Crime Immemorial

Between May 1980 and October 1981, the suburbs of Tynong North and Frankston, southeast of Melbourne, Australia, became the backdrop for a series of brutal and unsolved murders that shook the local community and baffled law enforcement. Known collectively as the Tynong North and Frankston Murders, the case involved the abduction, murder, and disposal of six women in remote scrubland areas. Despite extensive investigations, a $6 million reward, and several suspects, the identity of the killer—or killers—remains unknown, making this one of Australia’s most enduring cold cases.

The series of murders began in May 1980 and spanned eighteen months, targeting women aged fourteen to seventy-three, all of whom were on foot, often intending to use public transport when they vanished.

The first woman to fall prey to the killer was fifty-nine-year-old Allison Rooke. On May 30th, 1980, she left her home in Frankston North to catch a bus on Frankston-Dandenong Road to go shopping and visit a realtor. She disappeared, and her naked body was found five weeks later on July 5th, 1980, in a shallow grave near McClelland Drive in Frankston, partially hidden by scrubland. A $50,000 reward was initially offered by police.

Seventy-three-year-old Bertha Miller, a devout churchgoer, was last seen on August 10th, 1980, leaving her Glen Iris home to catch a tram from Malvern Road and High Street to attend church in Prahran. Her fully clothed remains, alongside those of two younger victims, were discovered on December 6th, 1980, in a sand quarry off Brew Road in Tynong North.

On August 28th, 1980, fourteen-year-old Catherine Headland left her boyfriend’s house in Berwick around eleven a.m., intending to catch a bus from Manuka Road and High Street to Fountain Gate Shopping Centre. Her naked remains were found on December 7th, 1980, near Miller’s in the Tynong North sand quarry.

The fourth victim to disappear was eighteen-year-old Ann-Marie Sargent. On October 6th, 1980, she left her mother’s home in Cranbourne to catch a bus to the Dandenong CES employment office and Clyde Post Office. Her naked remains were also found on December 6th, 1980, alongside Miller and Headland in Tynong North.

Thirty-four-year-old Narumol Stephenson was a Thai mother of two who had moved to Australia in 1979. She vanished on November 29th, 1980, from a car parked in Brunswick after an argument with her husband during a visit to Melbourne. Her badly decomposed remains were found on February 3rd, 1983, by a motorist changing a tire on the Princes Freeway in Tynong North.

The final victim was fifty-five-year-old Joy Carmel Summers. On October 9th, 1981, Summers was last seen at a bus stop on Chile Street and Frankston-Dandenong Road in Frankston around one twenty p.m., intending to shop alone after her usual companion was unavailable. Her naked body was discovered on November 22nd, 1981, in scrubland near Skye Road and McClelland Drive, Frankston, close to where Rooke’s body was found.

All the murders were initially treated as separate cases, with the Frankston and Tynong North discoveries investigated independently. However, similarities in the modus operandi—such as the victims being abducted while on foot near public transport, their bodies dumped in remote scrubland, and efforts to conceal their identities by removing personal items—led detectives to eventually link the cases. The investigation, dubbed Operation Lyndhurst, has seen over 2,000 interviews and multiple suspects, yet no one has been charged.

The advanced state of decomposition of the bodies posed significant challenges, preventing authorities from determining the cause of death in most cases. This lack of physical evidence, combined with the absence of witnesses to the abductions, hindered progress. Police noted similarities to the Truro murders in South Australia, suggesting a possible serial killer, but no definitive connection was established. The killer’s apparent ability to stop after 1981, unusual for serial offenders, added to the mystery. Detectives have speculated that a “spark” may have triggered the killings, which ceased when the motivating factor was removed.

One of the primary suspects was Harold Janman, a local man who lived near the Tynong North murder site in Garfield and frequently offered women lifts along Frankston-Dandenong Road, where Rooke and Summers were last seen. Janman had worked as a projectionist at a drive-in near Skye Road, close to where the Frankston victims were found, and as a part-time barman at the Tynong Hotel, driving a truck along Brew Road, near the Tynong North dump site. He was interviewed by police in December 1981, after which the murders stopped, and failed two lie-detector tests. Despite his suspicious behavior—such as claiming ignorance of Skye Road and avoiding the exact spots where bodies were found during police visits—no hard evidence linked him to the crimes. Janman maintained his innocence until his death in 2020 at age eighty-eight.

Other suspects included Bandali Debs, a convicted murderer whose 1988 killing bore similarities to the Tynong North cases, and Raymond Edmunds, known as “Mr. Stinky,” a serial rapist and killer. However, Debs’ earliest violent conviction was in 1988, and Edmunds had moved to New South Wales by April 1980, making their involvement unlikely. Another individual, Garry Miller, was briefly considered due to his connection to victims Headland and Bertha Miller (his great-aunt), but he was cleared by investigators.

In 2017, Victoria Police announced a $6 million reward—$1 million for each victim—to encourage new information, emphasizing that enough time had passed for witnesses to feel safe coming forward. Advances in DNA technology, behavioral profiling, and public tips have fueled renewed efforts, with police expressing confidence in identifying the killer. In 2021, the Homicide Squad reiterated their focus on the case, urging anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers Australia.

The Tynong North and Frankston Murders remain a haunting chapter in Melbourne’s history, with the pain of the victims’ families compounded by the lack of closure. The diversity of the victims’ ages and backgrounds—ranging from a teenage schoolgirl to elderly women and a Thai immigrant—underscores the indiscriminate nature of the killer’s targeting. The case has been featured in podcasts like Casefile True Crime and Shockingly Evil, as well as in media outlets such as The Age and Bayside News, keeping public interest alive.

Victoria Police continue to appeal for information, believing that someone knows something that could crack the case. The $6 million reward remains active, a testament to the determination to bring justice to Allison Rooke, Bertha Miller, Catherine Headland, Ann-Marie Sargent, Narumol Stephenson, and Joy Carmel Summers. As Detective Inspector Mick Hughes stated, the killer likely exploited opportunities presented by the victims’ routines, such as waiting at bus stops or tram stops, to approach them unnoticed.

Until new evidence or a confession emerges, the Tynong North and Frankston Murders will remain one of Australia’s most perplexing unsolved mysteries, a grim reminder of a predator who struck in broad daylight and vanished without a trace.