Michelle PopePrint Page

The tree, planted in 1979 by her 1978 Year 12 friends, commemorates Michelle Pope who disappeared in 1978. Michelle was in her final year at Asquith Girls High School. 

A $100,000 reward is on offer for information about the mystery disappearance of a Sydney couple in 1978. Michelle Pope and Stephen Lapthorne were last seen travelling on 25 August, 1978 from his West Pymble home to her Berowra home.

The couple - who were 18 and 21 respectively at the time - has never been seen since, and Stephen's lime green Bedford van has also never been located.

Detectives initially suspected the couple was murdered and their bodies buried in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, but they have also not ruled out death by misadventure. All leads received since their disappearance were followed up without success.

In October 1981, the State Government offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to their location.

In August 2005, the Deputy State Coroner Carl Milovanovich held an inquest into the couple's disappearance and issued death certificates for both, before handing down an open finding as to the date, time and cause of death.

He also asked that consideration be given to re-initiating rewards for information that help police find their bodies and arrest those responsible. The then Minister for Police, Carl Scully, approved a doubling of the reward to $100,000 in the hope that further information may be forthcoming.
policensw.gov.au

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