From almost the moment Novy Chardon vanished from her Gold Coast home two years ago, the investigation into her disappearance has proven far from an ordinary one.
"Tell her to get your stupid bloody arse home mate," was the jovial message her husband John Chardon had for his wife via a media interview from Jakarta six days after she disappeared.
"Haha, no just tell her she's gotta come home."
Early in the piece, detectives investigating the mother-of-two's disappearance surmised they were dealing with a murder.
But two years, several twists and a couple of cold leads later, Mrs Chardon's whereabouts remain unknown.
John Chardon, 30 years the senior of his 34-year-old wife, was the last person to see her alive at their Upper Coomera home on February 6, 2013.
He immediately aroused suspicion when, at about 8.45am the morning after his Filipino-born wife's disappearance, he booked flights for the couple's two children to join him on a pre-arranged business trip to Jakarta, departing soon after.
It was left to a friend to report her missing.
In media interviews conducted by telephone from Indonesia five days after she vanished, Mr Chardon was apparently unperturbed by the fact his wife's Volvo was found abandoned at Nerang station and their home had been declared a crime scene.
"She's done this sort of thing before, just not for such a long period," he said.
He was from the beginning, and remains to this day, a person of interest, according to lead investigator Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson.
Late last year, Mr Chardon was convicted of unrelated offences and is now serving a six-year prison term.
But on Wednesday, just a week shy of the anniversary of Mrs Chardon's disappearance, the case took perhaps its strangest turn yet.
The ongoing investigation led police to a 3.6 hectare bush-rimmed acreage, nestled in a quiet pocket of the Gold Coast hinterland, owned by the mother of one-time Australian Idol contestant Ricki-Lee Coulter.
Ms Coulter's mother Loreto Patricia Sheerin, also known as Loretta Sheerin, is not a person of interest in the case, police say.
But David Babbington, an associate of John Chardon's, is.
Ms Sheerin and Mr Babbington share the same Gold Coast lawyer, Campbell MacCallum, who on behalf of both clients vehemently denied on Wednesday they were involved in the disappearance of Mrs Chardon.
To add further grist to the investigation's tenuous celebrity link, Ms Coulter was married to a relative of Mr Babbington's, Jamie Babbington, for a year late last decade, before the pair divorced.
Though Superintendent Hutchinson declined to name David Babbington on Wednesday, he indicated he was connected to the search of Ms Sheerin's property.
"I can't go into detail other than to say we have connected this property to a person of interest and the person of interest was connected to the property around about the time of the disappearance," he said.
The last promising lead in the search for Mrs Chardon focused on Mr Babbington's nearby Mount Nathan property, in March last year.
Despite extensive excavation that uncovered a white ute believed linked to the disappearance, police came no closer to finding Mrs Chardon's remains and police did not lay any charges against Mr Babbington.
As the search of Ms Sheerin's property got underway shortly after 8am Wednesday, Superintendent Dave Hutchinson, appeared quietly confident the mystery was finally on the cusp of being solved.
Acting on new information, he left no doubt what police divers were scouring a dam on the property for.
"We are searching for Novy's remains," he said.
But, as with previous searches, detectives left the property six hours later empty handed.
Despite the setback, Superintendent Hutchinson remains confident the mystery, which will enter its third year next week, will be solved.
There are a number of persons of interest in the investigation and he believes one of them holds the key to solving the crime.
A $250,000 reward leading for information leading to an arrest, along with indemnity from prosecution, are on the table in a bid to encourage those with information to come forward.
"We are quite convinced there are a number of people in the community who know what happened to Novy and we are appealing for them to come forward," he said.
"The reward is on offer, the indemnity is on offer but they shouldn't wait until we knock on their door."
In the meantime, the question of what happened to Novy Chardon continues to be an unanswered one.
Anyone with information is asked to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000 or www.crimestoppers.com.au
