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THE mystery surrounding Jessica Small’s disappearance has captured the attention of respected current affairs program, 60 Minutes, which will on Sunday night tell the story of the missing 15-year-old’s abduction and murder.
Jessica Beth Small was last seen in the early hours of October 26, 1997, after she and Vanessa Conlan accepted a lift from a man driving a white Commodore.
The man assaulted the girls in Hereford Street, Bathurst.
Vanessa made it out of the car, screaming for help, she ran to a nearby house to raise the alarm. She thought Jess was behind her, but the Bathurst teenager has never been seen since.
60 Minutes journalist Allison Langdon, who spent weeks in Bathurst with her team preparing the segment, yesterday described Jessica’s story as incredible.
“What happened [to Jess] and what followed on after that,” Ms Langdon said.
“The police mistakes, witnesses being ignored and people suggesting that Vanessa was outright lying.
“Listening to Vanessa tell her story was compelling,” she said, adding it was “horrendous that no one cared what had happened.”
She also spoke of Rob Fitzpatrick, who was potentially the last person to see Jessica alive after he witnessed a man, driving a white Commodore, struggle with a woman, who was screaming for help at Eglinton, just minutes after Jessica was abducted.
Mr Fitzpatrick contacted police a number of times and was basically told to go home.
“It still haunts him,” Ms Langdon said.
“Rob’s a tough knock-about sort of guy but I found he, and most of the people I spoke to, were really affected by this.
“This was a solvable case, police have admitted if they had carried out the investigation properly [to begin with] they would know what happened to Jessica Small. It may not have been enough to save her, but at least the person [responsible] would be in jail.”
Ms Langdon said the story carried such significance that producers of the show decided to use it over three segments, instead of one.
“They are all really powerful interviews, they are difficult to switch off from,” she said.
“Most stories are one segment and a big story is two. But, we watched it the other day and we felt there was no way it could be cut, it’s such compelling television, we decided to make it three segments, which shows the significance of the story.”
Ms Langdon called Jessica’s mother Ricki stoic, and said she hoped the process brings closure for her.
“I think she accepts no-one is going to pay for this, and that is heart-breaking,” she said.
The segment airs tomorrow night at 8pm on WIN.