Deputy state coroner Sharon Freund adjourned proceedings during evidence by witness Kelly Jane McMillan after a verbal argument erupted between Ms McMillan and Rebecca Small.

Ms McMillan had told the inquest she was a close friend of Jessica and had seen the missing teenager almost every day, apart from a brief falling out between the pair in July 1997.

But she said they were friends again by September 1997 and said when the McMillan family made plans to relocate to Sydney, Jessica was allegedly going with them.

Ms McMillan told the inquest her family was supposed to pick Jessica up from Bathurst to relocate to Sydney the weekend after Jessica was abducted. 

She broke down as she recalled hearing of Jessica’s abduction on the news.

After hearing the news, Ms McMillan said her father – who she said was a former police officer – rang Bathurst police station to find out more.

The situation became too much for Ms Small, who told the court the witness was a “fruit loop”, saying her family and those close to Jessica had never set eyes on Ms McMillan.

Ms Small called out in court that Ms McMillan’s evidence was “bulls..t”.

Ms Freund attempted to bring order to the proceedings before adjourning for a brief period.

When proceedings resumed, counsel assisting the coroner, Ian Bourke, asked Ms McMillan about the phone call she claimed her father made to Bathurst police, because no record of the call could be found.

Ms McMillan then said the call may have been made to another police officer, a friend of her father’s.

Solicitor for the Small family, Bill de Mars, questioned the witness, asking if she was surprised to know that Jessica went to Kelso High School – not Bathurst High, as she had said while giving evidence earlier.

When Mr de Mars asked her why her name had not been mentioned in any of the hundreds of statements given to police by Jessica’s associates, Ms McMillan said it was because she “wasn’t part of their circle”.

When Mr de Mars put it to the witness that Vanessa Conlan – who saw Jessica on a daily basis before her disappearance – had no distinct recollection of her at all, Ms McMillan replied: “I didn’t hang out with Vanessa, I didn’t like her.”

“Jess used to come to my hotel [the family business] and hang with me,” she said.

Mr de Mars put it to the witness she had overstated the degree of friendship she had with Jessica and the frequency with which she mixed with the missing teenager.

But Ms McMillan denied this, saying theirs was a “hidden friendship”.

The inquest resumes at Bathurst Court House today.