October 26, 1997: After an evening out at a local amusement centre Jessica Small, 15, and her best friend Vanessa Conlan accept a lift with a stranger in a white Commodore in William Street in Bathurst.

Minutes later the girls are attacked by that driver in Hereford Street. Vanessa makes it out of the car and runs to the nearest house to raise the alarm. Jess, who was heard screaming for help, has not been seen since.

OCTOBER 26, 1997: A woman phones Bathurst Police to report a car, similar to the one in which Jessica had been abducted, was parked in a secluded area of Beaconsfield Road, O’Connell, along the Fish River.

It remained parked there for a considerable period of time, with a light inside the vehicle regularly being turned on and off. 

LATE 1997: Clothing, a bottle of bleach and a towel covered in “red stuff” are found in an isolated area near Oberon by a NSW State Forests NSW employee. His first thought is the clothing is related to the case and he contacts police. 

OCTOBER 2006: The Jessica Small brief is completed by police and forwarded to the Coroner, but only after pressure is exerted by Jessica’s mum to have the brief finalised. The brief is rejected by the Coroner as inadequate.

OCTOBER 2007: State Crime Command’s Detective Sergeant Peter Smith (pictured) takes carriage of the case. He and his team spend two years re-reading statements and interviewing key witnesses before he comes across a piece of crucial information overlooked by original investigators. 

JUNE 2011: Police launch a massive operation in Oberon in a bid to flush out a man they believe holds the key to Jessica Small’s abduction.

AUGUST 2012: Cadaver dogs brought in to search for the remains of Jessica Small at an isolated area along the Fish River at O’Connell. The search, which lasts three days, fails to find any trace of the missing teenager.

AUGUST 2013: The inquest into Jessica Small’s presumed murder begins in Bathurst with a stunning admission by police that the initial investigation into her abduction was deficient, and that lines of inquiry which should have been followed were not followed.