Grandfather Wayne Whitehead with Lorrin's daughter Amelia Kaiser. Victorian Police are appealing for public assistance to help locate missing woman Lorrin Whitehead. Picture: Peter Ristevski Source: PerthNow
Missing 43-year-old woman Lorrin Whitehead. Picture: Supplied. Source: PerthNow
IT is more than once month since Cottesloe-raised Lorrin Whitehead simply vanished.
Since February 8, when she failed to show up at her workplace in North Geelong, there have been no sightings of the 43-year-old.
There have been no discoveries of what she was wearing, no records of any activity with her bank accounts or medical records, no inkling as to her whereabouts. Nothing.
Her family, the police and the close-knit Victorian community of Bannockburn are scratching their heads and searching for answers, but none have been forthcoming.
Everyone connected to this mystery is desperate for a lead, a hint, a sighting or discovery, a phone call from a witness or a message from Lorrin, who they hope will just check in and say she's all right.
But there is a just a void - an information vacuum - and that makes the task of finding her so much more difficult.
Her 20-year-old daughter and the eldest of five children, Amelia Kaiser, made a desperate plea on the front page of the Geelong Advertiser on February 14, seeking public assistance to help find her mother.
Several weeks on, she is again asking the public to cast their minds back to February 8.
That Friday, CCTV vision captured Lorrin leaving a supermarket in Bannockburn at 4.55pm, wearing black pants and a light-coloured shirt with a collar.
Earlier, about 3.30pm, she made a withdrawal from the Bendigo Bank ATM in the same street.
They are her last-known movements.
When Amelia arrived at her mum's home later that day she found the front door unlocked and wide open.
Lorrin's keys, purse and other personal belongings were still inside the house.
So was her medication for type 1 diabetes. The garage was also unlocked, her car inside. Her dogs were out the back.
Amelia was immediately concerned. Her mum was a stickler for home security and always locked the house.
Police say there was no sign of a struggle and no suggestion of foul play.
Everything was there that should have been. Except Lorrin.
Bannockburn Acting Sgt Craig Grant this week said the case had thrown up a multitude of possible scenarios, which made the investigation frustrating.
No line of inquiry can be dismissed; all possibilities must be considered.
"It has no doubt been a difficult investigation given that we've had no leads come in," Acting Sgt Grant said.
"It is also extremely tough for the family as well.
"Without any real, hard evidence it's difficult, but it is an ongoing investigation and we are desperate for public assistance, which we hope will help us to discover Lorrin's whereabouts."
He said the scope of the call for public help could be broadened Australia-wide in the hope that it might provide new information.
"The community here has been terrific in offering support and inquiring about any developments - they want to know of any news every day, but unfortunately we have nothing to report."
Police said Lorrin did not leave town on a bus or take a taxi.
They have checked all the usual avenues of inquiry.
They say she did not have a passport, so do not believe she has left the country, but cannot dismiss the possibility that she may have travelled interstate by other means.
She could be anywhere and until more information comes to hand, the possibilities, as the police readily admit, are endless.
Father's search for answers
LORRIN'S father, Wayne Whitehead, can't understand how his daughter could simply vanish.
Born in the beachside suburb of Cottesloe in Perth, Lorrin was a model student.
She attended Iona College, excelled at athletics and swimming and academically finished top five in the state at the end of secondary school.
Lorrin came to Victoria with Amelia in 1995 and married husband Teo in 1997.
Before they separated two years ago, they had four children together, Megan, Rachel, Arnold and Quade, who are now in the care of their father, who lives in nearby Maude.
Speaking briefly on Thursday, Teo Kaiser said he echoed everyone's plea for details on Lorrin's disappearance, adding that her children were in good care.
Wayne Whitehead and his wife Joan moved from WA to Queensland some years ago so they could be on the same side of the country as their grandchildren.
Discussing the mystery from his Gold Coast home this week, Wayne described his daughter as bubbly and self-confident, a person who rarely growled at her children, who she loved deeply.
While he said there was no doubt that her marriage breakdown had caused her some stress, it was totally out of character for her to just go missing.
Wayne returned home after coming to Bannockburn to help with the initial search in February, when police search and rescue, the dog squad and the SES combed the areas in and around Lorrin's home.
The search included grassland, bushland and waterways around the town, but yielded no clues.
"I think we've looked under every bush in Victoria, visited every spot where we thought she may have been," he said.
"We're extremely thankful to the police, SES, the dog squad and air wing for their help, to the community. They've all done as much as they can."
But it's a struggle that gets worse as time goes on.
"It's like a feeling of helplessness. I just want to wake up and discover this is some kind of bad dream that is going to be over," he said.
"She didn't want to disappear and there was nothing to suggest that was the case."
Wayne said he still held hope Lorrin would be found.
"It's now four weeks. There will always be hope, but it's getting to the stage ... I don't think you ever give up hope.
"We'd love to think she's out there somewhere. I'm not holding my breath, but we are not giving up the hope."
Wayne paid tribute to his granddaughter Amelia and her family members who had kept a brave face throughout the ordeal.
"She's got a lot of guts and we are very proud of how she is coping," he said.
"Amelia is crying on the inside, smiling on the outside, similar to all our family."
She is also trying to revisit every detail, every conversation and interaction she had with her mum in the days leading up to her disappearance in the hope it will give her some clue as to what might have happened.
But the absence of anything solid is devastating for Amelia and her family.
"It's the unknown, that's the most frightening part," Amelia said. "The longer it goes on, the harder it gets.
"Mum was looking forward and making plans - she was involved in clubs, had friends, had a job, and she was doing courses to improve her qualifications."
Lorrin was employed at Total Maintenance Solutions in North Geelong. Staff there were first to raise concerns when she failed to turn up for work, and have been lending support to the family since the day she disappeared.
Amelia said the support from every corner of the community and from Lorrin's friends and employer had been amazing, and had helped her try to maintain her own routine and work as a graduate nurse.
"I don't feel numb. I'm just trying to get on with things, but it's awful to think Mum could be out there needing our help," she said.
"It's quite difficult and a bit bizarre. I have to try to maintain a routine but I also think, 'Should I be out there looking for her?'
"I look out for her everywhere I go. Maybe one day I'll just walk down the street and I'll see her."
While Amelia and her family cling to that hope, that one day soon Lorrin will return, the possibilities of such a baffling case also fill her thoughts and swing her emotions.
"Sometimes I feel numbness, sometimes anger. There's a bit of grief, hurt and sadness too," Amelia said. "I just wish she was here now. Mum is the centre of everything.
"I'm just hoping she'll walk back in and say, 'Why is everyone making such a fuss of me? I'm only going on a holiday'.
"She's had a lot of stress over the past couple of years due to family matters, but to not have a car or wallet or ID or money is just completely out of character.
"I can't even comprehend why."
Everyone in the family is asking questions that, after four weeks and one day, have absolutely no answers.
"The second youngest sister looks at me and says, 'Mum will come home won't she?', and all I can say is, 'How much does Mum love you and how much does she tell you she loves you every day?' " Amelia said.
"She doesn't have to come home. All she has to do is call and tell us she is OK."
Lorrin is described as 170cm tall, with a medium build, brown eyes and brown hair.
Anyone who has any information regarding her disappearance, or who may have seen her in the hours leading up to her disappearance on February 8, should call 000 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
