In 1992, This 12-Year-Old Girl Spent An Afternoon Holiday Shopping And Mysteriously Disappeared Before Her Mom Arrived Home From Work
In 1992, a happy 12-year-old girl in Australia was enjoying a day off from school and spent the afternoon going holiday shopping. But then, she mysteriously vanished before her mother arrived home from work, and she tragically hasn’t been seen since.
Rhianna Barreau was 12-years-old and living with her mom and brother in Morphett Vale, a suburb in Adelaide, South Australia, the year she went missing. She was a great and well-rounded student at Reynella South Primary School.
On October 7th, 1992, Rhianna had a day off from school due to a school holiday. Her brother was out of town, and Rhianna had a reportedly pleasant morning with her mom, Paula, before she had to leave for work.
Paula remembers Rhianna dancing to the song “Love Shack” by the B-52s that morning, just before she left for work around 8:30 am, expecting to see her again when she returned home around 4:00 pm.
Just before noon, Rhianna walked about a half-mile over to the Reynella Shopping Centre to buy a Christmas card for her American pen pal. Then, around 12:30 pm, she was allegedly seen walking near Morphett Vale High School. That was the last time anyone would see her.
When Paula arrived home from work around 4:00 pm, the front door was locked, the television was on, and the card that Rhianna had purchased was on the kitchen table. However, there was no sign of Rhianna.
Paula began calling around and asking Rhianna’s friends if she was with them, assuming Rhianna had gone to visit some friends and lost track of time. However, when no one had seen her, and she hadn’t heard from her daughter by 6:00 pm, Paula called the police to report Rhianna missing.
When authorities searched Paula’s home, there were no signs of struggle, and the only items missing from the house were Rhianna’s set of keys and a golden locket, which they assumed Rhianna was wearing the day she went missing.
Searches around the area were conducted, including around the bushland and landfills. Because the card Rhianna had purchased for her pen pal was in the house, police believe she made it home from her errands before she disappeared and was potentially forced or enticed out of her home.
Darryl – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
Police received thousands of calls and tips in the days following Rhianna’s disappearance, as there was a lot of awareness spread on her case.
In the shopping center she had visited the day she went missing, investigators put up a mannequin dressed in the same clothes she had been wearing alongside photos of her to try and jog people’s memories.
A month after Rhianna went missing, police allegedly received around 1,600 tips on her whereabouts. Someone allegedly claimed Rhianna was being held hostage in someone’s apartment, but it turned out to be false.
Despite getting all those tips and calls, nothing led to a solid answer on where Rhianna was or what happened to her.
Some people did report seeing a white Torana vehicle in the area where she had gone missing, but police couldn’t locate the car or the driver.
One caller claimed to have seen a set of keys in a driveway near Rhianna’s home that matched the description of her missing set, but when the caller went to collect the keys, they were gone.
There are still suspicions that someone had meticulously lured Rhianna out of her home and abducted her, someone she had known through friends or family.
Tragically, it’s been over 30 years since Rhianna went missing, and there is still no clear answer as to what happened to her or where she may have gone. Her vanishing has deeply affected her community and the city of Adelaide.
At the time of Rhianna’s disappearance, she was five foot one, weighed around 97 pounds, and had blonde hair and hazel eyes. She would have been 43 years old today.
If you have any information regarding her case, you are urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800 333-000.
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