Twenty-three-year-old Kathryn “Kat” Grosvenor was a childcare worker who had moved from her family home in New South Wales to the Australian Capital Territory to pursue her dreams. At the time of her disappearance, she was living in the northern Canberra suburb of Nicholls.
Kathryn was last positively confirmed alive shortly before eight p.m. on Sunday, March 3rd, 2002, when she spoke to her mother on the phone. There were two unconfirmed sightings later that evening in the Gold Creek area, including one at the George Harcourt Inn in Nicholls, where a woman matching her description was believed to have purchased cigarettes between approximately nine and nine fifteen p.m. Kathryn was last seen wearing dark-colored hipster pants, a red “Paris” top, and distinctive electric blue platform boots; she was possibly carrying a green vinyl backpack.
Her aunt reported her missing on March 5th after no one heard from her. Despite searches, no trace was found.
Then, on March 9th, a canoeist made a grim discovery in Yarralumla Bay, Lake Burley Griffin, in Canberra. Floating in the reeds about 200 yards east of Attunga Point was the naked body of Kathryn Grosvenor. She had been weighed down with a heavy concrete post, and a post-mortem examination revealed she had been stabbed more than sixty times in a frenzied and brutal attack.
Her clothing and the blue platform boots were not with the body and have never been recovered. In 2011, police appealed for information about similar boots after some were handed in, but they were later confirmed not to belong to her.
Investigators received tips about suspicious activity near the concrete post’s origin. In 2002, a witness reported seeing a man stop a red car (similar to an early 1980s Toyota Corolla) on Anthony Rolfe Avenue and place an item in the trunk. In 2012, another witness described two men loading a piece of concrete curbing into a black two-door ute or pickup truck (possibly a Ford or Holden), with a second red sedan nearby. Composite images of the men were released.
ACT Police launched a major investigation dubbed Operation Mersey. A coronial inquest named several persons of interest, with three individuals (including a couple who were friends/colleagues of Kathryn’s) highlighted as not fully cleared. Despite this, no one has ever been formally charged, and no clear motive has been publicly established.
As of the latest available reports, the case remains open and active. A $500,000 reward is offered for information leading to the conviction of Kathryn Grosvenor’s killer.
Crime Immemorial 