An additional 60 unsolved missing and murdered persons cases will attract rewards of $1 million each for information that results in a conviction, the West Australian government has announced today.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and image of a person who has died.
Previous rewards have been set by an opaque system that saw some crimes essentially "worth" more or less than others.
The government confirmed an additional 60 cases of unsolved murder or disappearances — including the case of pregnant woman Stacey Thorne who was stabbed to death in her home — will now attract a $1 million reward.
Up until now, that figure has been offered in just four unsolved cases.
The previous investigation into Ms Thorne's murder resulted in a man being wrongfully imprisoned and a Supreme Court ruling that there was credible evidence a knife and a blood-stained cigarette packet was planted at the scene of the murder.
Yesterday a petition was tabled in parliament asking for a reward for fresh information to help solve the bungled murder investigation.
The $1 million figure is in line with the reward set in recent years for some of the state's highest-profile killings, including the sniper shooting of former Rebels motorcycle gang boss Nick Martin in the crowd at the Kwinana Motorplex in 2020 and the abduction and murder of 11-year-old Gerard Ross.
Detectives will also be hoping for new leads in the disappearance of teenagers Raelene Eaton, 16, and Yvonne Waters, 17, who went missing from outside a Scarborough pub in 1974.
The girls were last seen talking to three men they had been socialising with at The White Sands Hotel, which has since been demolished.
Anyone with information that leads to a conviction for two deaths could receive a reward of $2 million, up from a single reward payment of $250,000.
'One million reasons to come forward'
Police Minister Paul Papalia said the rewards were significant and gave people "one million reasons to come forward".
"Each of these unsolved cases is as important as the next, and that is represented by the large rewards on offer," he said.
"The financial incentive will hopefully ensure those responsible for these heinous crimes are brought to justice and assist grieving families in finding closure."
Mr Papalia said the decision came after detectives requested changes to the system, which he admitted, while not intentional, "could be perceived as unfair".
"The Western Australian Police Force have always treated every case as equally important," he said.
"Sadly, our reward system has not reflected that approach — it is a wrong that we are righting today.
"The serious crime squad brought to the attention of the commissioner their desire to ensure that every single one of these cases was offered the same reward.
"They are the ones that are closest to these families ... the detectives in this squad are the most driven to help the families and get resolution.
"They saw it as something that was wrong where some cases have no reward, some have smaller rewards."
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said the rewards would give police the "best shot" at solving the historical cases and "truly believed" people would come forward.
"We already know advances in technology, particularly in forensics, give hope to solving these crimes as the years go on," he said.
"But what I also know is that there are people in the community who know who committed these crimes, who know what happened to these victims, and some of them may be close to the end of their own lives and tell the police what happened."
Mystery remains over outback disappearance
Today's policy change will also mean cold cases that involve the deaths of two people could now attract some of the highest rewards on record.
They include those of amateur prospectors Raymond and Jennie Kehlet, who went missing in the outback in 2015.
Raymond and Jennie Kehlet were prospecting with their friend, Graham Milne, in 2015 when they went missing near the tiny town of Sandstone, about 700 kilometres north-east of Perth.
Mr Milne told police he last saw the Kehlets on the morning of March 21, 2015, when he left to go prospecting on his own for around 20 hours.
He returned to camp in the early hours of the following day but went back to Perth without saying goodbye.
Mr Kehlet's body was found down a mine shaft about a week after the alarm was raised and Ms Kehlet has never been found.
WA Police continued to insist there was no evidence of foul play, even after Mr Kehlet's body was located.
In 2021, Coroner Ros Fogliani ruled Mr Kehlet had been murdered and Jennie was dead, but made no finding as to who was responsible.
She referred her findings to the DPP.
The DPP has since conceded it had no plans to lay charges because it believes there is not enough available evidence for a conviction.
Daughter unconvinced by rewards
Jennie Kehlet's daughter, Kelly Keegans, said the eight years following her mother and stepfather's disappearances had been surreal and heartbreaking.
"You kind of get stuck in a holding pattern of grief because you can't close the book on anything," she told ABC Radio Perth.
Ms Keegans said while she tried to hold onto hope, she did not expect the $2 million reward would lead to anyone coming forward.
"There was already a pretty hefty reward [of $250,000] and I don't think we got too many bites from that," she said.
"On some level I think you always hope people will have an innate sense of justice to come forward if they think they see or know something, but we know that's not necessarily the case.
"It can be very hard for people to come forward and some say something."
But Ms Keegans said she still wanted answers.
"It's very hard to understand how two kind, loving people ended up in this situation and what led to it," she said.
"Mum and Ray were extremely hard working and had time for anyone. They would find people who needed extra love and care and would take them under their wing."
Victim praises 'fantastic' initiative
But Heath Fulton, who was three-years-old when his mother Sharon vanished in 1986, described the reward system as a "fantastic initiative".
"Not being able to find answers and find peace, it brought a lot of trouble to our family," Mr Fulton said.
"We never really spoke about it and it just festered away internally and I think that's what has caused the most amount of grief."
Josh Warneke's mum urges caution
Ingrid Bishop, whose son Josh Warneke was found dead on the outskirts of Broome in February 2010, said a blanket $1 million reward may not be the best approach to find out who was responsible.
"A broad brush approach may not be the most appropriate way to handle it when you look at the complexity of the cases, mine in particular with my boy Josh," she told ABC Radio Perth.
"Research does say if you pay big bucks you can get a result, [but] experiences also say the big bucks don't result in anything, any change, because dollars don't buy safety or peace of mind for the people involved because they're driven by fear and no amount of money will take that away.
"In fact, it could actually have the flipside of a result, making people go dark and bunker down because they're thinking that there's heightened interest in potentially them, or people in their communities.
"So I think we just need to be very real and understand what were the motivations of people previously to not come forward, and do we really think $1 million is going to make any difference, because very rarely are the payments made."
Editor's note: Reporter Ashleigh Davis is related to Jennie Kehlet's children by marriage.
