wide they were just large enough for one person to enter at a time. When the constable and prospector arrived at the site, they could both smell the odour in question. The constable shone his torch down each of the mineshaft openings, but he couldn't see anything of note, nor did it smell like the Yoda was coming from within. He walked around the mound and found what he believed to be the source of the stench – a rotting kangaroo carcass. He passed this information on to his supervisor, who also came out to inspect the mineshaft,

and agreed the Yoda was coming from a dead animal. With no sign of Ray or Jenny by nightfall, a plane fitted with infrared thermal imaging cameras was deployed to scan the area overhead. If the couple were injured or missing in the wilderness, hopes were that the cameras could identify their body heat. It was unclear exactly how long Ray and Jenny had been missing, but the weather over the past few days had been favourable, with maximum temperatures of 31 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 12.5 degrees. There had also been significant rainfall, meaning they'd have had access to fresh water. Given that the Kelletts were experienced campers with no serious physical or mental health concerns, if they'd only gotten lost within the past few days,

then their chances of survival were considered to be relatively high. With no sign of the couple emerging overnight, a full land search operation kicked into gear the following morning. This was no easy task. The remote bell chambers area had no mobile phone reception and could only be accessed by four-wheel drive. Extra precautions had to be taken to ensure the safety of officers as they navigated their way around the old mineshafts. A total of 139 disused mines had been documented in the area, while it was also possible there were others that hadn't been recorded. Recent rainfall had made the ground waterlogged in places, which not only compromised the

integrity of the mineshafts, but had also wiped out any potential tracks that could provide a clue as to the Kellert's whereabouts. The initial foot search covered an area of 11 square kilometres. The tactical response team moved from mineshaft to mineshaft, throwing a luminescent stick inside each one to highlight the contents within. When no sign of Ray or Jenny was detected, the mine that had been checked was marked clear. Specially trained members of the State Emergency Service, as well as the Department of Fire and Emergency Services Urban Search and Rescue team also used their own equipment to look into each shaft. Both teams examined the mineshaft near

the Kellett's campsite where an unpleasant odour had been detected. The verdict was the same for each of them. Clear. them. Clear. When there was still no sign of Ray or Jenny by Friday April 3, Mounted Police began scouring the area on horseback. The Kellett's travelling companion, Graham Milne, was also brought in to assist with the search. He told the police that the trio had arrived at Bell Chambers on the afternoon of Thursday March 19, having each driven there in separate vehicles. Graham had been there on several prior prospecting trips, so he was already familiar with the area. They'd set up

their camp a few kilometres from an area they'd collectively deemed the $3 million patch, as they hoped it might yield some valuable finds. Shortly after they began unpacking, Graham said that the Kellett's dog, Ella, became distracted by the wildlife and suddenly bolted off. He and Ray got on their quad bikes and took after her. Graham said it took them more than an hour to find her, after which they returned Ella to camp and continued exploring the area on their bikes. Jenny remained close to the camp as she didn't like to venture too far without someone being there to keep an eye on things.

Their initial plan was to move their campsite closer to the $3 million patch. Graham and Ray went searching for a suitable route to drive their vehicles there, but the pathways were too narrow for Ray's new Land Rover, so they decided to stay put for the time being. The next morning, Graham said that he and Ray ventured off on the quad bikes again. It started to rain so they returned to camp while Jenny ventured to the nearby creek with a metal detector. Shortly after she returned, Graham claimed that Ella bolted again. He and Ray got on the quad bikes to chase after her for a second time, with Ray locating her after about 20 minutes. After returning Ella to camp, Graham said he and Ray spent the rest of the

afternoon on the bikes before they all called it an early night. The next morning of Saturday March 21, Graham said they all got up at daybreak. According to Graham, after eating breakfast, Ella took off yet again. Fed up, Graham claims he told Ray and Jenny he came on the trip to go prospecting, not to constantly chase after their dog. He refused to help find her again, instead lending Jenny his quad bike so she could join Ray in the search. Graham said he told Jenny he was going to go prospecting on foot. He told Jenny to put his quad bike back in his trailer once she was done chasing Ella. Graham had to be back at work on March 24 and he planned on leaving first thing the following morning so that he'd have one day of rest before flying out to cloudbreak.

Graham said that Ray and Jenny took off after Ella on the quad bikes while he headed off on his solo prospecting journey at around 6.30am. He stayed out all day and most of the night. When Graham eventually returned to the camp, he said it was dark and quiet. Graham didn't wear a watch, but he assumed the time to be between about 2 and 3am. Ella was there and he assumed Ray and Jenny were asleep. Graham said his quad bike was in his trailer just like he'd asked Jenny to leave it while Ray's quad bike was parked nearby. He spent about an hour quietly packing up his stuff before heading off. He said that Ray and Jenny knew he was leaving that night so there was no point waking them up to say goodbye. For the team leading the search for the Kellets, it was important to establish the last time that

Ray and Jenny had been seen alive. Based on Graham Milne's account, the last time he'd physically laid eyes on them was on the morning of Saturday March 21, before he set out on his solo prospecting trip. A few hours after Graham said he'd departed the camp on Sunday March 22, another pair of prospectors reported they'd driven past the Kellets camp. Ella had been there but Ray and Jenny had not, nor did they recall seeing Ray's red quad bike. A local farmer had been passing by the area later that evening when they saw Ella walking alone down the 200 kilometre dirt road connecting Sandstone to the town of Paynes Find. Two days later, on the afternoon of March 24, one Sandstone Council worker saw Ella out the Sandstone to Paynes Find road near the track to the Kellett's camp. Three days passed before another group passed through the remote area. On Friday March 27, the group recalled driving past the Kellett's campsite.

Although they hadn't stopped, they recalled seeing Ella sitting on a blanket near one of the vehicles with no people inside. Ella was found wandering through the Sandstone Caravan Park the following day of Saturday March 28, where she remained for a couple of days before the alarm was officially raised on Tuesday March 31. This left a period of 10 days where there were no reported sightings of Ray or Jenny Kellett, meaning they could have gone missing anywhere within that timeframe. However, given that multiple people had seen Ella alone on and after March 22, it stood to reason that whatever had happened to Ray and Jenny had occurred sometime around that time. By all accounts, the Kelletts would not be without Ella without good reason.

Graham Milne revisited the campsite with the police and said it looked more or less the same as it did when he left on the 22nd. However, he said he'd left Ray and Jenny some prospecting equipment including a metal detector, a yellow GPS and a plastic gold pan, which were no longer at the campsite. Eager to get an understanding of Ray and Jenny's movements in the area, the police asked Graham to show them all the sites he visited with Ray. Graham jumped on his quad bike and directed them in a south-easterly direction. There was no sign of the couple at any point along the way. Police closed off the sandstone to Paynes Find Road while investigations continued, allowing Graham to camp alone

just 100 metres from the Kellett's campsite. By Saturday April 4, the search for the couple reached its fifth fruitless day. If Ray and Jenny were lost in the wilderness or trapped in a mineshaft, their chances of survival at this point were deemed unlikely. With the pressure mounting, police began sorting through the couple's belongings for clues as to where they might have headed. In Jenny's backpack, they found something of interest. It was a hand-drawn map, known as a mud map. The map contained some GPS coordinates and a rough drawing of what appeared to be directions for how to get to the bell chambers camp from Sandstone.

From the camp, a black line led north to a single location marked only as First Hole. When presented with the mud map, Graham Milne said he and Ray had drawn it together while planning for their trip. Emails sent between him and Ray also made multiple references to an unspecified hole. But Graham claimed that they didn't end up camping at the location marked on the map because the ground was too hard and there was no grass for Ella. The first hole referred to what Graham called a crystal mine that he said Jenny was interested in. The existence of this map led police to wonder if Ray and Jenny had intended to abseil into one of the abandoned mineshafts. This was an uncommon practice,

given the high risk of the walls collapsing in, but it wasn't unheard of. The Kellets had previously told a friend of their plans to do so and they'd been practising abseiling at home. Graham Millen said he'd roped down into the shafts before, but claimed that the trio had no intention of doing so on this trip, nor did they bring the required gear. The final entry in Jenny's diary suggested otherwise. Written on March 18, the day before the trio departed for their trip, Jenny wrote, Hopefully go to Hole. Fingers crossed. Although police couldn't be sure exactly which hole this referred to, on Monday April 6 they shifted the focus of the search from the southward direction where Graham Milne had been leading them

and north of the camp instead. While many of the mines north of the camp had already been given the all clear, this was based on a somewhat cursory inspection that didn't require the specialists to fully descend into each shaft. It was decided that they would return to the area to descend fully into the mine shafts so that they could inspect the very bottoms and rule each one out. The Kellett's disappearance had started gaining media attention and several members of the press gathered in the area to report on the current status of the search. Eager to get some relevant footage to accompany their news bulletin, one Channel 9 journalist requested to film one of the rope technicians as they lowered themselves into one of the old mineshafts. The police agreed and the task was assigned to Ashley Gasmere,

a senior firefighter with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services Urban Search and Rescue team. Ashley and his team designated the closest mineshaft to their command post. It was the same shaft where the unpleasant odour had been detected around the time that Ray and Jenny were first reported missing. Given that it had already been given the all-clear by multiple search teams, Ashley intended to lower himself about three quarters of the way down for the media demonstration. He donned his helmet torch and began his descent into the 12 meter deep hole while a camera operator hovered above him. By the time he'd descended around 9 meters in, his eyes started to adjust to the darkness. That's when he saw something at the bottom.

Code 90, Code 90, Ashley shouted. A journalist standing at the top of the mine asked what the code meant. A firefighter standing nearby responded, that's a body. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. You know I love my meal kits. Being able to feast on a delicious meal without the long prep and cook times is what drew me to Home Chef over the other options. Home Chef's meals are effortless, even for someone like me who isn't making it on Top Chef anytime soon. Home Chef provides fresh ingredients and chef-designed recipes conveniently delivered to your doorstep to simplify your cooking experience. And they've got meal kits for every

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You heard that right. Homechef.com slash casefile. Must be an active subscriber to receive free dessert. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. The body at the bottom of the mineshaft was so decomposed that it was assumed to have been there for months or possibly even years. The level of decomposition meant an identification wasn't immediately possible, but given the amount of time the body had been there, it couldn't have

been Ray or Jenny Keller. The gathered search teams and members of the media were in awe that a random media stunt had led to the discovery of what was bound to be another long-term missing person. Word quickly spread throughout Sandstone, leading to immediate speculation among townsfolk and the gathered press, with one question on everyone's lips. What if a serial killer was on the loose in the outback town? However, those rumours came to a standstill when DNA testing later confirmed the identity of the body. It was Ray Kellett, after all. A team of forensic specialists was summoned to the area to begin the difficult task of retrieving Ray's remains. It took two days before they'd adequately assessed the site and determined it was only safe enough for one of them to enter the mineshaft.

While the shaft itself was approximately 1.5 meters wide, the base opened up into a bulb shaped space that was about 6 meters long, 3 meters wide and the base opened up into a bulb-shaped space that was about 6 meters long, 3 meters wide, and 2 and a half meters high. Directly below the opening was a conical-shaped mound made up of fallen debris and loose sandy material. Ray's body wasn't positioned centrally at the bottom of the hole, but off to the side and further back into the bulb-shaped section of the shaft. He lay face up, with his head closest to the shaft opening and his body further within. His legs were splayed out shoulder-width, his right arm was covered under loose rocks, and a large piece of old timber that had fallen from the collar of

the shaft lay on top of his right leg. He was wearing trousers and work boots with a pair of gloves in the pocket, but no shirt. Ray's remains were carefully extracted and removed for forensic analysis. An autopsy revealed he'd sustained a number of injuries to the upper half of his body, including broken bones to the left side of his neck and back, as well as a broken hyoid bone. There were also fractures to his left cheekbone and eye socket, and one of his left ribs was broken. His right hand had multiple fractures and three of his fingertip bones were missing. There were no injuries to the lower half of his body or to his teeth or jaw. Due to the level of decomposition, the pathologist was unable to determine how exactly

Ray Kellett had died or when the injuries occurred. All they could say for certain was that the injuries had been caused by blunt force trauma, possibly from the result of a fall. Significantly, there was no absaling equipment or prospecting gear at the bottom of the mineshaft to indicate that Ray had ventured into the hole willingly. But if he'd fallen into it by accident, then it raised several questions. The most obvious being, where was Jenny? When the families of Ray and Jenny heard the news that Ray's body had been identified, they were in a state of disbelief. Not only because of the news itself, but because they found out about it from a TV broadcast

without so much as a call from the authorities. The wait for information had been excruciating, but the discovery of Ray's body didn't bring them any form of closure. It prompted more questions than it did answers. Based on the available evidence, investigators theorised that Ray and Jenny could have been hanging around at their campsite when Ella suddenly took off again. The couple could have immediately jumped on the back of Ray's quad bike which would explain why Ray had no shirt on and the campsite appeared to be abruptly abandoned. After chasing Ella on the quad bike, they might have jumped off to give

chase on foot. Perhaps Ray chased Ella up the small mound surrounding the mineshaft and didn't see the opening until it was too late. Inconsolable at having witnessed him fall, Jenny might have stayed at the opening of the shaft in a state of shock and confusion, possibly waiting for Ray to regain consciousness. By the time night fell and she tried to make it back to either the campsite or the quad bike, she became disoriented and got lost in the process. Ray and Jenny's families didn't buy this theory for a second. For starters, they found Graham Milne's story about Ella running off to be incredibly odd. Ella was an elderly dog who followed Ray and Jenny everywhere they went, and she'd never been in the habit of running away.

Ray and Jenny everywhere they went, and she'd never been in the habit of running away. In fact, she was so obedient that they barely ever had to tether her up. She was also a farm dog who was used to living around livestock and wildlife, and she'd never shown interest in chasing animals in the past. Ray's daughter Melanie had recently joined the Kellets on a camping and fishing trip and Ella had been impeccably behaved the whole time. She'd happily stayed at the campsite, untethered and unbothered by any of the passing wildlife. Besides, if Ella had been uncharacteristically running off, why hadn't they tethered her up?

Ray's family didn't think it was possible that Ray would have accidentally fallen down the mineshaft. Not only was the shaft opening clearly visible, Ray was an experienced outdoorsman who was incredibly safety conscious. Having been raised on a remote farming station only a few hundred kilometres away, he was acutely aware of the environmental hazards of the area. Even if Ray had been chasing Ella, he would have been keeping an eye out for any of the old mineshafts as he went. Furthermore, Ray never walked around topless, especially not when outdoors. He was the type to protect himself from the elements at all times, and was always fully clothed with a hat and sunglasses. Likewise, Jenny was also very experienced with the outdoors and considered by her daughters

to be tough as nails. On the off chance that Ray really did fall down the mineshaft, her family didn't think she would have gotten lost finding their camp. The pathways back were too obvious. And if she had become lost while looking for her way back, it didn't explain why she hadn't been found during the extensive search operation. Ray's post-mortem examination supported another possibility entirely. While it was possible that he'd fallen face first down the mineshaft, hitting his body on the walls on his way down, pathologists concluded it was also possible that Ray's injuries had been caused by a weapon during a physical assault.

The damage to his right hand was considered a high-violence injury, the kind more commonly seen in motorcycle accidents. Perhaps Ray put his hand out to protect himself from an attack. A drop of his own blood was found on the top of his left boot. Forensic experts determined this could have only fallen there while Ray was standing upright, potentially from a head injury. Blood had also seeped deep into the grooves on the soles of his boots, indicating that Ray had been standing in a pool of his own blood before becoming incapacitated. A red petrol can lay approximately three metres from Ray's body, further into the bulbous end of

the mineshaft. That too was spattered with Ray's blood, but there was no other evidence of blood spatter anywhere else in the mineshaft, including on a plastic pump brand water bottle that was found lying between Ray's legs. Testing of the bottle's spout revealed DNA belonging to Ray, Jenny, and Graham Milne, which was consistent with Graham's story that the three shared communal water bottles. To Ashley Gasmere, the senior firefighter who had found Ray's body, the position that Ray was found lying in was unusual. In Ashley's experience, someone being face-up with their legs splayed could be indicative of having been dragged there. There were no drag marks at the site to confirm this, but given the amount of time that had passed

before the body was found, coupled with the recent rainfall, it couldn't be ruled out. The break in Ray's hyoid bone also raised some questions. This U-shaped bone sits at the root of the tongue and serves as a structural anchor in the neck. Breaks to the hyoid bone can be caused by falls from a great height, motor vehicle accidents or blunt force trauma, but most commonly, this injury is caused by strangulation or hanging. Graham Millne claimed the trio had never visited the mineshaft where Ray's body was found. The location of the mine was compared to the mud map Graham had drawn that was found in Jenny's luggage.

It was remarkably close to the site designated First Hole. With all these details, the question loomed. Had Ray fallen down the hole by accident or had someone accompanied him to the bottom and launched an attack? In light of these forensic details, a press conference was held. A detective working on the case said they had not yet drawn any conclusions about what had happened to Ray and Jenny Kellett, but quote, At this point in time, we're not seeing anything that suggests criminality. Channel 9 journalist Liam Bartlett was in the crowd and couldn't believe what he was hearing. Are you

serious? He asked. There's nothing suspicious about this. The detective responded, At this point in time we're saying there is no evidence of any criminality. However, we are making sure we investigate it thoroughly and look at all the possibilities. The families of Ray and Jenny were just as shocked. Not only did the forensic evidence arouse suspicion, there was also the issue of the two guns that were found in the unlocked passenger seat of Ray's car, one of which was loaded. Ray had spent his whole life around firearms and was fastidious about gun safety. He only ever put bullets in his rifle when he was about to shoot. For Ray's family, there was no way he would have left a loaded firearm in an unlocked vehicle,

not even if he'd been cleaning it and had to leave the camp urgently. Two rounds were also missing from the unsecured rifle, leading some to wonder whether this could have been used in an attack against Ray and Jenny. Ray's autopsy had revealed that a three millimetre portion of his cheekbone had become dislodged. Given the blood on his boots, this injury could have been the result of a gunshot wound. But when later questioned, Graham Milne had an explanation for the two missing rounds. He said that shortly after the trio arrived at Bell Chambers on Thursday March 19, he and Ray were out on their quad bikes when they heard gunshots.

They went up to higher ground to get a better view of the area and saw there was another vehicle approximately 500 metres in the distance. It was a white Toyota four-wheel drive with two men inside. Graham said they wanted to let the other men know of their presence in the area, so he placed an empty cigarette pack in a tree and told Ray to aim at it with his rifle. Ray took one shot, which missed, and then another one, which hit the target right in the centre. Based on this description, police released a statement urging the occupants of a white Toyota four-wheel drive who had been in the area at the time to come forward. Nobody did.

Meanwhile, the search for Jenny Kellett resumed under the assumption that she too was deceased. Specially trained officers spent a week fully descending into 160 mineshafts in the area and declaring them all to be clear. The mineshaft where Ray's body had been found was also thoroughly inspected for any clues as to Jenny's whereabouts. While the officers found no evidence to suggest that Jenny had ever been down there, they did find something of interest on the surface. Approximately three metres from the mineshaft opening were three cigarette butts, all lying within 30 centimetres of one another. Police had actually noticed the butts there one month earlier upon the retrieval of Ray's remains, but hadn't thought to seize them because the area wasn't being considered a crime scene.

This time, they bagged the butts and sent them away for forensic testing, along with the remnants of a small fire that was also found nearby. The ashes from the fire revealed nothing of interest, but the cigarette butts did. Jenny Kellett was a smoker and two of the butts tested positive for her DNA. This indicated that Jenny had stood near the opening of the mine at some point during the camping trip. It also added weight to the theory that she could have witnessed Ray fall into the hole and had stood at the top in a state of distress before becoming disoriented and getting lost on her way back to the can. The third part also tested positive for DNA, but it wasn't Jenny's. It was Graham Milne's.

Ray and Jenny's belongings had already been handed back to their families and the police had previously turned down an offer from Jenny's family to forensically examine her things. With the discovery of the cigarette butts, their belongings were formally examined for the first time. A pillow case found in the Kellett's tent revealed two DNA profiles. Jenny Kellett's and Graham Milne's. Ray's DNA was not present. Based on these findings, police considered whether Jenny and Graham could have been having an affair. Jenny's loved ones strongly shut this down. Not only did Jenny and Ray have an incredibly happy and loving marriage,

Graham Milne was not the type of person Jenny would have a romantic interest in. The two had met while working at the Cloudbreak mining site. Graham was a paramedic and he treated Jenny when she was experiencing back pain during which Ray had accompanied her to her appointments. The three of them began sitting together during work meals and Graham began teaching the Kellets more about prospecting for gold. He'd visited their farm on a few occasions but only in the context of teaching them practical prospecting skills such as how to use a metal detector and adequately prepare their vehicles for a trip. Ray and Jenny's children recalled that during these visits, when they weren't working on prospecting related things, Graham Milne mostly kept to himself. They found him to be a bit

socially awkward and he didn't contribute much to conversations. Jenny was the type of person who wanted everyone to feel welcome. If anything, her children thought Graham might have developed unreciprocated feelings for Jenny because she'd made him feel special. When questioned by the police, Graham Milne denied ever having a romantic relationship with Jenny. He explained that the pillow containing both of their DNA was actually his. He'd lent it to Jenny on the drive up to Sandstone to help relieve her bad back. Graham's de facto partner confirmed the pillow was theirs. As for the cigarette butts, Graham Milne said he'd never left the campsite with the Jenny.

He said he typically threw his cigarette butts in the bin unless they were out in the wilderness, in which case he flicked them into the distance. Graham claimed he'd never gone anywhere near the mineshaft where Ray's body was found and could therefore think of no reason why a cigarette butt with his DNA on it was found nearby. By mid-July, almost four months had passed with no sign of Jenny Kellett. Her bank accounts remained untouched, she'd made no attempts to contact her family, and nobody had come forward with any leads. Although it was presumed that Jenny was no longer alive, finding her remains was paramount. Not only to provide closure to her loved ones, but also to provide further insight into what

happened to the Kellets during their fateful camping trip. The search for Jenny expanded further south. After a week with no breakthroughs, it was called off for good. The case came to national attention when it was subsequently featured on an episode of the Channel 7 current affairs program, Sunday Night. Graham Milne appeared on the segment, during which he addressed allegations that he knew more about the Kellett's disappearance than he was letting on. I can't stop people drawing their own conclusions, Graham said. You're gonna get that. It doesn't matter what. People are gonna say things. Well, they can keep saying them, it doesn't matter. They don't know."

When asked what he thought happened to Ray and Jenny, Graham became visibly upset. With tears running down his face, he said, "'I don't know. I've run through all sorts of different scenarios and nothing makes sense. Nothing makes sense at all. If anybody knows anything, please come forward and tell the police." Perth couple Georgina Granville and her husband Mark were watching Sunday night when they were immediately taken back to the morning of Sunday March 22, 2015. At around 5.30am the Granvilles had been driving south from Sandstone down the 200km long remote unsealed dirt road known as the Paynes Find to Sandstone Road.

They were about 25km from the Sandstone turn-off when, through the darkness, they saw the lights of a vehicle parked on the side of the road up ahead. As they got closer, they saw that it was a dark-coloured four-wheel drive with a trailer containing a quad bike attached to it. An older man was standing outside of the vehicle, sorting through a toolbox. Thinking he might need help, the Granvilles slowed down. Instead of acknowledging their concern, the man aggressively waved them off, as though to say, go away, shoo. When the Granvilles later learned about the disappearance of Ray and Jenny Kellett,

they called Crimestoppers to report this sighting. They never heard anything back, so they assumed it mustn't have been of any interest. Watching the segment featuring Graham Milne on Sunday night, Georgina turned to her husband and said, Sunday night, Georgina turned to her husband and said, The man we saw on the side of the road. That's him. When presented with the information this time around, the police took an immediate interest. There were only two ways to get from the Bell Chambers campsite and back on the road to Perth. You could either travel the 30 kilometres north back to Sandstone and take the Bitumen Highway to Mount Magnet,

which was a smoother ride but added around an extra 100 kilometres to your journey. Alternatively, you could head south on the Paynes Find to Sandstone Road, which was technically a shortcut, but it meant you had to take the unsealed dirt road. Graham Milne had told the police that when he departed the campsite between 2 or 3am on Sunday March 22, he took the bitumen highway because he'd been having car trouble and didn't want to risk taking the unsealed road. There was also less chance of hitting a kangaroo on the highway. He claimed he had a brief rest stop along the way but otherwise headed straight home to Perth. But if the witness sighting reported by the

Granvilles was correct, this led to the question of why Graham Milne would lie about the route he took home. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. listening to this episode's sponsors. Had Graham Milne travelled home via Mount Magnet as he described, the journey would have required him to pause at a stop sign outside of a BP service station before turning left onto the highway. To verify Milne's version of events, police obtained CCTV footage from the BP recorded on the morning of Sunday March 22. At no point did Graham Millan's vehicle drive past.

Millan's car was fitted with a GPS tracking device. With suspicions raised, police downloaded his GPS data from March 22 and found there was no record of his movements in those early hours of Sunday morning. This in and of itself wasn't particularly noteworthy. The GPS was reliant on satellite connection which might have been difficult to establish given the remoteness of the area. Milne also claimed that the GPS was faulty and prone to overheating. However, at 10.17am the connection kicked in. At a time Milne claimed to be on the highway, well on his way back to Perth, the GPS data showed his car was actually travelling south down the unsealed road, just outside of Paynes Find, approximately 206 kilometres from the Kelletts campsite.

If the sighting reported by the Granfills was correct, this meant he'd remained in the area for approximately five hours after they drove by. On Tuesday November 3, 2015, seven months after Ray's body was found, Graham Milne was officially taken into police custody for questioning. When presented with the conflicting GPS data, he didn't deny it. Instead, he claimed he'd told the police the wrong thing when first questioned. According to Milne, what really happened was he started heading down the highway towards Mount Magnet, but when he reached the Paynes Find to Sandstone Road turnoff,

he had a sudden change of mind. He decided he wanted to go back and continue prospecting with the Kellets after all. Milne explained that his car was running well by that point, so he started heading along the unsealed road back towards Bell Chambers. But after about 15 minutes, he changed his mind again. Milne said he had to be back at work and he knew that if he'd carried on, the rest of his crew would have been short-staffed. Instead, he turned around again and headed back towards Perth. The police asked Mjoln why he didn't tell them about this the first time around. He said he'd been too embarrassed and didn't want to look like an idiot. Regardless, this still didn't explain why his car was in the

area some seven hours after he claimed to have left the campsite. When it was revealed that CCTV footage hadn't captured his car passing through Mount Magnet, Milne explained he must have taken the dirt road behind the BP station. There was indeed a dirt road that looped behind the BP, but it made no sense that Milne would have taken this route. It wasn't a shortcut, and being a dirt road, it would have only added extra difficulty to his journey given he was trailing his quad bike behind. With so many inconsistencies, police were starting to have doubts about Graham Millen's version of events. A search warrant was executed at Millen's house and various electronics were seized. Police found no significant information on his phone, but a co-worker came forward with

an eyebrow-raising claim. According to them, on Milne's first shift back at work after the prospecting trip with the Kellets, Milne asked for help to wipe his phone clean. Milne claimed he was giving the phone to a relative, yet he never did. The coworker helped clear the phone, but didn't see anything of note during the process. Police were also increasingly curious about the supposed overnight prospecting venture Milne claimed to have gone on on Saturday March 21. He claimed that he'd set out on the journey at around 6.30am and then returned to the campsite at around 2am. All of this was on foot and with limited supplies. Prospecting at night wasn't an

entirely unusual practice. As Milne explained, gold can shimmer in the dark under torchlight. But as local prospectors have pointed out, it would be near impossible to make any such discoveries in 2015, as any gold on the surface had been detected by equipment decades earlier. Furthermore, the trip seemed unusually long, especially without at least stopping back at camp to renew his water supply or get something to eat. Inquiries were made with other individuals who had prospected for gold with Graham Milne in the past. An ex-workmate had joined him on several prospecting trips and recalled the longest they'd ever

spent out prospecting was around four hours at a time. He also claimed that during these trips, Milne often tied a rope to his quad bike and used it to abseil down old mineshafts. If Milne's account that he prospected for approximately 18 hours straight was correct, this also raised the question of why he would then begin a long-distance drive without stopping to rest first. The 7 hour drive back to Perth would have been a gruelling stint for someone who hadn't slept in almost 24 hours.

Even more so considering Milne's journey home had actually taken almost double that time, with the GPS data recording him arriving home at 8.17pm. The ex-workmate of Milne's who had prospected with him in the past also said that Milne would only have a drive in the daytime. The search of Graham Milne's home turned up nothing that implicated him in Ray's death or Jenny's disappearance or suggested a motive. After being held in custody overnight and questioned for 12 hours, Milne was free to go. Yet police remained curious about the GPS coordinates that placed Milne on the Paynes Find to Sandstone Road at around 10am on Sunday March 22.

A team was dispatched to search the area where the GPS had pinged, but nothing of interest was found. After what had seemed like a potential breakthrough, the investigation hit another dead end. Months passed with no new information coming to light. By October 2017, two and a half years passed since the Kellets set out on their fateful prospecting trip. With the case now being treated as a potential homicide, the Western Australian Police announced a $250,000 reward was available for anyone with information that led to a conviction. The Police Commissioner stated, Sandstone is a very small community. It's subject to a lot of mining exploration and people who

might camp or move through the area on holidays. It's about the most remote area you could find on the planet. There's not many people who would have been in that area at the time. Someone up there knows what was going on. A public statement released by Rae and Jenny's children said, The last two years have seen our family caught in an agonising and exhausting limbo, desperate for answers and for closure. We urge anyone with information to please come forward and bring our family some peace.

With no breakthroughs by mid-2018, police submitted an application to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that charges be laid against Graham Milne. The request was denied. By this point, Ray and Jenny's loved ones had spent over three years desperate for answers. Ray and Jenny's loved ones had spent over three years desperate for answers. That year was especially difficult for another reason. After Ray and Jenny first went missing, their beloved Great Dane Ella went to live with one of Jenny's daughters. Ella would often join the family at the Kelletts farm as they conducted routine maintenance on the property. She lived a good life before passing away in 2018 surrounded by family at the age of 12, a monumental age for a dog of her breed. For Ray's brother Dave, the fact that Ella lived so long was an indication of how big her heart was and how loved she'd been. But it was

also a stark reminder that yet another significant event had passed by without Ray and Jenny's presence. To this day, no one knows exactly how Ella managed to get from the Kellett's campsite at Bell Chambers to the Sandstone Caravan Park 30 kilometres away. She was seen at the Kellett's campsite at Bell Chambers to the Sandstone Caravan Park 30 kilometres away. She was seen at the Kellett's campsite the day before she appeared in Sandstone, meaning she'd made the journey within a relatively short window of time. It would have been a huge walk for an older Great Dane, yet her paws didn't show any signs of trauma. Police remain open to the possibility that someone could have picked Ella up and dropped her off, yet if that was the case,

nobody has ever come forward to say so. With no breakthroughs in the case by the start of 2020, a coronial inquest was held in a bid to determine exactly what happened to the couple. It provided a glimmer of hope for Ray and Jenny's loved ones, who described their experience over the past five years in a statement delivered to the court. It read in part, Ray and Jenny did not get to celebrate their 50th birthdays, nor will they share their dreams of spending more time together doing all that they loved in the great outdoors. Ray's eldest daughter has also given birth to a daughter and son. These are but only a handful

of items in a kaleidoscope of moments and memories that will never be theirs. Depression has hit many of us severely. The impact this last five years has had on us as a family cannot be measured. There is no guidebook for how to traverse this incident and subsequent ordeal. Ray and Jenny were a compassionate, hard-working couple who were deeply loved by their family, friends, and community. All we want is to see that justice is served for Ray and that Jenny can be finally located so she can be laid to rest. We will not give up until this can be achieved." By this point, Graham Milne had provided four official statements and been interviewed by the police twice. It was not the role of the coroner to decide whether any

charges should be pursued against him, but simply to go on a fact-finding mission to determine how each death had occurred. Given that Graham Milne was the last person to see Ray and Jenny alive, his evidence was deemed vital, but when he was called to attend the inquest, he declined to speak on the grounds that anything he said could be used to incriminate him. The Western Australian Police Force confirmed that while Graham Milne remained their only person of interest in the case, they had no present intention to charge him. The coroner therefore compelled him to give evidence, deeming it vital for the ends of justice. Milne agreed to do so on the grounds that any answers he gave couldn't be used to prosecute him later on.

The coroner agreed to grant him a certificate of immunity only if she was satisfied that he responded appropriately to all the questions presented to him. Appearing on day eight of the inquest, Milne subsequently maintained that the trio had no intention of absailing down any mineshafts during their prospecting trip to Bell Chambers, nor did they bring any equipment that would allow them to do so. He testified that he'd never gone anywhere near the mineshaft where Ray's body was found. Asked how a cigarette butt with his DNA on it could have gotten three metres from the mine entrance, Milne suggested it could have been transferred there on the soles of the shoes of a member of the search party – an explanation the coroner found improbable.

When asked why he didn't tell the police about the mud map they found in Jenny's luggage, Milne said he'd forgotten they'd overdrawn it. He denied allegations that it was a map to the mineshaft containing Ray's body and maintained it referenced a crystal mineshaft that Jenny was interested in, which he claimed was higher up and to the left of the mine where Ray was found. Milne also denied that he'd intentionally led the police away from the mine when he took them southeast of the camp during their initial search. Mark and Georgina Granville testified to seeing a man matching Graham Milne's appearance on the

Paynes Find to Sandstone Road in the early morning hours of Sunday March 22, 2015. They described his four-wheel drive as having a trailer attached to it which contained a quad bike. The quad bike was facing east-west, the opposite direction to which the man's vehicle was travelling. However, Graham Milne pointed out that his quad bike could not be placed in an East-West direction on his trailer, only North-South. Various photographs were submitted to support this, although police have not confirmed whether they investigated the possibility that Milne could have used a different trailer on the weekend in question. The inquest also explored the possibility that Ray and Jenny's demise had resulted from an accident. A search and rescue expert testified that it was possible that

Ray had fallen down the shaft after chasing Ella while Jenny sat at the top of the shaft. Partners tend to stay together, he explained. Maybe she was hoping Ray would come too and they'd be able to work their way out of it. Had darkness quickly fallen, he said it was possible that Jenny had tried to find her way back to camp before getting lost and perishing. However, if that was the case, he said that Jenny's body would have been found. He also clarified that this theory was possible purely from a search and rescue viewpoint and did not take into account the possibility that a third party was involved. If the story about Ella running away to chase animals wasn't accurate, he said it would impact all other possible conclusions and quote, "...it's possible if that's incorrect,

then everything that follows is incorrect." It was a long wait for Ray and Jenny's loved ones before the coroner delivered her findings in May the following year. She concluded that it couldn't be established that the person the Granvilles had seen had indeed been Graham Milne. However, she ruled out the possibility that Ray Kellett had fallen down the mineshaft by accident, citing various reasons, including the strange positioning of his quad bike some 500 metres away, and the fact that someone with Ray's experience wouldn't run through such an area without looking closely at where they were going.

The coroner found that the evidence indicated Ray and Jenny intended to abseil into one or more mineshafts during their trip in the hopes of finding gold. Based on Ray's injuries, particularly his broken hyoid bone, the lack of skeletal injuries, and the blood on his boots and petrol can, the coroner concluded, I am satisfied that Ray came to harm at the base of the mineshaft. His death was violent and attributable to trauma from injury sustained as a result of the actions of a person or persons unknown. She was unable to say whether Ray died immediately or whether whoever killed him moved his body further into the mineshaft to conceal it, but concluded, "...I find that Rey's death occurred as a result of

homicide by a person or persons unknown." Without a body, the coroner concluded that it wasn't possible to determine how Jenny died, but she was satisfied that her remains were somewhere in the sandstone area. The coroner said it was possible that Jenny had sustained violent trauma, or had managed to escape immediate danger before becoming disoriented and lost. Either way, she was satisfied that both Ray and Jenny died on or around Sunday March 22, 2015, within a short time of one another. The coroner found that Graham Milne had answered all questions satisfactorily and granted his certificate of immunity. While her findings would be handed to the director of public prosecutions, the coroner clarified that she hadn't formed a belief concerning Milne's

potential involvement in any crime. Acknowledging the impact of the deaths, the coroner stated, The families of Ray and Jenny have suffered the loss of their loved ones in circumstances that are disturbing and unsettling. Their pain and grief is enduring. There has been a great deal of speculation as to the circumstances of their deaths, and whilst this may be unavoidable in the context of these events, it carries the risk of compounding their stress and adding to their angst. Ray and Jenny were greatly loved and deeply respected by their families.

Their deaths are a loss to their loved ones and to the community. The findings provoked mixed feelings for Ray and Jenny's children. The findings provoked mixed feelings for Ray and Jenny's children. A statement released on their behalf said, "...the last six years have been a torturous existence of uncertainty and grief. Questions left unanswered and speculation from strangers have left us all aching in ways that are beyond description. We are vindicated and heartbroken in equal measure that the coroner shares our understanding of events. It's beyond belief that anyone would ever want to hurt such loving, generous souls, and we call the justice to be served for our mother and father. and father. It took another 13 months before the Director of Public Prosecutions returned their verdict. By June 2022, over seven years had passed since Ray and Jenny's deaths and still no

one had been held accountable. Based on the inquest findings and the evidence at hand, the DPP ruled that no charges would be laid. A statement released on their behalf said, In this case, all the evidence was closely examined by some of the most senior prosecutors in the state who determined that there are no reasonable prospects of conviction on the available evidence. While the Western Australian police said the investigation remained active and ongoing, the decision came as a major blow to Ray and to Jenny's families. But they weren't the only ones shocked by it. In 2023, a panel of experts gathered to review

the Kellett case for an episode of Channel 9's Under Investigation with Liz Hayes. They unanimously agreed that the case should be re-examined by prosecutors. A renowned criminal barrister appeared on the show and said, criminal barrister appeared on the show and said, In my view, it should have been left to members of the community, namely a jury assisted by properly qualified experts and a thorough investigation to make their determination about what actually happened. And it's a sad thing that that hasn't occurred. Forensic scientist Dr Mark Reynolds, who had worked on the case in the early days, also served on the panel. He'd been pressing for Ray's death to be treated as a homicide from

the moment his body was found. Dr Reynolds was particularly interested in the injury to Ray's cheekbone, in which a 3-4mm piece of bone had become dislodged. In his experience, Dr Reynolds told under investigation that this could be indicative of a gunshot wound, possibly from Ray's own rifle. No forensic evidence has ever been presented to confirm Milne's story about why two bullets were missing from Ray's rifle. Ray's family believes he would never have fired shots into the open country knowing that other people were in the area.

Dr Reynolds explained, We've got two gunshots, we have a firearm, we have two victims, and two rounds missing. Former homicide detective Damien Loon stated, Unfortunately, my belief would be that a firearm has been used in this case. A man identified only as Rick was a former reconnaissance expert in the Australian army who had also worked for the State Emergency Service. After watching the under-investigation episode, Rick felt compelled to help. He travelled to Sandstone and used his expertise to search the area. Over a month, he uncovered about a dozen other items he thought could hold

relevance to the Kellett case. He then decided to venture into the mineshaft where Ray Kellett's body was found. After just 10 minutes down the hole, Rick found an item of clothing buried under the dirt. His collection was handed to the police and in June 2023, a special crime squad returned to the site to conduct a major excavation of the old mineshaft on the hunt for any clues that could be hidden underneath the rubble. Speaking about Rick's find, the West Australian Police Commissioner said he could neither confirm nor deny whether the shirt had anything to do with the Kellets case. We can't say it is. We can't say it isn't, he remarked. If Rick or the Special Crime Squad uncovered anything significant during these searches,

it hasn't been publicly revealed. However, a blog post written by Ray's brother Dave in 2024, on the 9th anniversary of the Kellett's ill-fated prospecting trip, said, Much has happened this last year since. Much is happening. Dave's blog, titled Man in the Hole, provides an open and honest account of his family's experience in their quest for justice. Dave is vocal about his disappointment in the police handling of Ray and Jenny's case. In his view, investigators erred by initially treating Ray into Jenny's case as two tourists lost in the countryside, even when information provided early on from the family and locals indicated something

more sinister was at play. For Dave and his brother Malcolm, it's memories of Ray at his country boy finest that will always be held dearest. From a very young age, the three brothers were allowed to take the family's old Land Rover and head out bush to hunt feral animals. Ray would always be the driver, even though he could barely see over the steering wheel, his two brothers standing on the back tray and giving directions while Ray chuckled with delight. Ray's ashes were scattered around his farm just like he would have wanted. The only thing missing is Jenny. While Jenny's children

want to see justice served for whoever killed their mother and stepfather, the thing they want most of all is to find Jenny's body so they can scatter her ashes with rays. It's a continual source of pain for them knowing that the inseparable couple have been kept apart. Jenny's youngest daughter told journalist Caroline Overington in the documentary Murder in the Goldfields, At this point, it's not even about putting someone behind bars or getting a conviction, it's just about getting mum. We just want to bring her home. As far as Jenny's children are concerned, the only way that will ever happen is if someone who knows

the truth decides to come forward. One told under investigation with Liz Hayes, she's never going to be found without a bit of honesty and that's what I want. Case file makes no allegations of guilt against Graham Milne. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. Investigators are particularly interested in hearing from anyone who passed through the Sandstone area and surrounding outback in the critical time period between Wednesday March 18 and Sunday March 22, 2015. Any dashcam footage or seemingly insignificant detail could prove crucial. The occupants of the white four-wheel drive Graham Milne claimed to see in the area shortly before the Kellett's disappearance have never come forward. The reward for information

that leads to a conviction in the Kellett case has been increased to $1 million, with the reward applying to both Ray and Jenny individually. That means $2 million is available for anyone who provides the missing key. For locals in the Sandstone area, Jenny Kellett is never far from their mines when they go out prospecting. Some have dedicated hours of their spare time searching for Jenny down the old mineshafts in the area. To this day, many locals continue to look out for her as they traverse the remote red earth in search of gold. The manager of the Sandstone pub told the ABC, Sandstone has never forgotten Jenny and Ray. We always look for her if we're out in the bush.

Former homicide investigator Damien Loon believes that Jenny's body is the key they need to solve the puzzle. He told under investigation, we find Jenny, we will find out what happened and why. The other experts on the panel agreed, with Dr Mark Reynolds remarking, it's probably the only K we've got left. you