Murder Of Rachelle Childs

Rachelle Childs was last seen on Thursday, June 7th, 2001. She was driving home to Bargo from work at 5.15 pm. Rachelle entered the home after working at a car dealership in Camden (a 20-30 mins drive).

It's thought she drove a short distance to Bargo Pub to meet with someone. Her 1978 Holden Commodore would later be found abandoned in the parking lot behind the venue. The driver's seat of her car and steering wheel lock was in an unusual position when interrogated by police, raising skepticism as to whether Rachelle last drove the car or her murderer did.

Rachelle's charred remains were found at 2.20 am on June 8th at Gerroa on the NSW south coast, 60 miles from her home. A security guard found her, still burning, body in roadside bushland.

Fiona Shaw, unaware of the terrible discovery miles away, came at Rachelle Childs's home on the morning of June 8th. She was a colleague of Rachelle's at Camden Holden and had scheduled to meet her before work. She found no one home and went to work worried about Rachelle's whereabouts. She reported Rachelle's house lights and television were left on.

Initial invinvestigations

Rachelle's body was found partially clothed and burnt in a ditch on the side of the road 8 hours after she was last seen alive.

The reaction by the police was disorganized. Local authorities took days to involve the NSW Homicide Unit in the inquiry. Later the state corner will say 'The police inquiry in the early period following Ms. Child's death, unfortunately, was not able to capture some items of proof which are no longer available to the current investigating police'.

There was no method in place to manage suspicious deaths. Based on my research, there was no incriminating physical evidence found in Rachelle's home or car.

The initial postmortem could not conclude the cause of death due to the state of her remains. Any physical proof linking to the perp had been demolished by the fire. It was concluded that Rachelle was only partially clothed (in her underwear) when she was burnt and that some of her clothing may have been disposed of elsewhere.

The trail went cold soon. Rachelle had no known enemies. No witnesses from the pub came forward and with no physical proof to go on the police force was left stumped.

Secondary Investigation:

A coronal inquest was performed in 2008 after Rachelle's previous boss, Kevin Correll, reportedly told that Childs' fingers had been cut off because of her interest in bikies.

Rachelle's body was exhumed and state coroner Jane Culver concluded that her fingers were severed before she was burnt. Culver assumed Rachelle's death was a homicide.

Police came forward saying they had 9 possible suspects, with one person who they think committed the killing. No further information was given.

Suspects:

Kevin Correll- Rachelle's boss at Camden Holden. He was the person who told 3 people that Rachelle's fingers had been severed. This was not public knowledge and was not mentioned in the initial coroner's report. He has an explanation for the night but the police doubt the truth. Fiona Shaw came forward to police a week after Rachelle's death saying that Kevin had shown up late to work on the 8th of June and left early. He was behaving oddly that day and uninteresting in the fact Rachelle was missing.

Steven Fesus- Charged in 2013 with the homicide of his 18-year-old wife whose remains were dumped in Gerroa in '97 (near where Rachelle was found). Witnesses have come forward saying Fesus was at Bargo Pub the night Rachelle went missing. He conserves that he was home with his children at the time of her murder.

Rebel's gang- Many locals told Rachelle had ties with bikies and may have been pertained to dealing drugs. This may clarify the cutting of the fingers and burning of the body.

An unknown- it's likely Rachelle went to the pub to meet someone she knew. Rachelle's friends and family say Childs would not go to the pub or get in a car with someone she did not know. Rachelle had used Bargo Pub as a place to meet for dinner and drinks to talk about work-related matters. Could a friend or customer have planned to meet her that night?