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The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
Prime suspect in brutal cold case killing of woman, 23, whose body was found torched is mysteriously found dead on hols
THE prime suspect in a brutal cold case killing of a 23-year-old woman whose body was found burned has mysteriously been found dead. Alleged serial rapist and murderer Kevin Steven Correll, 69, was previously identified as the most likely person to have killed Rachelle Childs in 2001. 5 5 The lead suspect in the cold case that continues to puzzle investigators more than 20 years on died while on holiday in Pa Tong, Thailand, last week. Tragic Rachelle's corpse was found dumped in bushland in Gerroa, just south of Sydney, Australia, about 100km from her home on June 8. Her corpse had been partially burned - in what cops suspect was an attempt to destroy DNA evidence. Unleaded petrol had been doused over her face and other parts of her body as part of the heinous attack that rocked the sleepy town of Gerroa. She was also partially undressed - and police believe the depraved killer either smothered or strangled her to death. Cops failed to charge anyone over her murder - following early investigation blunders which led to the case going cold for years. Thai authorities said details surrounding the death of Correll are scarce - and his sudden passing remains a mystery. A member of Correll's family said police had already showed up at his son Mitchell's house to inform them that an autopsy was already underway. The family member told The Daily Telegraph: "Not sorry he's gone just sorry that Rachelle's family aren't going to get the justice that they so deserve." And his estranged daughter, Jazz, said that she only heard of her dad's death after speaking to her brother on Saturday. She told the newspaper: "I feel sad for his many victims." The botched police investigation into Rachelle's murder is widely believed to have been severely mishandled. Local cops lost a crucial piece of CCTV evidence that was believed to show Rachelle with her killer at a petrol station on the night of her death. Another police officer contaminated DNA found on a bedsheet, while others forgot to properly collect her phone records. Correll worked as Rachelle's boss at the used car dealership Camden Holden where they both worked at the time of her horrific killing. He was voluntarily quizzed three separate times by police regarding her death - but detectives never managed to gather enough evidence to convict him. This was despite the fact that his alibi for the night of Rachelle's death could never been confirmed or corroborated. Correll had previously been accused of rape. In the 1980s, a woman was heard screaming by police - and after they rushed towards the sound they found Correll half undressed. The woman told cops that she was being assaulted - and despite being charged, Correll was later found not guilty. Three other woman also accused Correll of rape in three separate occasions - but he was found not guilty in court. Correll was one of the last people to see Rachelle alive when she left work the day before her death. Fellow employees reported Rachelle telling them she was going to meet up with someone at the Bargo Hotel that evening but she did not say who it was. The hotel had no CCTV inside, and cops never questioned everyone who was there on the night. After the hotel meeting, Rachelle called her sister on the phone for a short chat - the last time anybody ever heard from her. A motorist who was driving on the road where Rachelle was found told police he had seen a 1978 Holden Commodore matching the description of the one she owned. The car was parked off the highway and sitting about 200m away from where Rachelle was found the following day on the morning on June 8. A separate witness recalled seeing the car later on with its boot mysteriously open in the same location at 11pm. And they claimed that there had been one person standing up next to the vehicle with a second person lying on the ground. Correll's alibi was that he drove from Camden to Campbelltown to meet his partner on June 7. 5 5
Daily Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Daily Telegraph
Dear Rachelle podcast: Key details of Rachelle Childs' unsolved murder
Don't miss out on the headlines from Dear Rachelle. Followed categories will be added to My News. A young woman was murdered, 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 – and her killer is still on the loose. When Rachelle Leigh 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. 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 a million downloads and captivated international audiences, dominating the charts on Spotify and Apple. Rachelle Childs was killed when she was just 23 years of age. What the rudimentary police investigation did uncover was that unleaded petrol was poured on the face of Rachelle, who was 23, and very specific parts of her body in an apparent attempt to hide DNA evidence, before she was dumped at a concrete tank near Gerroa, about 100km away from her home. Her semi-nude state suggests her death was sexually motivated, and the killing was violent – likely by smothering or strangulation. She also knew her attacker because she sat with him in her prized 1978 Holden Commodore as they drove down the NSW south coast together. LISTEN TO DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW: LISTEN TO MORE EPISODES AT The grisly details of the murder terrified the small community and triggered fears that a serial killer might prey on more women. There was a police investigation, but it was marred by incompetence and ultimately failed to attain vital evidence within the first critical 48 hours. When a local senior constable thwarted the handing over of the case to the NSW homicide squad, the investigation was doomed to errors and distractions. Crime scene images from where Rachelle Child' burning body was found at Gerroa on June 8, 2001. Police cordoned off the area where Rachelle Childs' burning body was found on Crooked River Road. Possible CCTV of Rachelle and her killer at a petrol station between Camden and Gerroa, in the hours before she died, was lost by police. DNA from a bedsheet in Rachelle's car was contaminated by an officer on the scene, her phone records weren't obtained properly, and suspects weren't duly eliminated from a long list. Vital evidence was lost, the offender got away with murder, and the cold case was effectively swept under the rug. As a result, it's unlikely the average Australian is aware of Rachelle Childs' case. Her photo has now been languishing at the back of police cold case records for about 24 years, the $200,000 reward for information hasn't changed in 14 years, and her file has volleyed between detectives and unsolved homicide squads for the best part of the last five years. While the official investigation effectively stalled, Rachelle's family never stopped campaigning to find her killer. The podcast investigation team has now tracked down the prime suspect in Rachelle's murder, Kevin Steven Correll, and all the circumstantial evidence surrounding her death. Mr Correll was Rachelle's boss selling 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 violent rapes under his birth name, Kevin Cornwall. Person of interest in the murder of Rachelle Childs, Kevin Steven Correll. Picture: Julian Andrews In one alleged instance, police caught him with his pants down in the middle of an alleged sexual assault. The woman was screaming and telling officers on the scene she was assaulted. The police officers later said that he told them the woman was 'only a moll, she's fair go for anybody' and even admitted he got 'a bit carried away'. Mr Correll was charged with sexual assault and tried in court, but the jury found he wasn't guilty. This happened four times in the same decade. In the 1980s, alleged rapists were often acquitted because their alleged victims were humiliated in court. Their clothing choices, past behaviour, and relationship history was all used to destroy their character, discredit their claims, and imply they were asking for sexual attention. Kevin Steven Correll, pictured here during the inquest into Rachelle Childs' death, is a person of interest in her murder. Another alleged victim said Mr Correll responded to a spare room ad in the paper, but turned up at her house using a different name and looked at the room. She alleged he returned to her property later in a balaclava and raped her at knifepoint, threatening to kill her children if she screamed. The woman was able to pick his mugshot out from a list of hundreds because she recognised his eyes, and a mark between his eyes. She was also humiliated on the witness stand, before a jury. A third woman who accused Mr Correll of rape incident had a strikingly similar story. The alleged victims did not know each other. Past allegations aside, it's possible Mr Correll was among the last people to see Rachelle alive when she left work on the afternoon of June 7, 2001. Some said she told them she was meeting up with someone at the Bargo Hotel that evening, but she didn't tell anyone who it was. After a brief telephone call with her sister in the car after leaving work, she was never heard from again. A motorist later came forward and told police they saw a car matching the description of Rachelle's Commodore parked off the highway at about 10.20pm on June 7, about 200m from where her body was eventually found. One man saw what could have been Rachelle's car with its boot open in a similar area before 11pm, telling police at the time that one person was on the ground and another was standing. A couple then passed the car half an hour later and noticed the driver was slumped over the wheel as though they were asleep or trying to hide. Bushland in Gerroa where Rachelle Childs' burning body was found. Another woman saw a fire in the bush at about 2.05am. She described an older, square-shaped car – similar to a Holden – made a U-turn about 20m ahead of her, with its headlights off. Ten minutes later, a security guard found Rachelle's burning body. A former employee of Camden Holden, Fiona, said Mr Correll 'looked like shit' when he turned up to work the following morning. He and Rachelle had a good working relationship, but Fiona said he didn't offer to help search for her and didn't appear to care about her disappearance at all. The following day, on June 9, Rachelle's car was found parked out the back of Bargo Hotel. There was no CCTV at the hotel at the time, and only about half the patrons from the pub that night were questioned by police. Rachelle Childs' VH Commodore. Rachelle Childs' prized Holden Commodore was found parked at the back of the Bargo Hotel after she was killed. Mr Correll was voluntarily questioned by police over Rachelle's death on three separate occasions and he denies any involvement in it. 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. Further, it bore striking resemblance to his alibi for an alleged rape in the 1980s. During that case, he told police he ordered a bag of chips, a piece of fish, a battered sav, and a loaf of bread. Ex detective and cold case specialist Damian Loone and Rachelle Childs sister Kristy stand with Rachelle's Commodore. Picture: Jeff Darmanin Detective Inspector Mick Ashwood said it 'stands out to you' that the sameness of the alibis 'could be manufactured evidence'. Mr Correll's partner later testified that he didn't mention eating fish and chips during a phone call on the night of June 7, but did speak of plans to get pizza for dinner. Phone tower records also appeared to place him in the area Rachelle was last believed to have been alive, a fair distance away from Tahmoor. 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. Originally published as Dear Rachelle investigation: Key details of Rachelle Childs' grisly unsolved murder
News.com.au
14-05-2025
- News.com.au
Dear Rachelle investigation: Key details of Rachelle Childs' grisly unsolved murder
A young woman was murdered, 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 – and her killer is still on the loose. When Rachelle Leigh 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. 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 a million downloads and captivated international audiences, dominating the charts on Spotify and Apple. What the rudimentary police investigation did uncover was that unleaded petrol was poured on the face of Rachelle, who was 23, and very specific parts of her body in an apparent attempt to hide DNA evidence, before she was dumped at a concrete tank near Gerroa, about 100km away from her home. Her semi-nude state suggests her death was sexually motivated, and the killing was violent – likely by smothering or strangulation. She also knew her attacker because she sat with him in her prized 1978 Holden Commodore as they drove down the NSW south coast together. LISTEN TO DEAR RACHELLE PODCAST EPISODES BELOW: The grisly details of the murder terrified the small community and triggered fears that a serial killer might prey on more women. There was a police investigation, but it was marred by incompetence and ultimately failed to attain vital evidence within the first critical 48 hours. When a local senior constable thwarted the handing over of the case to the NSW homicide squad, the investigation was doomed to errors and distractions. Possible CCTV of Rachelle and her killer at a petrol station between Camden and Gerroa, in the hours before she died, was lost by police. DNA from a bedsheet in Rachelle's car was contaminated by an officer on the scene, her phone records weren't obtained properly, and suspects weren't duly eliminated from a long list. Vital evidence was lost, the offender got away with murder, and the cold case was effectively swept under the rug. As a result, it's unlikely the average Australian is aware of Rachelle Childs' case. Her photo has now been languishing at the back of police cold case records for about 24 years, the $200,000 reward for information hasn't changed in 14 years, and her file has volleyed between detectives and unsolved homicide squads for the best part of the last five years. While the official investigation effectively stalled, Rachelle's family never stopped campaigning to find her killer. The podcast investigation team has now tracked down the prime suspect in Rachelle's murder, Kevin Steven Correll, and all the circumstantial evidence surrounding her death. Mr Correll was Rachelle's boss selling 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 violent rapes under his birth name, Kevin Cornwall. In one alleged instance, police caught him with his pants down in the middle of an alleged sexual assault. The woman was screaming and telling officers on the scene she was assaulted. The police officers later said that he told them the woman was 'only a moll, she's fair go for anybody' and even admitted he got 'a bit carried away'. Mr Correll was charged with sexual assault and tried in court, but the jury found he wasn't guilty. This happened four times in the same decade. In the 1980s, alleged rapists were often acquitted because their alleged victims were humiliated in court. Their clothing choices, past behaviour, and relationship history was all used to destroy their character, discredit their claims, and imply they were asking for sexual attention. Another alleged victim said Mr Correll responded to a spare room ad in the paper, but turned up at her house using a different name and looked at the room. She alleged he returned to her property later in a balaclava and raped her at knifepoint, threatening to kill her children if she screamed. The woman was able to pick his mugshot out from a list of hundreds because she recognised his eyes, and a mark between his eyes. She was also humiliated on the witness stand, before a jury. A third woman who accused Mr Correll of rape incident had a strikingly similar story. The alleged victims did not know each other. Past allegations aside, it's possible Mr Correll was among the last people to see Rachelle alive when she left work on the afternoon of June 7, 2001. Some said she told them she was meeting up with someone at the Bargo Hotel that evening, but she didn't tell anyone who it was. After a brief telephone call with her sister in the car after leaving work, she was never heard from again. A motorist later came forward and told police they saw a car matching the description of Rachelle's Commodore parked off the highway at about 10.20pm on June 7, about 200m from where her body was eventually found. One man saw what could have been Rachelle's car with its boot open in a similar area before 11pm, telling police at the time that one person was on the ground and another was standing. A couple then passed the car half an hour later and noticed the driver was slumped over the wheel as though they were asleep or trying to hide. Another woman saw a fire in the bush at about 2.05am. She described an older, square-shaped car – similar to a Holden – made a U-turn about 20m ahead of her, with its headlights off. Ten minutes later, a security guard found Rachelle's burning body. A former employee of Camden Holden, Fiona, said Mr Correll 'looked like shit' when he turned up to work the following morning. He and Rachelle had a good working relationship, but Fiona said he didn't offer to help search for her and didn't appear to care about her disappearance at all. The following day, on June 9, Rachelle's car was found parked out the back of Bargo Hotel. There was no CCTV at the hotel at the time, and only about half the patrons from the pub that night were questioned by police. Mr Correll was voluntarily questioned by police over Rachelle's death on three separate occasions and he denies any involvement in it. 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. Further, it bared striking resemblance to his alibi for an alleged rape in the 1980s. During that case, he told police he ordered a bag of chips, a piece of fish, a battered sav, and a loaf of bread. Detective Inspector Mick Ashwood said it 'stands out to you' that the sameness of the alibis 'could be manufactured evidence'. Mr Correll's partner later testified that he didn't mention eating fish and chips during a phone call on the night of June 7, but did speak of plans to get pizza for dinner. Phone tower records also appeared to place him in the area Rachelle was last believed to have been alive, a fair distance away from Tahmoor. 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.
