Cops slammed as sister seeks truth about model’s death
Miklos Bolza and Adelaide Lang |
The sister of a model who disappeared three decades ago remains angry about the failures of police who conducted the initial missing persons probe.
Revelle Balmain completed a booking with a client who dropped her off at a hotel in Sydney’s east one Saturday night in 1994.
The 22-year-old missed another booking three hours later and has not been heard from since.
Her make-up bag, keys and shoe were later found by police scattered on the road.
On Wednesday, Suellen Simpson told an inquest into the disappearance she was still seeking the truth about her sister’s fate.
“‘On November 5, 1994, my sister was murdered,” she said.
“Thirty-one years later, I still don’t know why or where she is.”
She criticised the police who initially handled the missing persons report for thinking Ms Balmain was just a runaway.
Officers did not properly investigate the disappearance because the 22-year-old was a sex worker, she told the inquest.
A policeman told one of Ms Balmain’s escort co-workers in 1994 that the two women deserved whatever they got.
“Revelle didn’t deserve to be murdered and she deserved a more thorough investigation,” Ms Simpson said.
She said this meant her family had to deal with two simultaneous struggles – losing a loved one and dealing with indifferent authorities who were meant to support them.
“Each conversation (with my mother), we always turned to the same conclusion – a pointless crime, poorly handled.”
Ms Balmain’s parents passed away without knowing what happened to their daughter.
All Ms Simpson wants now is the truth.
“Losing Revelle devastated me – she was my sister, very much loved and held a very special place in our family.”
Coroner Joan Baptie thanked her for her decades of courage and for her vigorous, diligent and unwavering determination to find the truth.
Earlier, attention turned to Zoran Stanojevic’s connection to Ms Balmain.
Mr Stanojevic was then married to the head of the escort agency, Select Companions, and would drive some around for the business, the inquest was told.
He was infatuated with the 22-year-old Revelle, a former escort colleague earlier told the inquest.
But agency head Jane King – who on Tuesday alleged her marriage resembled “a life of terror” and had elements of coercive control – said she was not aware of her husband spending time with Ms Balmain, except when chauffeuring her for bookings.
Ms King did however recall an unusual comment from her then-partner, who did not typically talk about the escorts he drove around.
“He said ‘we get on really well and she really loves fashion’ – he was really into fashion,” the former madam said.
“It was really weird he was talking about how well they got on.
“It didn’t alarm me but it was really odd.”
Mr Stanojevic and a receptionist from Select Companions were due to give evidence on Wednesday but instead the inquest concluded a day early.
The coroner will hand down her findings at a later date.
AAP
