For 25 years, Cheryl and Ian Antonio have had no place to mourn their daughter.
There was no funeral, no memorial and no goodbye.
And there won't be until they have a body, or at least answers.
"We couldn't bring her home, we couldn't have a memorial service and put a real plaque so we could put some flowers there," Ms Antonio said.
Sixteen-year-old schoolgirl Rachel Antonio is believed to have been killed.
The day she disappeared is etched in her parents' minds.
It was Anzac Day, 1998.
Rachel had spent the morning attending the dawn service in Bowen, a small town south of Townsville, before marching in the local parade.
She was a cadet and had aspirations to join the Air Force.
'I love you, Mum'
Afterwards, she asked her mother if she could go to the movies that evening.
Ms Antonio agreed and dropped her off.
"I think about [that day] a lot," she said.
"I can even picture in my mind the dress, I can just see it still to this day what she wore.
"I said, 'goodbye, enjoy the movie'. And she said: 'Yes Mum, I will. I love you Mum'.
"She always said that, even before she went to school. 'I love you Mum'. It was just a common thing she said when she was going out.
"'I love you Mum'. That was the last words she said to me. And I watched her walk across the road and that was the last time I saw her.
"I never even got the chance to hug her or say goodbye to her or tell her I loved her again."
Bowen Cinema owner Ben De Luca said even after more than two decades, he can still remember who was at the movies that night.
But Rachel wasn't one of them.
"A few of the people reporting the incident said that she came to the movies here [that night], and that was not the case," he said.
"Rachel did come to the movies here often as a young high school girl [but not that night]."
Off to see alleged boyfriend
Instead, witnesses say she walked down to the beach, telling those she spoke to she was meeting her boyfriend.
A coronial inquest heard the person she met was Robert Hytch — a then 25-year-old surf lifesaver nearly a decade her senior.
The magistrate in those proceedings named Mr Hytch as Rachel's likely killer, stating he believed she died after a violent altercation with him.
He was found guilty of her manslaughter in 1999 but the conviction was overturned on appeal and Mr Hytch was then acquitted at a retrial.
Mr Hytch has consistently denied there was ever anything but friendship between the pair, but the coronial inquest heard evidence that entries from Rachel's diary told a different story:
29/07/97
We broke up. He thought I mustn't have liked him if we didn't kiss. He also thought I told all my friends.
03/09/97
He told me after S.L.S. theory training that he realised he had made a big mistake and that he wanted us to try again. We hugged and I agreed (Flagstaff Hill).
4/11/97
Robert and I have been best friends for over 2 years and have been going out for about 6 months …
Magistrate O'Connell referred the case to the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to investigate possible charges of perjury against Mr Hytch for allegedly lying to police about his relationship with Rachel, but nearly eight years later, no perjury charges have been laid.
A $250,000 reward remains on offer for information which leads to the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Rachel's murder.
In a statement, the Queensland Police Service said: "Police are continuing investigations into the matter in consultation with the Department of Public Prosecutions.
"As such we are unable to comment further at this time."
'We deserve to know the truth'
Ian Antonio said he's doubtful anyone will ever come forward, and fears he'll never know what happened to Rachel, or where her body is.
"Somebody knows what happened. I don't know if they know where the body is but somebody definitely knows what happened and I would hope that somebody would say enough's enough," he said.
"Enough time has gone by. We deserve to know the truth, if anybody's withholding any information, no matter how small it is, we deserve to know."
Cheryl Antonio still refuses to go to King's Beach, where police believe Rachel may have been murdered.
In the days after her disappearance, cadaver dogs detected the scent of a dead human.
The area was dug up and searched extensively, but there was no sign of Rachel or any of her belongings.
It's where Mr Antonio has spent hours tortured by questions of what happened to his daughter.
"I don't sleep real well. Never have, not since this happened," he said.
"It's there all the time. It might go away for a little while, but it won't take long [for it to come back].
"Something will come back up. Something will be said through the day, something will be said by somebody, or we'll even be watching the news, 16-year-old goes missing and we'll go, 'better watch that'.
"Some bones are found somewhere, or something happens. It's constantly there."
All the couple can do now is hope and wait for someone to come forward with information that might allow them to finally have somewhere to remember Rachel.
"A little piece of the story is enough to maybe get some closure," Mr Antonio said.
