A 26-year-old German tourist named Nancy Grundwalt disappeared from Scamander, Tasmania in 1993, while cycling down the Tasman Highway. No trace of her has ever been found. Two years later, a 20-year-old Italian tourist named Victoria Cafasso was violently murdered on Beaumaris Beach, only a few kilometres away from where Nancy was last seen. Her killer has also never been found. Two mysteries in two tiny towns on Tasmania’s East Coast, that almost thirty years later are no closer to being solved. What happened to Nancy and Victoria?
EPISODE NOTES:
Although police don’t believe there is a connection between the two cases, the odds of two young female tourists being murdered two years apart in the same area is a bit much to take as a coincidence for some people. Rumours still fly around the East Coast about who could have done it, and everyone has a friend’s father’s cousin’s neighbour who was interviewed by police at the time.
But after extensive investigations, two inquests, and twenty years, there is still no indication about what happened to Nancy and Victoria. Was Nancy murdered, or was she the victim of a hit-and-run? Was Victoria killed as a case of mistaken identity? Or were she and Nancy the victims of the same opportunistic killer?
If you have any information about either of these cases, they are both still open investigations, and you can contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000
The Coroner’s findings for Nancy Grundwalt can be found here https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/about_us/coroners/coronialfindings/g/182_of_2004
Read more about retired detective Bob Coad’s belief that Nancy was killed in a hit-and-run here https://www.examiner.com.au/story/475468/death-of-nancy-grunwaldt-an-accident/
A call for information twenty years after Nancy’s disappearance can be found here https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-12/family-marks-missing-tourist27s-anniversary-of-missing-woman/4566734
The Coroner’s findings for Victoria Cafasso can be found here https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/about_us/coroners/coronialfindings/c/2005_tascd_125_-_cafasso,_victoria_anna_elizabeth
An excellent long read can be found here https://www.smh.com.au/national/who-killed-victoria-cafasso-20151008-gk41h0.html
A summary of several Tasmanian cold cases, including Victoria and Nancy, can be found here https://www.themercury.com.au/news/scales-of-justice/rewards-still-on-offer-for-vital-case-clues-in-states-cold-cases/news-story/8091182d9c7abaef4a9ce736363a3f04
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