It's been 49 years since her son disappeared, but Evelyn Henderson still dreams about him.
The dreams are vivid and terrifying.
"I have dreams I'm in the bush, and I'm lost," she says.
"So I think, maybe it's Jimmy's out there, wanting to be found."
The ABC is publishing images of Jimmy Taylor with the family's permission
Jimmy Taylor vanished from the remote Kimberley town of Derby in 1974.
He'd walked to the local store to get some snacks and cool drinks, and witnesses saw him get into a car with a man who has never been identified.
The case has haunted the town of Derby.
Now, almost five decades on, there's a renewed push to solve the mystery of what happened to Jimmy Taylor.
WA Police have announced a $1 million reward for information that leads to a conviction.
And with two suspects languishing in prison, eldest sister Lyn Henderson-Yates says there's a growing sense of urgency.
"Our mother is about to turn 87, and she's talking about Jimmy more and more," she says.
"There is still a window for us to find out what happened — it would mean the world to us."
The WA Police Force believes Jimmy met with foul play, and was the victim of homicide.
His family has come to accept he is unlikely to be alive.
But the confusion and uncertainty tugs at them — the inability to bury his remains and commemorate his life.
"We believe he came into contact with a predator," says Lyn.
"Was he scared? Did he cry out? These are the questions you can't help but think about.
"At the end of the day, Jimmy's life was of value, and he deserves not to be forgotten."
'Poor but loving'
Jimmy Taylor was one of nine children.
"He had a friendly, happy personality; so much energy," says Lyn.
"He was obsessed with Cat Stevens albums, and always kept a comb in his back pocket to keep his hair looking smart."
The family was Aboriginal and lived in a house on a quiet street with an enormous boab tree growing in the front yard.
While his siblings don't like to dwell on the issue of race, the impact of the Native Welfare regime was inescapable.
Each child was physically assessed and classed as either "half-caste" or "quarter caste", and the impact of decades of child removal from "mixed race" families loomed large in the remote town.
Lyn says their parents were doing the best they could.
"Like many families in Derby, we struggled," she says.
"There was poverty, but we made do with what we had.
"It was a loving environment, and we were fed and clothed and encouraged to get educated and encouraged to have a thirst for knowledge about the world."
Then, on a sunny day in August 1974, everything changed.
Twelve-year-old Jimmy went to the shops and never came back.
The crucial day
It was late afternoon when Jimmy offered to run up to the local store to buy some snacks and cool drinks.
His mother Evelyn says it was common practice; the family didn't have a car.
"We were sitting out the front under the boab tree, and Jimmy piped up and said, 'I'll go to the shop, Mum!' and off he went," she says.
"The kids all knew they had to be home by sunset, so I was worried straight away when he wasn't back for dinner."
At first they thought he might have stayed at a friend's house, or got a lift to a local cattle station.
Over the following days the anxious parents scoured the town on foot, going house to house in the hot sun.
A local woman told them she'd seen Jimmy on the day in question, climbing into a four-wheel-drive vehicle with an unknown man.
A few days later, Jimmy's parents reported him missing to the local police station.
But the response was minimal.
An alert was issued to police posts across Western Australia's north, but there was no organised search.
Police response
Lyn was 17 at the time.
"I think us being an Aboriginal family definitely had an impact," she reflects.
"The thinking seemed to be, 'Oh, he's Aboriginal, so he's probably just gone walkabout'.
"You felt you weren't … important enough for there to be more concentrated help in trying to solve his case.
"Thankfully it's not like that now."
The WA Police Force has acknowledged things could have been done better.
Detective Superintendent Rohan Ingles now heads the unit responsible for cold case investigations.
"The disappearance of Jimmy is an absolute tragedy, and my heart breaks for the family," he says.
"Looking back at what happened – to be completely honest — I would like a lot more to have been done.
"But it wasn't.
"In today's environment, a 12-year-old that goes missing like that would be treated with a great deal of urgency."
The weeks and months dragged on with no sign of Jimmy.
Reported sightings could not be confirmed.
Rumours swirled around the small port town about who might have been involved.
The siblings remember Evelyn sobbing in the night-time, feeling powerless and panicked as life continued around her.
Reflecting on that time, the 86-year-old grows quiet.
"The thought hadn't entered my mind that this could happen," she says.
"I'd heard about other mothers losing their children and disappearing.
"But I didn't think in little old Derby town it'd happen."
A suspect emerges
As the decades passed, the family's frustration at the lack of action grew.
Several times they received tip-offs, and headed into the bush surrounding town to search fruitlessly for signs of a makeshift grave.
There was nothing.
The Kimberley is vast and the terrain is tough; without a concrete lead the quest felt hopeless.
It wasn't until 2006 that WA Police conducted an audit of long-term missing person cases.
There was a clear possibility of foul play, so investigators were assigned to take a fresh look.
It coincided with an ABC documentary about convicted child killer James Ryan O'Neill.
O'Neill had abducted and murdered a young boy in Tasmania in 1975, and the film revealed he'd been living in Derby at the time Jimmy disappeared.
Finally, there was a clear suspect.
A local reporter published a series of stories on the case, and in 2013 the WA Coroner announced an inquest would be held.
Inquest reveals fresh evidence
The 2014 inquest was held over several days at the Derby courthouse.
Crucially, it produced a new witness.
The local man told the court he saw Jimmy jumping in and out of a vehicle that was pulled over in a different part of town, about a kilometre away from the store.
He described the car as a dark-coloured ute, with a solidly built Caucasian man in the driver's seat.
He was unsure of the exact date, but thought it was about the time Jimmy went missing.
The coroner also grilled O'Neill about his whereabouts at the time Jimmy vanished.
Suspect number 1 : James O'Neill
O'Neill was described by those who knew him as intelligent and likeable, but with a disturbing habit of changing his name and lying about his identity.
He'd grown up in Melbourne and worked in industries such as real estate and gun-dealing.
In 1971, Victorian police charged him with abducting and sexually assaulting four boys.
But O'Neill fled to WA, and in 1974 — when Jimmy vanished — he was living and working at cattle stations in the Derby area.
The following year O'Neill moved to Tasmania and was convicted of the murder of nine-year-old Ricky Smith.
The 28-year-old was sentenced to life in jail, and remains in custody as the longest-serving prisoner in Tasmania.
At the inquest, O'Neill denied any involvement in the disappearance of Jimmy Taylor.
Coroner Barry King concluded that O'Neill "had the opportunity and propensity to abduct the deceased", but that it could not be established beyond doubt.
"I have concluded that the death of [Jimmy Taylor] has been proven beyond all reasonable doubt, but … I am unable to determine to the required level of satisfaction whether Mr O'Neill abducted or killed the deceased."
The case remained unsolved, and there were no new leads until 2020, when it was revealed a second offender was living nearby at the time of Jimmy's disappearance.
Suspect number 2: John Bodey
As COVID lockdowns swept Australia, WA Police arrested a man named John Melverne Bodey on 57 child sex abuse charges.
It was alleged he'd sexually assaulted 13 boys in Derby between 1970 and 1986.
The court heard he groomed and raped the boys while employed as a gardener at the local high school.
In 2021, the 78-year-old was sentenced to 17 years in jail.
At the time, the lawyer representing some of Bodey's victims described him as a predator.
"I don't think I can recall a series of abuses so significant for such a long time in such a small community," he told ABC Kimberley.
"There's something quite unique about this case in Derby — it would have to be one of the worst."
Jimmy Taylor's family only recently became aware of the details of the case, and immediately wondered if the paedophile was linked to Jimmy's disappearance.
Bodey had lived just a couple of houses away – although at the time, had gone by a different name, John Ifould.
"It made us realise that, like any small town, Derby had a lot of secrets," Lyn says.
"When we heard about Bodey and the terrible things he did, we were shocked.
"We'd been focused on O'Neill – but now we find out there's this second predator in Derby at the same time.
"Both of these men are still alive, and still in prison, so there's this urgency to find out all that we can from them before they die."
The WA Police Force has interviewed both O'Neill and Bodey about Jimmy's disappearance. Both men are expected to remain in jail for the rest of their lives.
Both have denied any involvement with Jimmy Taylor's disappearance.
Reward announced
Jimmy's family is now pinning its hopes on a $1 million reward that's been issued for information leading to the conviction of his killer.
In May 2023, the WA government unveiled one of the biggest campaigns to solve so-called "cold cases" ever undertaken in Australia.
A total of 64 unsolved murder and missing persons cases have been allocated the $1 million reward.
Detective Superintendent Rohan Ingles, who heads the Special Crime Unit, says all the cases have the potential to be solved.
"This is not about symbolism," he says.
"They are all cases where there are elements suggesting criminality was involved.
"So our objective is to solve the mystery of these long-term missing people and bring some form of closure to the families."
He says the case of Jimmy Taylor is a distressing one.
"Sadly a lot of people haven't heard of Jimmy Taylor, but it's an absolute tragedy," he reflects.
"Every 12-year-old should be safe walking down the street to buy a can of drink, and they should be safe walking the streets of a small country town like Derby.
"We are resolved here at the Special Crime division to find some form of closure for the family.
"I urge anyone with information to come forward."
'We are hoping for a miracle'
Back in Derby, the family of Jimmy Taylor is doing its best to keep his memory alive.
Evelyn Henderson watches quietly as her daughters unpack a small box of faded photos and clippings.
"I think I've missed him more and more as the years have gone by," she says.
"I don't show it much … I keep it all locked inside."
As she carefully unfolds a laminated photo of the smiling boy from her purse it becomes achingly clear.
It is devastating for a parent to lose their child, but even more unbearable to not know what they've been lost to.
Lyn Henderson-Yates says they've wrestled with grief and hope for too long.
"We are hoping for a miracle," she says.
"Every life is of value, and Jimmy was important … he mattered, and he deserves better."
