A new development has arisen in the Hayley Dodd case as police ask the Director of Public Prosecutions if their evidence is enough to charge convicted rapist John Francis Wark for her murder in 1999.
Cold case detectives reopened the Dodd case 2013 and for the past two years have been investigating her disappearance including searching the former property of Wark near Badgingarra.
If the case does not go to trial, it will be transferred to the State Coroner to open an inquest and investigate further.
Hayley Dodd, 17, went missing in 1999 while hitch hiking to a friends farm near Badgingarra. She was last seen along North west Road in July of 1999.
More than 10 witnesses report seeing Hayley walking along the road, with the last witness reporting seeing her about 5km east of Badgingarra Road.
She was last seen crouching down on the side of the road and looking into a day pack that she was carrying.
Wark, 59, lived a few kilometers from where she disappeared but was not suspected in the original investigation.
Wark sold the Badgingarra property shortly after the 17-year-old Hayley disappeared moving to a small town in the far north of Queensland.
In 2007 he was convicted of the rape of a young woman and is currently serving a 12 year prison sentence in Queensland.
With similarities to Hayley’s case, the young woman was hitchhiking along an isolated road when she was abducted.
The recent investigation found Wark had been overlooked in the original inquiries, as well as an item, the origin of which was left untested and possibly belonging to Hayley was found in Wark’s vehicle.
Police searched the Badgingarra property formerly owned by Wark in May last year but found nothing of interest.
It was the fourth time the property in question was searched, but police were very clear that the current owner of the property was not connected to the investigation.