September 23, 2025 • 15 mins
In June 1978, 18-year-old Trudie Adams vanished after a night out at a local dance in Newport, on Sydney's Northern Beaches.
Trudie's disappearance sparked one of the largest missing persons investigations in NSW history, with dozens of reports surfacing of young women being sexually assaulted in the area, yet no one was ever charged over Trudie's case.
In this episode, we revisit the events of that night, and discuss where the investigation is more than four decades later.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:17):
Welcome to Exhuming the Truth, the podcast where we delve into
the mysterious worlds of cold cases, missing persons, true
crime, and the fascinating science that is forensics.
I'm forensic scientist and criminologist Asha Walther, and
I am so thrilled to have you with me on this journey as we
dance in the shadows of the world of crime, shining a light
(00:38):
on scientific discovery while becoming another voice for those
who need it most. So grab a drink and get
comfortable while we jump into this episode together.
Hi guys, Happy Tuesday. I have my little evil apprentice
here with me, my puppy Shadow, so I'm really hoping that she
(01:00):
keeps quiet throughout this episode.
Otherwise it's going to be quitea long night for me.
But what has been going on? We had really good feedback from
our last episode, which was Charlie Kirk and Irena Zarudska.
Obviously things in the world are a little bit crazy right
now. You all you need to do is jump
(01:23):
on your phone or turn the TV on to see that.
So yeah, I hope everyone's taking care of themselves
outside of the digital world andactually putting their phones
away and getting outside and things like that.
In Perth, it's been really beautiful weather lately, so
we've been really lucky. So I hope wherever you are, the
(01:44):
sun is shining enough for you tobe able to get outside and go
for a walk. Take the dogs for a walk, take
yourself for a walk, the kids orwhatever makes you happy.
And just yet, take some time away from social media and news
for a little while because it's a bit daunting sometimes.
Today's episode I am covering a cold case.
(02:06):
I haven't done one in a while, but I thought it was about time
to bring them back in. I do like to try and give some
options on cases and a lot of the time people naturally
gravitate towards cases they've heard of before.
But I think it's important to add cases we haven't heard of
before to keep them in the spotlight.
(02:27):
Also to speak. So that's what we're going to do
today. So that's about all I have for
housekeeping. So let's get straight into it.
Let me take you to Newport in the 70s.
Newport in the 70s was a sleepy beachside village on Sydney's
northern beaches with a slower pace of life compared to the
city. It was full of community spirit
(02:48):
that revolved around the surf, the local shops and neighborhood
connections. It sounds pretty nice to me.
Baron Joey Rd. was the main strip which hosted a modest
collection of shops. The Newport Surf Life Saving
Club hosted numerous events fromcarnivals to dances to community
events and alike. It was very much a central hub
(03:11):
for the surf loving town of Newport.
It's June 25th in 1978 and TrudyAdams, just aged 18, is leaving
a dance event at the Newport Surf Life Saving Club and plans
to hitchhike home a light colored 1977 Holden panel van
stops to give her a ride. Trudy got into this vehicle on
(03:35):
Baron Joey Road and was never tobe seen again.
She had a boyfriend at the time and it was he and her parents
who decided to report her missing after she failed to
return home. In 2018, a documentary was made
about this case called Baron Joey Rd. which added new and
(03:55):
unheard details about the case, linking her disappearance to
other assaults in the area. This documentary interestingly
also highlighted the involvementof a corrupt police officer with
ties to a suspect in the allegedmurder of Trudy.
Today NSW Government are offering $250,000 as a reward
(04:17):
for any information in relation to Trudy's disappearance.
Trudy's mother has since passed away and without knowing her
daughter's fate or seeing anyonebrought to justice, which is not
OK. A detective who has been
assigned to the case believes that she was kidnapped by two
men and that she was murdered. Shortly after she was reported
(04:40):
missing, authorities did an unsuccessful search in the
bushland of Kuringai Chase National Park.
Now, when the news of Trudy's disappearance broke, a number of
other young women came forward and reported being abducted and
violently sexually assaulted in the Caring Guy Chase National
(05:00):
Park between the years of 1971 and 1978.
Now, these females were aged between 14 to 20 years old.
The detective said that they managed to link these sexual
assaults to Trudy's disappearance but they hesitated
to share any further informationaside from believing that
Trudy's disappearance and abduction was sexually
(05:22):
motivated. So from there there was a strike
force created for this case which was assigned as Strike
Force Kelby and they dealt with the numerous inquiries of those
females who came forward. But also Tree's case was
obviously at the centre here. Now all of these females had
(05:43):
related experiences like I said.So the police actually thought
that there were a lot more girlsas victims out there who were
actually just too afraid to comeforward, scared to admit what
had happened and also the fear of not being believed.
So they did try and use this Strike Force Keldy as a
confidential service for these victims, hoping that as much of
(06:05):
them would come forward as possible.
Now some of the females who weresexually assaulted had said that
two men had taped the victim's eyes shut in the bushland near
Mona Vale Road before raping them, saying that the men also
took the women's names and addresses to threaten to kill
them if they did report the attacks.
(06:26):
So that's another obvious reasonwhy so many women did not come
forward. Also, obviously back then things
were very different and women weren't often taken seriously
and things like this were kind of just swept under the rug.
Now all up, there were a total of 14 females who came forward
(06:47):
after Trudy's disappearance. So it was Trudy's disappearance
that encouraged these women to come forward.
And the authorities do believe that all fourteen of these
females cases are linked to Trudy.
One female called Michelle. She said that her and her friend
were hitchhiking on the Northernbeaches area in 1974 when two
(07:10):
men stopped and picked them up. She said that and I quote, they
said they were going to pull over on the way to Newcastle and
rape us. She then told how the men drove
to the corner of Mona Vale Road,close to an area of bushland
where many other women were raped.
When they got to that intersection, Michelle and her
friend opened the car doors and miraculously managed to escape.
(07:32):
Now note that each of these females that have come forward
have either mentioned Mona Vale Road or Kringai National Park or
both in all of their recounts. So that same year that Trudy
went missing, another woman by the name of Karen was
hitchhiking to a wine bar just acouple of KS away from where
Trudy vanished. So this was just a couple of
(07:53):
kilometres SI believe of where Trudy went missing at that Surf
Life saving club. So Karen said that she was
picked up by a man who took her to an isolated patch of bushland
and attempted to rape her, She said.
And I quote, he grabbed me around the throat and pulled me
back down on his knee and put his hand over my mouth.
I just thought he was going to overpower me and then I would be
(08:16):
raped, beaten and raped. So Karen had actually managed to
escape when the man was distracted by a passerby.
But she didn't report this untillater, many, many years later,
again because she had a fear of being harmed.
And she also thought that she wouldn't be believed.
(08:37):
Now, only two weeks after treatywent missing.
Beth Glide, who lived in the Northern Beaches area, said that
she was driven off the road by three cars in a location close
to where many of these women were attacked.
She said that she narrowly escaped by throwing her car into
reverse and speeding away. So she actually was one of the
(08:57):
few who did report it to the police at the time, but she
wasn't happy with their response.
And she said, and I quote, I wastruly terrified and I knew I was
fighting for my life. They, the police, were not
interested in talking to me, nordid they offer to send a car out
to have a look. When I look back, I think I was
extremely lucky to have a good car and I'm horrified to think
(09:19):
what may have happened. And just to throw in there too.
So this case and all of the stories from all of the women
who came forward, they make up the documentary series Baron
Joey Road. And you can find this on ABCTV
and on iview on the ABC app iview.
Now, while there's not a whole lot of information on Trudy and
(09:40):
this case, I think this is a really important one because
obviously they've reopened it and they've offering like quite
a large reward treaty would be in her 60s right now.
And I think this is important, A, because this is an unsolved
cold case, which they believe tobe a murder, but B, this is
(10:00):
unsolved and we have 14 women who came forward.
And I think there's a lot of elements to this where this is
actually terrifying to know thatthese men, these two men were
never caught and they're still out there and they could have
still been offending for all of this time.
But I also think it's really important to highlight that this
(10:24):
case, like Trudy's case coming out, encouraged all these other
women to come forward. And had Trudy's case not being
publicized at the time, these women, these women, sorry, would
not have come forward. And I think it's incredibly
brave of them, especially considering back then.
I mean, we still have an issue now with women reporting sexual
(10:46):
assault and rape and things likethat.
So I can't imagine how hard it would have been back then.
But you know, judging by the response, I am guessing it would
have been horrendous. And they, they literally felt
like, well, there's no point in going to the police because
they're not going to help me andthere's going to be no justice.
And I think that's incredibly sad.
I do think, yes, we've progressed ever so slightly, but
(11:08):
not that much because women are still not believed.
But the fact that there were fourteen of them and the police,
you know, they did hesitate to say, but they did say that they
believe that all fourteen of these women are linked to
Trudy's case. And they do believe, I think
they are the same offenders, these two men.
And I think it's incredibly poorpolice work back then, to be
(11:33):
honest, if you have so much happening and like each of the
women recounted similar things in similar areas and they can
confidently link all of these things.
So they had enough to be able tolink them.
I'm incredibly disappointed and sorry for these women and for
(11:54):
Trudy. And obviously, Trudy, you know,
they said they believe it was sexually motivated.
So obviously she has passed awayand she has been suspected to be
murdered. How many other women were
murdered? How many can we link up around
that time that went missing thatwere also murdered?
(12:16):
I think that's that's something I'm going to look into and see
how many missing persons case cases are around that time and
that area. Because could she be the only
one who was murdered if these men were attacking so many women
and for some of them to be as young as 14?
Like it's just disgusting. So this isn't a case that was
(12:38):
familiar to me. I was literally just looking
into cold cases and ones that I haven't heard of.
And I I keep track of a lot of cold cases and missing persons
since those are like my specialty areas.
And the fact that I hadn't heardof it, I thought, let's share
this. Let's get Trudy's name and her
face out there. I can find images of her, which
(13:01):
I'll share across my platform. She's a beautiful young woman,
forever young, we can say. But I do think that this is like
an incredible injustice for all of these women.
And I do hope that even though we don't have a whole lot of
information, I think the secretsand the clues to solve this cold
(13:26):
case will lie within the storiesthat the other women have to
tell and the details that they have to share and the details
that they have to give. Because it's never too late to
bring someone to justice. And while Trudy's mom has
unfortunately, tragically passedaway with no answers, which is
just horrible to even think about, we can still bring
(13:47):
justice for Trudy and for the other women who were assaulted.
Sorry, that is Shadow. My puppy making a bit of noise
down here eating a toilet roll, which is the only way I've been
able to distract her from eatingthe cords of my microphone this
episode. So today's episode is not
incredibly long, but I think this is a very important episode
(14:09):
and I really appreciate you for being here and listening to it.
If I find anything else on this,I'm going to share it.
Maybe we can do a follow up episode.
But I'd really like, I'd like towatch that documentary.
I'd encourage you guys to watch it and please share the image of
Trudy that I share across my platforms.
And let's get our name out thereand try and get some justice for
(14:33):
these women. Thank you so much for joining me
in this episode. I hope you've enjoyed it.
Here you can subscribe to stay up to date across all platforms,
including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
You can help us out by subscribing to our paid
episodes, which are on Spotify only, or by making a donation to
allow us to help more families. You can also join in on the case
(14:57):
discussions and make case requests in our Facebook group
and on our Facebook page, which you can find the link to in our
podcast notes. But as always, stay curious,
stay informed, and until next time, trust your instincts and
keep seeking the truth.
Welcome to Exhuming the Truth, the podcast where we delve into
the mysterious worlds of cold cases, missing persons, true
crime, and the fascinating science that is forensics.
I'm forensic scientist and criminologist Asha Walther, and
I am so thrilled to have you with me on this journey as we
dance in the shadows of the world of crime, shining a light
(00:38):
on scientific discovery while becoming another voice for those
who need it most. So grab a drink and get
comfortable while we jump into this episode together.
Hi guys, Happy Tuesday. I have my little evil apprentice
here with me, my puppy Shadow, so I'm really hoping that she
(01:00):
keeps quiet throughout this episode.
Otherwise it's going to be quitea long night for me.
But what has been going on? We had really good feedback from
our last episode, which was Charlie Kirk and Irena Zarudska.
Obviously things in the world are a little bit crazy right
now. You all you need to do is jump
(01:23):
on your phone or turn the TV on to see that.
So yeah, I hope everyone's taking care of themselves
outside of the digital world andactually putting their phones
away and getting outside and things like that.
In Perth, it's been really beautiful weather lately, so
we've been really lucky. So I hope wherever you are, the
(01:44):
sun is shining enough for you tobe able to get outside and go
for a walk. Take the dogs for a walk, take
yourself for a walk, the kids orwhatever makes you happy.
And just yet, take some time away from social media and news
for a little while because it's a bit daunting sometimes.
Today's episode I am covering a cold case.
(02:06):
I haven't done one in a while, but I thought it was about time
to bring them back in. I do like to try and give some
options on cases and a lot of the time people naturally
gravitate towards cases they've heard of before.
But I think it's important to add cases we haven't heard of
before to keep them in the spotlight.
(02:27):
Also to speak. So that's what we're going to do
today. So that's about all I have for
housekeeping. So let's get straight into it.
Let me take you to Newport in the 70s.
Newport in the 70s was a sleepy beachside village on Sydney's
northern beaches with a slower pace of life compared to the
city. It was full of community spirit
(02:48):
that revolved around the surf, the local shops and neighborhood
connections. It sounds pretty nice to me.
Baron Joey Rd. was the main strip which hosted a modest
collection of shops. The Newport Surf Life Saving
Club hosted numerous events fromcarnivals to dances to community
events and alike. It was very much a central hub
(03:11):
for the surf loving town of Newport.
It's June 25th in 1978 and TrudyAdams, just aged 18, is leaving
a dance event at the Newport Surf Life Saving Club and plans
to hitchhike home a light colored 1977 Holden panel van
stops to give her a ride. Trudy got into this vehicle on
(03:35):
Baron Joey Road and was never tobe seen again.
She had a boyfriend at the time and it was he and her parents
who decided to report her missing after she failed to
return home. In 2018, a documentary was made
about this case called Baron Joey Rd. which added new and
(03:55):
unheard details about the case, linking her disappearance to
other assaults in the area. This documentary interestingly
also highlighted the involvementof a corrupt police officer with
ties to a suspect in the allegedmurder of Trudy.
Today NSW Government are offering $250,000 as a reward
(04:17):
for any information in relation to Trudy's disappearance.
Trudy's mother has since passed away and without knowing her
daughter's fate or seeing anyonebrought to justice, which is not
OK. A detective who has been
assigned to the case believes that she was kidnapped by two
men and that she was murdered. Shortly after she was reported
(04:40):
missing, authorities did an unsuccessful search in the
bushland of Kuringai Chase National Park.
Now, when the news of Trudy's disappearance broke, a number of
other young women came forward and reported being abducted and
violently sexually assaulted in the Caring Guy Chase National
(05:00):
Park between the years of 1971 and 1978.
Now, these females were aged between 14 to 20 years old.
The detective said that they managed to link these sexual
assaults to Trudy's disappearance but they hesitated
to share any further informationaside from believing that
Trudy's disappearance and abduction was sexually
(05:22):
motivated. So from there there was a strike
force created for this case which was assigned as Strike
Force Kelby and they dealt with the numerous inquiries of those
females who came forward. But also Tree's case was
obviously at the centre here. Now all of these females had
(05:43):
related experiences like I said.So the police actually thought
that there were a lot more girlsas victims out there who were
actually just too afraid to comeforward, scared to admit what
had happened and also the fear of not being believed.
So they did try and use this Strike Force Keldy as a
confidential service for these victims, hoping that as much of
(06:05):
them would come forward as possible.
Now some of the females who weresexually assaulted had said that
two men had taped the victim's eyes shut in the bushland near
Mona Vale Road before raping them, saying that the men also
took the women's names and addresses to threaten to kill
them if they did report the attacks.
(06:26):
So that's another obvious reasonwhy so many women did not come
forward. Also, obviously back then things
were very different and women weren't often taken seriously
and things like this were kind of just swept under the rug.
Now all up, there were a total of 14 females who came forward
(06:47):
after Trudy's disappearance. So it was Trudy's disappearance
that encouraged these women to come forward.
And the authorities do believe that all fourteen of these
females cases are linked to Trudy.
One female called Michelle. She said that her and her friend
were hitchhiking on the Northernbeaches area in 1974 when two
(07:10):
men stopped and picked them up. She said that and I quote, they
said they were going to pull over on the way to Newcastle and
rape us. She then told how the men drove
to the corner of Mona Vale Road,close to an area of bushland
where many other women were raped.
When they got to that intersection, Michelle and her
friend opened the car doors and miraculously managed to escape.
(07:32):
Now note that each of these females that have come forward
have either mentioned Mona Vale Road or Kringai National Park or
both in all of their recounts. So that same year that Trudy
went missing, another woman by the name of Karen was
hitchhiking to a wine bar just acouple of KS away from where
Trudy vanished. So this was just a couple of
(07:53):
kilometres SI believe of where Trudy went missing at that Surf
Life saving club. So Karen said that she was
picked up by a man who took her to an isolated patch of bushland
and attempted to rape her, She said.
And I quote, he grabbed me around the throat and pulled me
back down on his knee and put his hand over my mouth.
I just thought he was going to overpower me and then I would be
(08:16):
raped, beaten and raped. So Karen had actually managed to
escape when the man was distracted by a passerby.
But she didn't report this untillater, many, many years later,
again because she had a fear of being harmed.
And she also thought that she wouldn't be believed.
(08:37):
Now, only two weeks after treatywent missing.
Beth Glide, who lived in the Northern Beaches area, said that
she was driven off the road by three cars in a location close
to where many of these women were attacked.
She said that she narrowly escaped by throwing her car into
reverse and speeding away. So she actually was one of the
(08:57):
few who did report it to the police at the time, but she
wasn't happy with their response.
And she said, and I quote, I wastruly terrified and I knew I was
fighting for my life. They, the police, were not
interested in talking to me, nordid they offer to send a car out
to have a look. When I look back, I think I was
extremely lucky to have a good car and I'm horrified to think
(09:19):
what may have happened. And just to throw in there too.
So this case and all of the stories from all of the women
who came forward, they make up the documentary series Baron
Joey Road. And you can find this on ABCTV
and on iview on the ABC app iview.
Now, while there's not a whole lot of information on Trudy and
(09:40):
this case, I think this is a really important one because
obviously they've reopened it and they've offering like quite
a large reward treaty would be in her 60s right now.
And I think this is important, A, because this is an unsolved
cold case, which they believe tobe a murder, but B, this is
(10:00):
unsolved and we have 14 women who came forward.
And I think there's a lot of elements to this where this is
actually terrifying to know thatthese men, these two men were
never caught and they're still out there and they could have
still been offending for all of this time.
But I also think it's really important to highlight that this
(10:24):
case, like Trudy's case coming out, encouraged all these other
women to come forward. And had Trudy's case not being
publicized at the time, these women, these women, sorry, would
not have come forward. And I think it's incredibly
brave of them, especially considering back then.
I mean, we still have an issue now with women reporting sexual
(10:46):
assault and rape and things likethat.
So I can't imagine how hard it would have been back then.
But you know, judging by the response, I am guessing it would
have been horrendous. And they, they literally felt
like, well, there's no point in going to the police because
they're not going to help me andthere's going to be no justice.
And I think that's incredibly sad.
I do think, yes, we've progressed ever so slightly, but
(11:08):
not that much because women are still not believed.
But the fact that there were fourteen of them and the police,
you know, they did hesitate to say, but they did say that they
believe that all fourteen of these women are linked to
Trudy's case. And they do believe, I think
they are the same offenders, these two men.
And I think it's incredibly poorpolice work back then, to be
(11:33):
honest, if you have so much happening and like each of the
women recounted similar things in similar areas and they can
confidently link all of these things.
So they had enough to be able tolink them.
I'm incredibly disappointed and sorry for these women and for
(11:54):
Trudy. And obviously, Trudy, you know,
they said they believe it was sexually motivated.
So obviously she has passed awayand she has been suspected to be
murdered. How many other women were
murdered? How many can we link up around
that time that went missing thatwere also murdered?
(12:16):
I think that's that's something I'm going to look into and see
how many missing persons case cases are around that time and
that area. Because could she be the only
one who was murdered if these men were attacking so many women
and for some of them to be as young as 14?
Like it's just disgusting. So this isn't a case that was
(12:38):
familiar to me. I was literally just looking
into cold cases and ones that I haven't heard of.
And I I keep track of a lot of cold cases and missing persons
since those are like my specialty areas.
And the fact that I hadn't heardof it, I thought, let's share
this. Let's get Trudy's name and her
face out there. I can find images of her, which
(13:01):
I'll share across my platform. She's a beautiful young woman,
forever young, we can say. But I do think that this is like
an incredible injustice for all of these women.
And I do hope that even though we don't have a whole lot of
information, I think the secretsand the clues to solve this cold
(13:26):
case will lie within the storiesthat the other women have to
tell and the details that they have to share and the details
that they have to give. Because it's never too late to
bring someone to justice. And while Trudy's mom has
unfortunately, tragically passedaway with no answers, which is
just horrible to even think about, we can still bring
(13:47):
justice for Trudy and for the other women who were assaulted.
Sorry, that is Shadow. My puppy making a bit of noise
down here eating a toilet roll, which is the only way I've been
able to distract her from eatingthe cords of my microphone this
episode. So today's episode is not
incredibly long, but I think this is a very important episode
(14:09):
and I really appreciate you for being here and listening to it.
If I find anything else on this,I'm going to share it.
Maybe we can do a follow up episode.
But I'd really like, I'd like towatch that documentary.
I'd encourage you guys to watch it and please share the image of
Trudy that I share across my platforms.
And let's get our name out thereand try and get some justice for
(14:33):
these women. Thank you so much for joining me
in this episode. I hope you've enjoyed it.
Here you can subscribe to stay up to date across all platforms,
including Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube.
You can help us out by subscribing to our paid
episodes, which are on Spotify only, or by making a donation to
allow us to help more families. You can also join in on the case
(14:57):
discussions and make case requests in our Facebook group
and on our Facebook page, which you can find the link to in our
podcast notes. But as always, stay curious,
stay informed, and until next time, trust your instincts and
keep seeking the truth.
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