Missing Niamh - 6: Episode 6: Niamh’s last movements

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

Niamh’s last known movements are pieced together and Jack is interviewed. There are several hours unaccounted for in his version of events. https://missingniamh.com

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Additionally, some audio clips are voiced by actors reading from statements or transcripts. 18-year-old Neem May was supposed to catch a bus from Batlow on Easter Sunday the 31st of March 2002 to her sister Fanula's place in Sydney, but she never arrived. Within days, her family had reported her missing and her brother Kieran travelled to Batlow to retrace his sister's last known steps. He discovered that Nahum went to the town of Gingellic to go camping with Jack Nicholson and his friend Garth. They left on Good Friday and Jack had promised to drop Nahum back to Batlow in time to catch the bus home. Jack, the last known person to see Niamh before she went missing, had been let go by police after questioning. Jack and Garth were itinerant fruit pickers,

and once they were questioned by police at the Deniliquent Police Station, they went on their way, even though Jack's story didn't make a whole lot of sense. Niamh had bought a bus ticket departing from Batlow, but Jack said he'd dropped her off on the Gokap Road just outside Tumut. This means he drove her past Batlow, where she was supposed to catch the bus, on a ticket she'd already bought, and dropped her off in the middle of nowhere, to hitchhike to save money on a ticket she'd already paid for. Niamh had told her family about Jack and Garth and the old-fashioned hearse they drove around in.

She told her sister Fanula about the arrangement for her trip to Gingellic with them and how she planned on getting back to Batlow. She said, oh yeah, they're going camping down there, but if I go with them, I don't know how to get back in time for the bus on Sunday. And then Jack had said, yeah, yeah, if you come with us, I'll give you a lift back. And so it ended up that the arrangement was she was going to get a lift

from him to Batlow and she was going to camp at the caravan park at Batlow on the Saturday night and then get on the bus on Sunday morning, travel to Cootamundra, jump on the train, come to Sydney. She was very reluctant about going to Ginjilic. She was really worried about catching the bus to catch the train. And he persuaded her to go because he promised to bring her back in time Saturday night to catch the bus and train on Sunday. Detective Steve Rose became one of the lead investigators on Neham's case. What did he find out about Neham's trip to Gingellic?

There was a bit of drinking. So basically the hotel at Gingellic is a pretty little place. There's a hotel there and there's a camping area right down beside it on the little river. The social scene in Gingellic sounded like the fruit-picking scene in Batlow. Niamh had even tried out her new skill of fire-twelling that she was learning from Jess and Brodie,

her friends from her hometown. Yeah, you go get a skinful of grog, get some takeaways and go down to the camp. And I think Niamh was doing her fire thing. There might have been someone there playing a guitar and all that sort of stuff. Everyone was having a good time, smoking bongs and whatever else they do. Here is what the police and Neham's family were able to piece together. On Good Friday, March 29, 2002, Jack and Garth left Batlow Caravan Park and stopped at Ardrossan Orchard to pick up Niamh. The three then headed to Gingellic with Jack driving.

A witness recalls seeing Jack's hearse stopped in the main street of Tumbarumba, a town between Batlow and Gingellic. Garth told detectives in his police interview that Jack stopped to use the ATM. This was confirmed by a check on Jack's bank records, which showed an ATM withdrawal from the Westpac bank at 11.54am. They then headed to Gingelic Hotel for lunch. Gingelic is a small New South Wales town that borders the state of Victoria. The two states are separated by the Murray River. Down a slope next to the Gingellic pub is a campground. Over Easter, the spot was popular. After drinking at the pub, campers could stumble down to their tents to sleep it off. Jack, Garth and Niamh headed inside

the Gingelic Hotel for lunch and a few drinks. They chatted to other travellers who were camping for the weekend. They enjoyed the vibe of the place and Garth suggested to Jack and Niamh that they should camp for the night. Because they didn't have their camping equipment, the three make the two-hour round trip from Gingellic to Batlow and back to grab some camping gear. After returning to Gingellic and setting up camp, they spent Friday night in the Gingellic Hotel, drinking and having a good time. Other campers and bar staff remembered them. Everyone appeared to be in good spirits, enjoying themselves. The bar staff would later say that Jack, Garth and Aneem all appeared happy and friendly and interacted with everyone. Susie was working behind the bar at the Gingelic

Hotel that Easter weekend. There's free camping below the pub and I noticed there were a lot of cars and a lot of people there, which is not that unusual being Easter and a busy little touristy pub. But there seemed to be a lot of backpackers-type people there and I did hear from just listening to conversations that there was a lot of fruit pickers from up the Batlow area that had had a cut out and they'd come to celebrate the end of their picking period in Batlow. Other than that, it was just an ordinary night. There was some strange characters, but you do get that in the hotel industry. You know, looking people compared to what your normal farmers are in a rural area.

There was a lovely little girl. I did take particular note of her because she just was such a quiet little girl, Niamh, who I do remember coming up to the bar. She wanted to use the FPOS. Susie remembers Niamh not being able to withdraw any money and making the comment that her pay mustn't have gone in yet. Susie recalls that Jack was happy to step in and pay for Niamh's drinks. Yes, he was quite easy at pulling out his wallet and buying drinks for all his friends, so he wasn't tight at all. Susie didn't get the impression that Jack and Aneem

were anything more than just friends. I think they were like workmates more than anything. I wouldn't say that they were an item, but they knew each other like good friends, like they all knew each other, all the backpack types that were there from Batlow, yeah. The night didn't end when Gingellic Pub closed. Campers headed to the campground. There was a folk band playing music. Neem did some fire twirling. Everyone was having a good time. The mood was festive and everyone was happy.

When the night ended, Jack slept in his hearse. Niamh slept in her tent about 10 metres away and Garth slept elsewhere in the campground. When they arose on Easter Saturday morning, it was time for Niamh to head back to Batlow. And pretty sure, if I remember right, Niamh went to bed in the tent, woke up in the morning and she sort of cracked Jack down somewhere, I think whilst having breakfast or something, what about orange juice or a plate of cereal or something,

and just said, well, got to get back to Batlow, mate. Yeah, no worries, ready to go. And there wasn't much nuts said about that prior, prior to leaving Gin and Jelly. Like, everything was normal. It was just a big night out. On Easter Saturday morning, Nahum got into Jack's hearse to head back to Batlow.

She had plans to catch up with friends from the Batlow Caravan Park, Joel and Sol, one last time. After the Saturday night catch up with the Joel and Sol, Neham planned to catch the CountryLink bus, then a train, to get to Fanula's place in Sydney the next day, Easter Sunday. After speaking with those who were camping in Gingellic with Niamh and Jack, police established that they had left the campground there between 10 and 11am on Easter Saturday, headed to Batlow. There certainly didn't seem to be any confusion about where Neham was headed. She had told her mum and sister about her plan to stay in Batlow this Saturday night to say a final goodbye to some friends. Independent witnesses at Gingellic also confirm this was in fact her plan. Like Justin, who was camping at Gingellic that weekend.

He remembers meeting Jack, Garth and Niamh the Friday night. They drank and played pool. He remembers Niamh fire twirling later that night. He remembers the Saturday morning as well. The following is taken from his statement. I think it was about 9am when Garth and Jack came over to my campsite and we started talking about cars. I have a big blue and white Chev and I remember Jack had this unusual car, a black Holden Hearse. While we were talking about these cars I saw Niamh come up a few times talking to both Jack and Garth. I can't remember if it was Jack or Garth saying that Jack was going

to take Neve back to Batlow. I can't remember, but I understood that she had to be back at Batlow by a certain time. Justin thinks it was about 10am when they left to Djungelic. He then ends his statement with, When Neve left on Saturday morning, she was in a happy and calm mood and didn't seem reluctant to go with Jack to Batlow. Another witness, Jessica, who had spent time with the Jack, Neam and Garth at Djungelic, told police this about Easter Saturday morning. About 10 or 11am that day, Jack and Neve left in the hearse. I'm not sure what we were doing, but I didn't actually see them leave and I'm. I'm not sure what we were doing, but I didn't actually see them leave

and I'm not sure who told me what they were doing, but I was aware that Jack was taking Niamh back to Batlow and then dropping her off somewhere. After leaving Gingellic Campground, a witness sighted Jack's hearse parked behind Tumbarumba shops around midday. It's about a half-hour drive from Gingellic to Tumbarumba. Yes, there was a car park behind the shops. There's a little creek or river that runs

through Tumba Rumba. And around the opposite side of the shops on the main street, there's a car park there. And when you come from Gingellic, you come up over the hill and along and down a hill into Tumbarumba. As you cross the little bridge, you can turn left and park in the car park. And the car was seen there by someone. So the assumption is that they made a stop in Tumbarumba. The next sighting of Jack's hearse was by a truck driver who saw it driving north on Batlow Road heading towards Batlow.

The hearse was about 10 minutes north of Tumbarumba at the time of this sighting, meaning about 20 minutes south of Batlow. The truck driver was unable to say how many people were in the hearse. The next confirmed sighting of the hearse was at 3pm on the southern outskirts of Tumbarumba, heading back south towards Gingellic. The witness noticed the male driver and no one else in the vehicle. Jack was then seen by witnesses returning to the Gingellic campground alone around 4pm. Jack confirmed his return time as 4pm when he was questioned by the detectives at the Deniliquin Police Station. It is a three-hour round trip from Gingellic to Gokup Road and back. Given Jack and Niamh left between 10 and 11am and Jack didn't return to Gingellic

until around 4pm, This leaves two to three hours that are unaccounted for. Jack's version is that he drove Neham to Go Cup Road in Tumut and then straight back to Gingellic. No other stops or detours. He didn't offer anything to explain this unaccounted for time, and he was never asked. Detective Steve Rose was not yet involved in the investigation when Jack was interviewed in those early days, and the information from witnesses in Gingellic came too late. By the time Strike Force YOLA detectives pieced together the timeline, Jack had already been questioned and released. He went back to Zingelic, where Liam stayed the night before.

He gets back to the pub, or wherever they were, and talking to his circle of friends, and I can't remember who they were, but there was a girl amongst them. And there was a conversation that took place there between him and another person. He says to that person, I'm going to get off tonight. I'm going to get off tonight. Which I felt was a really, not a strange thing to say, but considering the circumstances, you know, he sort of made that public and from that point on he did. Louise was a camper at Gingellic who had spent time with Nahum, Jack and Garth on the Friday night.

She told police this about Jack's return to Gingellic on Easter Saturday afternoon. Jack had indicated that he was in for a pretty big night. He had said that he wanted to get smashed. Louise also remembered that as Jack returned to Gingellic, Garth asked him what had taken so long. The three-hour round trip to Gokup Road had taken upwards of six hours. Louise told police, Jack walked up to where we were sitting. I heard Garth ask him words to the effect of, what took you? I don't recall if Jack replied or acknowledged that. I then heard Garth say to Jack, did you pick up my gear? I can't recall the exact wording of Jack's reply, but

it was similar to, I didn't stop in Batlow. I'm nearly positive that's what he said." It is a great pity that Garth didn't share his concern about the length of the trip with police in his subsequent interview at the Niloquen police station. In fact, he told police the exact opposite, that Jack was only gone for a couple of hours. At the same time, what Louise overheard suggests that Garth also believed that Jack was taking Niamh to Batlow. So much so that he was expecting Jack to pick up more of his gear from Batlow Caravan Park while he was there. Why he never shared any of this information with police in his first police interview at Deniliquin is a mystery. This is what Garth said.

How long was Jack Nicholson driving from Gingellic on that Saturday? A couple of hours, I suppose. Do you know he was gone for a couple of hours or you're only guessing? Well, I can't say how long he was gone for, but because I was drinking beer with the girls, with Louise and Jessica. Yeah. Did you see him on his return to Gingellic? Yeah. And what sort of mood was he in when he returned? He was just normal. Did you give any instructions to Jack in relation to your property? Have you asked him to do you a favour in relation

to some property of yours? Yeah. Yeah, I asked him to pick up some camping gear for me. From where was that? From Batlow. From that Easter Saturday night in Gingellic, there are mixed recollections about Jack's mood. Some say he was completely normal, the same as the Friday night.

But others say he was quieter. Susie recalls Jack drinking at the bar alone not long after she started her shift at 5pm. He seemed a little bit flat compared to the night before and beginning of my shift, it's a bit quieter. So I did get a chance to talk to him and I've got a vague recollection that he talked about selling his car to a mate and he didn't know whether he made the right decision. He was a bit, you know, down the dumps about it. You know, I don't know what I'm going to do because I love my car and he was going to get a lift with his mate somewhere. I can't remember where they were going, but, yeah, no, he did seem a bit flat.

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Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge. Ben MGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Susie remembers correctly. In her statement to police in 2002, she said that Jack appeared down in the dumps because he had just sold the hearse to Garth for $3,000. And Susie isn't the only witness who recalls Jack agreeing to sell Garth his hearse that Saturday night at Gingellic Pub. It was a topic of conversation. Garth was ecstatic. Garth loved the hearse and all along had wanted to buy it from Jack.

Jack said he was having cash flow problems so had to sell it. It may have just been a coincidence that he wanted to sell his hearse merely hours after Niamh was last seen alive. So that night at the Gingellic pub, Garth was celebrating the purchase of his new vehicle while Jack got to work getting smashed. During the night, he started talking to a woman named Simone. Simone had asked her friend Susie about Jack, who had made his way from the bar to the pool table. Simone introduced herself to Jack and they got talking. I do remember seeing Jack. He was wearing a really nice jacket. It caught my attention.

I did end up approaching him. And we had some conversations and had a few drinks. And he was telling me about a car that he was driving, which was a black hearse, EH Holden, I think. I was curious to see his vehicle, so he invited me down to his campsite. I took a bottle of wine down with me. Despite agreeing to sell his car to Garth, Jack was still very fond of the hearse.

When they walked down to the gingellic campground to check out the hearse, Jack offered Simone a joint. I did see his car. I remember him rolling me a joint and from that point on I really don't recall too much from that evening. Simone blacked out and struggles to remember much of what happened next. I had smoked marijuana before. I think I had a pretty good tolerance for it.

But yeah, this particular joint pretty much wiped me out. So I have a suspicion that he probably put something in it. Do you have any suspicion what? I have no idea. Someone suggested it could have been ketamine. I've never had anything. I've never been drugged before, so I've never experienced anything like this.

But yeah, just absolute bugger all memory from that evening. Yeah. Did you see him roll it? I know he was rolling it. I just couldn't see what he was doing because, yeah, he was sort of sitting further away from me when he was rolling it and it was dark. It was night time.

Susie had arranged to drive Simone home that night but as the bar was closing, Susie couldn't find her. And I went looking for her, went outside to see if I could see her and I couldn't see her anywhere. I did go and find her after about 10 minutes search in the toilets and she sort of was on the ground and she was just a little bit groggy and it was just unusual to see her like that. And she mentioned something about she must have drunk something or taken something that didn't affect her or that affected her that way. She was sort of not flat out on the ground. She was maybe like up on her elbows, like lifting her head,

just where am I, what am I doing, who am I, like a bit vague. A bit vague in her memories of what was going on. So had you ever seen Simone in that state before? No, no, no. She did like to drink. So do we all. But no, she seemed very groggy, like it wasn't her normal self. But she came to quite quickly.

I would say she'd never pass out on the floor. I've never seen her pass out on the floor. I've never seen her pass out on the floor. Susie knew Simone well, and it was totally out of character for her to end up like this. So what made this night different? She had accepted a joint from Jack a few hours earlier. I don't remember passing out on the toilet, in the bathroom, but apparently I did. The publican who was running the hotel at the time, I've spoken to him about that. And yeah, he said, basically, it looked like someone had fired a shotgun in my face because I was really messy. And that were his words. And yeah, I've known this publican for a while. This is my local hotel. And he's never seen me in that state before.

Susie told Simone it was time to go home. I said, well, we'll go home now. And she said, well, Jack's coming with us. And I said, oh, OK. So he seemed to be in the beer garden area somewhere. And she's gone outside, Simone's gone outside and found Jack and I've gotten the car and taken them back to her house. Apparently I insisted that he came home with me. A friend of mine was working behind the bar that

night. She was the one that suggested I go out that evening and had organised her older daughters to babysit my children. And I remember going home and waking up on my lounge. I don't know where Jack was, but apparently I insisted he coming back with me. I don't know why. I think if I was more cognitive, I would have made different decisions. But, yeah. Susie's daughters, Megan and Michelle, who at the time were aged 12 and 14

respectively, were babysitting Simone's children that night and were at Simone's house when she arrived home with Jack. They were in a separate bedroom with Simone's kids in their beds. Michelle recalls someone walking into their bedroom that night. I was babysitting for Simone with my younger sister. We put the kids to bed, went to bed ourselves and went to sleep. I woke up at some point through the night and saw the headlights of Simone's car. So she'd obviously come back, went back to sleep. And then I woke up a second time and something had obviously woken me suddenly because I was disorientated.

And that's when I realised that there was just a cold, rough hand holding my hand because I had my hand over the edge of the bed. And I could see the outline of somebody leaning over the bed. So I whispered to my sister, asked her if she was awake and she said yes. I said there's someone in the room and she said I know and I said can you turn on the light and she said no I'm scared. So I jumped up and turned on the light and there was a clearly drunk man sitting beside my bed, had his head in his hands. He kept asking if he was at the pub. He didn't know where he was. He didn't know Simone's name, but I just kept firmly telling him he needed to go back to her room. And yeah, eventually he did get up and I watched him walk away. So I just made sure he went into the right room. Yeah. As Susie's daughter, Michelle, watched Jack walk out of her room

and down the hall, she noticed his thongs caked in mud laying in the hallway. Jack didn't enter the room Michelle and her sister were staying in again, however both remained awake all night, terrified. The next morning, Easter Sunday, Susie returned to Simone's house and dropped Jack and Simone back to the Gingellic Hotel. Jack met back up with Garth and Simone collected her car. Simone was still feeling the effects of something. I did wake up feeling pretty like sedated, just lethargic, just heavy. Simone and Jack said their goodbyes. I remember exchanging phone numbers. Like I didn't have any ill feelings towards him. Like I was kind of glad that I met him, to be honest, because, you know, I was, yeah, I just don't know.

Don't know. Like it just seemed like a normal goodbye, you know, nice to meet you, you know, be in touch, let me know if you're in the area again. Simone initially thought Jack was charming. You mentioned before it was charming. How would you, are you able to elaborate on the charm? He was just nice. He was down to earth, friendly. He wasn't arrogant in any way. He seemed interested, talkative. Yeah. It was only after time passed that Simone realised there may have been something sinister in that joint that Jack gave her.

Is there anything that made you aware of, like a lightbulb that, oh, hang on, about that night? I think once I'd worked out that Neem had gone missing, that maybe there was something sinister that happened that night. Yeah, but that took some time for that light bulb. Jack and Garth left Djungelic Hotel around lunchtime on Easter Sunday. They headed back to Batlow Caravan Park where they collected the rest of their gear, settled the bill and checked out. Butlow Caravan Park manager Penny remembers them leaving.

They came to the office and said to me, sorry, we're running late getting the rent paid, but we've been away for a few days. And I said, oh, I didn't even realise you were away. And they said, oh, yeah, we've been down at Gingellic. They said, but we're packing up now and we're leaving, so we just want to fix you up for what we owe you. So I wished them all the best and I think I said,

where are you off to after here? And I think they said something along the lines, I think it was Queensland, they said they were going to go. And I looked at the bloke in the hearse and I said, are you going to terrorise him up that way now, or something or other, you know, referring to his hearse, you know. Yeah, he laughed and said, yeah, that'll be our next stop. Liam had plans to catch up with friends in Batlow that Easter Saturday,

had a ticket home bought and paid for the following day, and many people, including Garth, were all of the belief Neham wanted Jack to drive her to Batlow. But we have Jack returning to Gingellic on Easter Saturday saying he dropped Neham off on Gokup Road in Tumut to hitchhike. And there are two to three hours unaccounted for in his timeline. Where did Gokup Road and hitchhiking come from? Niamh never mentioned hitchhiking or Gokup Road Tumut to anyone else. Then, within hours of returning to Gingellic that Easter Saturday, Jack had sold his beloved Holdenhurst to Garth, told everyone he wanted to get smashed, and then later gave Simone a joint which she believes may have been laced with something. All of this just hours after Niamh was never seen again. When interviewed by police, Jack suggested that Niamh wanted to hitchhike so she could save some money by eliminating the first leg of the trip from

Batlow to Cootamundra on the Country Link bus. But of course, she didn't need to save money on a ticket that had already been paid for in full. Was it possible Niamh could have got a partial refund to save money? Detective Steve Rose said Niamh would have received a refund had she hitchhiked to Kootamundra instead of taking the bus from Batlow. She was going to be picked up by bus at Batlow and driven by bus to Kootamundra railway station where she hopped on the Country Link train. And if she would have cashed in on the bus leg, you know, she might have saved $2 or $3 or something like that. It just didn't sound right. We checked and the exact refund Niamh would have received was $5.50, but it defies logic to think Neem would spend hours trying

to hitchhike to Kutamundra for the sake of such a small amount. Of course, we must consider Neem wouldn't have been aware that she would have only been entitled to such a small refund if she did indeed plan to hitchhike. On the 27th of April 2002, almost a month after Neham went missing, the Daily Telegraph printed an article that said, quote, Police believe she was trying to save money on her ticket so she chose to hitchhike instead. The road Jack said he dropped Neham off to hitchhike, Gokub Road, is a 30 kilometre long stretch of road surrounded by farmland that links Tumet to the town of Gundagai. Hitchhikers and backpackers weren't unknown on that stretch of road because it was the main road out to the

Hume Highway that connects Sydney with Melbourne. Nonetheless, Niamh could have spent hours walking along that road with no guarantee that anyone would stop to pick her up. And we can't forget that Niamh had planned to stay with a friend at the Batlow Caravan Park on Saturday night so she could easily wake up to catch the bus on Sunday morning. It was another one of the travellers who was going to camp with her in Batlow Carribbean Park on Easter Saturday night and then she was going to jump on the bus the next morning.

If she decided to hitchhike to cash in part of her ticket, as Jack claimed, where did she plan on staying Saturday night? She knew nobody in Cootamundra and did not have money to spend on accommodation. It's not likely she would have swapped an easy trip to Sydney with free accommodation with the uncertainty of hitchhiking. Niamh had planned to see her friends Joel and Sol that Easter Saturday before she left Batlow. Joel and Sol drove out to Ardrossan Orchard about 6.30pm Easter Saturday night to pick Niamh up for their farewell. Niamh wasn't there. In fact, no one was there, it was deserted. Assuming Niamh had already made her way into town, Joel looked for her at the Batlow Hotel and at the RSL, but there was no sign of her

anywhere. Joel stayed at the pub waiting for her, hoping she'd turn up. When she didn't, he returned to his caravan and went to sleep. Joel made sure he was up in time to say farewell to Niamh at the bus stop Easter Sunday morning. But when she didn't appear there either and failed to get on the bus, Joel assumed Niamh must have made other plans. But then Niamh didn't make it to her sister Fanula's place in Sydney. It just doesn't add up. I mean, but then that's the frustrating thing with any missing persons cases. You just never really know.

So you can go on as much, you know, you do the whole standard, it's so out of character for her to not contact us and all those clichés that you say early on. There's nothing stronger than gut feel and we all knew as soon as she wasn't in Sydney on that day that she was supposed to arrive at my house that something was wrong. Why was so much value placed on Jack's story? One reason why Jack's Go Cup Road story grew legs was that an elderly couple named Val and Cole, who lived on a lane that runs off the Go Cup Road, came forward to say they had seen a woman resembling Neem

walking along Gokap Road around lunchtime on Easter Saturday. They described the woman as wearing a pair of khaki-coloured cargo pants and carrying a navy backpack. The couple said the woman appeared to be walking north in the direction of Gundagai and Kutamundra. Fanula and the rest of Nahum's family found out about this sighting later, but are unsure if Val and Cole were interviewed at the time or weeks afterwards when photos of Nahum were shown in newspapers and television reports. Nahum's mum, Anne, wrote in her diary, The person who reported seeing her has some serious omissions from his description and could have been imposing what he was seeing on the posters on another hitchhiker.

For Neham's brother, Kieran, the alleged sighting on Gokart Road doesn't make sense because Neham being dropped off there didn't make sense in the first place. And it shifted the focus away from Jack. I guess the hard part was there were sightings of a girl on Go Cup Road north of Tumut. Now, that tended to corroborate what Jack had said, that he'd dropped her off, so he had nothing to do with it and he was gone.

There had also been roadworks on the Go Cup Road, right at the spot where Jack claims he dropped Nahum off. On that Saturday Nahum went missing, there was a council worker operating a water tanker to dampen the road to minimise dust. He did not remember seeing Jack, a girl hitchhiking or a hearse. The catch-22 of a widespread media strategy is that people come forward weeks later when they see the case featured on the TV and swear they saw a girl fitting Niamh's description on Go Cup Road. This happened in Niamh's case. So what did the police think of the sightings? So Steve is adamant that he is adamant that she never made it to Go Cup Road. Stan is adamant that there's a credible sighting there.

So I don't know. The sighting reported by elderly couple Val and Cole seemed to be the sighting that was taken most seriously by the police. But it wasn't the only one. What did the other witnesses see? When we first started looking into this case, Gokap Road was a big point of contention. If Neham was seen on Gokap Road, then Jack could have been telling the truth about dropping her off there. And more importantly, the focus in the investigation would turn away from him. But what really happened on Go Cup Road? On the next episode of Missing Niamh...

Over time, we did keep an eye on his movements. That's the first thing you think, I mean, there's nothing on Go Cup Road. There would be no point being dropped off at Go Cup Road. I think it was pretty bloody strange, actually. Why wouldn't she just get on the bus here? So that had sort of added a bit of spice to the Go Cup Road theory.