Karmein Chan was a 13-year-old

Chinese-Australian Chinese Australians () are Australians of Overseas Chinese, Chinese ancestry. Chinese Australians are one of the largest groups within the global Overseas Chinese, Chinese diaspora, and are the largest Asian Australian community. Per capita, Au ...

girl who was abducted from her home in Templestowe, Victoria, during the night of 13 April 1991 and was subsequently murdered. "

Mr Cruel "Mr Cruel" is an Australian serial child rapist and suspected child murderer who attacked three girls in the northern and eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is also the prime suspect in the 1991 abduc ...

", a serial

child rapist Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in sexual activities with a child (whether ...

active in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

area at the time of the murder, is considered the prime suspect.

Kidnapping

Karmein Chan was at home babysitting her two younger sisters while both her parents worked at a Chinese restaurant they owned in the nearby Melbourne suburb of

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

. The girls were confronted by a man in a balaclava with a knife, who forced Chan's sisters into a wardrobe before fleeing with Chan. Before leaving, the offender spray-painted "Asian drug deal", "payback" and "more to come" on a vehicle in the Chans' front yard. Police suspect this was a ruse to distract them from the killer's real motive. Chan's mother made an emotional plea on television for her daughter's return.

Investigation

Prior to Chan's abduction, there had been several kidnappings and

sexual assault Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

s of girls in Melbourne's suburbs by an offender known in the media as

. The

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victo ...

had started scaling down Operation Challenge, which had been established in response to the crimes attributed to Mr Cruel, the day before Chan's abduction. Detectives believed that Chan would be released the same as previous girls who had been abducted. On 6 May 1991, 23 days after Chan's abduction, Victoria Police formed the Spectrum Taskforce to investigate Chan's abduction and to continue Operation Challenge investigations. A reward of $100,000 was offered for information on her abduction. On 9 April 1992, Chan's remains were found in a landfill area at Edgars Creek in the suburb of

Thomastown Thomastown (), historically known as Grennan, is a town in County Kilkenny in the province of Leinster in the south-east of Ireland. It is a market town along a stretch of the River Nore which is known for its salmon and trout, with a number of ...

. The skull had three bullet holes in the back of the head. The body had probably been there for twelve months. On 31 January 1994, the Spectrum Taskforce was disbanded. The offender was never brought to justice. A few detectives had doubts whether Chan was a Mr Cruel victim. An inquest was held in 1997 with the coroner finding that she met her death through foul play, but it was not possible to identify the person or people responsible. The case has remained open with cold case detectives regularly reviewing the investigation. On the 25th anniversary of her abduction the reward was increased from $100,000 to $1 million.

Kidnapping

Investigation

See also

References

Further reading