Latest news with #DEARRACHELLE

Courier-Mail
02-07-2025
- Courier-Mail
Rachelle Childs podcast reaches 3 million downloads as petition for police reward increase grows
Don't miss out on the headlines from Dear Rachelle. Followed categories will be added to My News. More than three million people have now downloaded the multimedia investigation into the murder of Rachelle Childs, a cold case which continues to haunt her family and friends 24 years on. And her sister is not stopping in her quest for justice, as a petition to increase the reward to $500,000 to find her killer is gathering momentum online. Rachelle's sister Kristy, who launched the petition told signatories: 'This is a personal plea to increase the reward for information leading to a conviction in her case to $500,000. It's been over two decades since we lost Rachelle and justice has yet to be served.' She told this masthead: 'We haven't achieved a raise in the reward yet, despite campaigning for years. 'We feel an increase in the reward is justified and warranted.' Rachelle Childs in a picture taken at her 21st birthday party. Kristy said they feel the reward increase 'may help to encourage the public to come forward with perhaps some information that they have held back for personal reasons'. 'We also think that considering other cases with rewards of $500,000, $750,000 and even $1 million, Rachelle's case having a $200,000 reward is not equitable or fair.' The petition comes as the Dear Rachelle podcast has dominated the podcast charts in Australia and has ranked highly in the UK and New Zealand, as it reinvestigates evidence from the cold case with the help of Rachelle's family and ex-detectives. For more information about our investigation, exclusive photos and video, visit LISTEN TO THE DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST BELOW: When hearing the news of the podcast reaching three million downloads, Kristy said: 'Three million people listening to Chelle's story, talking about her case, and supporting the investigation is just mind blowing. 'We are so thankful, heartened and incredibly grateful. 'We just hope that all this incredible hard work and support from the public leads to a conviction and a very lengthy sentence. Murdered Bargo woman Rachelle Childs whose burning body was found at Gerroa on Thursday June 8, 2001. 'That is the only reason why we are doing this.' Rachelle, 23, was murdered, set on fire and left on the side of a lonely highway near Gerroa, on the NSW south coast, in June 2001. There was a lengthy police investigation at the time, but it was marred with incompetence and ultimately failed to identify the killer. As a result, Rachelle's case ended up languishing at the back of police unsolved homicide files. Journalist Ashlea Hanson talking to former detective Damien Loone about the case. Picture: Julian Andrews The podcast team at News Corp has been working with Rachelle's family and ex-detectives to reinvestigate long-forgotten evidence, along with the alibi of the chief suspect – her former boss Kevin Steven Correll, who has consistently denied murdering Rachelle and has never been charged. He says that he has always co-operated with police by supplying his DNA and answering all their questions. Mr Correll and Rachelle sold used cars at Camden Holden when she died. What Rachelle and the rest of the community probably didn't know was that he was previously acquitted of four sexual assaults under his birth name, Kevin Cornwall. Past allegations aside, it's possible Mr Correll was one of the last people to see Rachelle alive when she left work for the last time on June 7, before she that night, a number of motorists saw a car that matched the description of Rachelle's prized Commodore along the highway between her home in Bargo and Gerroa, where her body was uncovered. If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@ You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group. Originally published as Rachelle Childs podcast reaches 3 million downloads as petition for police reward increase grows

Mercury
02-07-2025
- Mercury
Rachelle Childs podcast reaches 3 million downloads as petition for police reward increase grows
More than three million people have now downloaded the multimedia investigation into the murder of Rachelle Childs, a cold case which continues to haunt her family and friends 24 years on. And her sister is not stopping in her quest for justice, as a petition to increase the reward to $500,000 to find her killer is gathering momentum online. Rachelle's sister Kristy, who launched the petition told signatories: 'This is a personal plea to increase the reward for information leading to a conviction in her case to $500,000. It's been over two decades since we lost Rachelle and justice has yet to be served.' She told this masthead: 'We haven't achieved a raise in the reward yet, despite campaigning for years. 'We feel an increase in the reward is justified and warranted.' Rachelle Childs in a picture taken at her 21st birthday party. Kristy said they feel the reward increase 'may help to encourage the public to come forward with perhaps some information that they have held back for personal reasons'. 'We also think that considering other cases with rewards of $500,000, $750,000 and even $1 million, Rachelle's case having a $200,000 reward is not equitable or fair.' The petition comes as the Dear Rachelle podcast has dominated the podcast charts in Australia and has ranked highly in the UK and New Zealand, as it reinvestigates evidence from the cold case with the help of Rachelle's family and ex-detectives. For more information about our investigation, exclusive photos and video, visit LISTEN TO THE DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST BELOW: When hearing the news of the podcast reaching three million downloads, Kristy said: 'Three million people listening to Chelle's story, talking about her case, and supporting the investigation is just mind blowing. 'We are so thankful, heartened and incredibly grateful. 'We just hope that all this incredible hard work and support from the public leads to a conviction and a very lengthy sentence. Murdered Bargo woman Rachelle Childs whose burning body was found at Gerroa on Thursday June 8, 2001. 'That is the only reason why we are doing this.' Rachelle, 23, was murdered, set on fire and left on the side of a lonely highway near Gerroa, on the NSW south coast, in June 2001. There was a lengthy police investigation at the time, but it was marred with incompetence and ultimately failed to identify the killer. As a result, Rachelle's case ended up languishing at the back of police unsolved homicide files. Journalist Ashlea Hanson talking to former detective Damien Loone about the case. Picture: Julian Andrews The podcast team at News Corp has been working with Rachelle's family and ex-detectives to reinvestigate long-forgotten evidence, along with the alibi of the chief suspect – her former boss Kevin Steven Correll, who has consistently denied murdering Rachelle and has never been charged. He says that he has always co-operated with police by supplying his DNA and answering all their questions. Mr Correll and Rachelle sold used cars at Camden Holden when she died. What Rachelle and the rest of the community probably didn't know was that he was previously acquitted of four sexual assaults under his birth name, Kevin Cornwall. Past allegations aside, it's possible Mr Correll was one of the last people to see Rachelle alive when she left work for the last time on June 7, before she that night, a number of motorists saw a car that matched the description of Rachelle's prized Commodore along the highway between her home in Bargo and Gerroa, where her body was uncovered. If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@ You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group. Originally published as Rachelle Childs podcast reaches 3 million downloads as petition for police reward increase grows
Herald Sun
19-06-2025
- Herald Sun
Dear Rachelle podcast: New phone tower evidence into Rachelle Childs' murder
Australia's pre-eminent forensic phone data expert has torn apart the alibi of the chief suspect in Rachelle Childs' murder. In one of the most significant developments yet in the Dear Rachelle multimedia investigation into the 2001 cold case – which police are being urged to investigate – the University of Adelaide's Dr Matthew Sorell has, in his view, determined it 'impossible' for Kevin Steven Correll to have been where he said he was early on the night of June 7. Dr Sorell, who has given evidence in dozens of big trials in Australia, including the ongoing the Mushroom Cook murder trial, said advanced mobile phone tower analysis pointed to Mr Correll being up to 40 kilometres from where he claimed – potentially in Bargo, south of Sydney, where Rachelle lived. WATCH VIDEO IN PLAYER ABOVE: EXPERT SHATTERS ALIBI IN RACHELLE'S CASE His 6.08pm call has been pored over by the Dear Rachelle team, which on Friday launches its podcast series finale, containing the new evidence, which ex-detective Damian Loone, who famously helped crack the Teacher's Pet case, has described as 'explosive'. Mr Correll, who was Rachelle's manager at Camden Holden, told police that he was shopping at Campbelltown Mall when he made the call. 'Our conclusion is that that alibi that he could have been in Campbelltown is just impossible, just could not happen,' Dr Sorell, who used advanced technology to make his conclusion, said. 'It's rare that I'll say it's just impossible, but it's just impossible. 'That connection just can't happen.' A NEW PODCAST EPISODE WILL DROP TOMORROW, JUNE 19. LISTEN TO THE LATEST DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW: After Rachelle's death, police verified that Mr Correll's phone connected to the southern sector of a phone tower in Picton for the phone call. Picton lies south of both Campbelltown and the Razorback mountain range, which blocks phones north of the ridge line from connecting with the Picton phone tower. Mr Loone urged NSW Police to speak to Dr Sorell about this 'significant breakthrough'. 'Wow,' he said, 'that's explosive evidence.' 'The reason it changes things is because the science doesn't lie.' Rachelle's partially-clad burning body was found nine hours after she left work at Camden Holden. Her work clothes were found in her Bargo laundry, suggesting she got home from work before leaving home again. Repeated police investigations, and a coronial inquest into Rachelle's death, failed to determine where she went in those final hours or with whom. Mr Correll was the last remaining person of interest at the coronial inquest, which made an open finding. He has always strenuously denied any involvement in Rachelle's death and has never been charged. Despite intense police investigations, Mr Correll's involved alibi has never been verified or disproved. Dr Sorell has worked on 400 court cases, including the Greg Lynne murder trial in Melbourne and the high profile death of English millionaire businesswoman Paula Leeson in Denmark seven years ago. He is currently an expert witness at the murder case against Erin Patterson, known as the Mushroom Cook trial. Dr Sorell's breakthrough is based on mobile phone tower data sourced from the brief of evidence into Rachelle's death. He stressed that greater access to raw technical data collected by police from Vodafone at the time could furnish more insights into the case. He said line-of-sight phone tower analysis was very reliable in determining where a phone could not be when it pinged on a phone base tower. It sets out where a phone could be, by applying the scope and limit of the base tower's range, but could not pinpoint an exact location. The phone could have been in Bargo at the time of the call, although Bargo was also served by another base phone tower, to the south, at Yanderra. 'What we don't know, and can't tell, is how far away the phone was from the base station when the call was made,' Dr Sorell said. 'The radio signal could reach all of Bargo, as far as our modelling can tell, but the phone could also be in Tahmoor, or Picton itself, or on Remembrance Driveway as it heads south of Picton.' LISTEN TO EARLIER DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW: Former Detective Inspector Mick Ashwood, who led a homicide squad review of the investigation from 2002, described Dr Sorell's finding as 'one of the most significant validations of the evidence'. 'Now you have independent evidence that you can work with. 'It gives him opportunity, and puts (Mr Correll) close to Rachelle.' Dr Sorrell said that 2001 phone technology – as well as the means of analysing phone pings – were primitive by today's standards. He used high resolution mapping by Bailey Heading, a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide. Such hi-tech tools have replaced what once were manual processes of investigation. 'The technology wasn't really there to do the simulation and modelling that we're capable of doing with modern computers and modern big data,' Dr Sorell said. 'So this is an example of what happens when a case gets put aside but the technology moves forward.' Counsel assisting the coroner, Peter Singleton, examined the phone ping evidence in 2006. Mr Singleton told the Dear Rachelle podcast that topography was important for assessing phone tower pings. 'You can be pinging on a cell tower far away if it's all flat in between you and the cell tower … ' he said. 'It's not conclusive, but as a matter of probability, you generally ping on a cell tower that is close to you and not obscured by a mountain.' Police were still chasing down the phone tower ping lead, without success, six years after Rachelle died. For more information about our investigation, visit If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@ You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group. Originally published as Dear Rachelle investigation: 'Explosive evidence' could blow open murder investigation

Courier-Mail
16-05-2025
- Courier-Mail
Chief suspect in Rachelle Childs' case was once arrested allegedly mid-rape of another woman
Don't miss out on the headlines from Dear Rachelle. Followed categories will be added to My News. A police officer has revealed how he arrested the chief suspect in Rachelle Childs' murder for a separate offence – with his 'pants down', allegedly mid-rape. Wayne Neilson told the Dear Rachelle investigation he is still shocked by Kevin Steven Correll telling him the alleged victim 'deserved it', as she was a 'moll'. Mr Correll went on to beat the charge. It is one of four sexual assaults he was accused and acquitted of in the 80s – but the incident has stayed with Mr Neilson as it was rare to have 'arrested them basically in the act.' Rachelle Childs was killed in Gerroa, sotuh of Sydney and her murderer is still on the loose. The retired NSW police officer was on night shift patrol in Liverpool, south-west Sydney, in May 1983 when he heard 'very loud screaming' coming from a parked car. He and his patrol colleague jumped out of their car and were confronted by a young woman running up the road in distress, holding her dress against her body because the straps had fallen down. Retired NSW Police Officer Wayne Neilson. Picture: Sam Ruttyn When the alleged rapist exited the vehicle, his pants fell down. That same man identified himself to police as Kevin Cornwall, who later changed his name to Kevin Correll and became a suspect in the 2001 death of 23-year-old Rachelle, his former employee. He has always denied any involvement in Rachelle's case – and has never been charged with her murder. She was set on fire and left to rot in the bush more than two decades ago, but police botched the investigation so badly that no one was ever charged. Kevin Steven Correll was the chief suspect in the death of Rachelle Childs, whose body was found in bushland. When Childs' scorched, half-naked body was uncovered along a lonely stretch of highway in the early hours of June 8, 2001, it was one of the biggest crimes to rock the sleepy town of Gerroa, south of Sydney. LISTEN TO DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW: LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES AT The podcast team at News Corp are now working with Rachelle's family and ex-detectives to re-investigate the case and uncover long-forgotten evidence. So far, the podcast has had more than 1.3 million downloads and captivated international audiences, dominating the charts on Spotify and Apple. Rachelle Childs (right), with her sister Kristy. Mr Correll was Rachelle's boss selling used cars at Camden Holden when she died. He was voluntarily questioned by police over Rachelle's death on three separate occasions. His alibi was that he had driven Camden to Campbelltown on June 7, before going to his partner's house in Picton to find she wasn't home. He then drove 10 minutes to Tahmoor where he ordered a bag of chips, a piece of fish, a battered sav and a coke. No one was able to corroborate his alibi. A coronial inquest into Rachelle's death in 2006 failed to identify her killer, and delivered an open finding, but ex-detectives working with the podcast have described the case as 'solvable'. As the podcast investigation unfolds, some of Mr Correll's friends, ex-girlfriends, colleagues and family members have come forward, shedding new light on the man they knew and who is the main suspect in Rachelle's murder. For more information about our investigation, including early access to new episodes and case files, visit If you have any tips or confidential information, please contact investigative journalist Ashlea Hansen at dearrachelle@ You can also join our Dear Rachelle podcast Facebook group.