Chip Chick
This year will mark 15 years since the tragic vanishing of Helen Munnings, a 20 year-old mother with a two-year-old child from Tasmania.
Although a coroner determined in 2012 that Helen had to have died around the time she went missing in 2008, local police are offering a hefty reward for any information that points to who may have taken her life or where her body may be.
Helen was one of four children and grew up in Burnie, a city on the island of Tasmania in Australia. She was loved by her friends and family and known for being full of life.
When Helen was only 16-years-old, she met and entered a relationship with Adam, a local builder who was 15 years older than her.
Against her friend’s and family’s wishes, Helen continued her relationship with Adam while he was in a long-term relationship with another woman. Helen’s friends and family allegedly recall Helen telling stories about Adam being violent.
Not long after her 18th birthday, Helen gave birth to Adam’s son, Donovan. While Helen was a caring and doting mother, Adam wanted to share custody of their son.
On July 23rd, 2008, Helen left her mother’s home alone for what her mom, Karel, thought was a medical appointment.
However, Helen had actually left to visit Adam at a nearby Burnie park. Earlier that month, Helen had allegedly discovered she was pregnant again and told family and friends Adam was the father.
That afternoon, Adam was the last person to see Helen, which became evident through CCTV footage of them walking around together that day. She never returned home that evening.
When police spoke to Adam, he claimed he had been driving Helen around Burnie when she allegedly told him she wanted to take a walk and clear her head. Adam claimed he dropped Helen off at the southern edge of the Bass Highway around 6:00 p.m., and that was the last time anyone saw her.
Adam became a suspect in Helen’s disappearance, not only because of their history and her suspicious vanishing, but because he had also taken his boat out on the water that night, which was odd, considering late July is wintertime in Australia.
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