Show Notes
In the early '80s a young hitchhiker vanished off the Flinders Highway - despite a mysterious tip-off in the mail, a killer’s confession, and growing rumours around one outback town, the truth remains hidden. In this third episode for Outback Murder Highway, Tim, Xanthe and investigative journalist Amelia Oberhardt unpack the unsolved disappearance of 20-year-old Tony Jones who was on his way to meet his brother in Mt Isa but never arrived. You can watch the Outback Murder Highway TV documentary series 8.30pm Wednesday on Channel 9 from April 22 to May 13. Or watch anytime here - on 9Now. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
More from Motive & Method
What happens behind the scenes when someone disappears? In this episode, Tim and Xanthe sit down with AFP Commander Joanne Cameron to discuss how Australia tackles some 49,000 missing persons reports every year. The conversation dives deep into high-risk demographics, the impact of ambiguous loss on families and why going missing is often the "canary in the coal mine" for deeper vulnerabilities. This year marks 20 years of the National Missing Persons Coordination Centre and Commander Cameron details how modern tools like forensic facial age progression are breathing new life into long-term cold cases. Plus, why every clue matters and how a unified community response is crucial to bringing the missing home. Find out more about the NMPCC here. If you have any information about a missing person, or crime, You can contact Crime Stoppers Australia anonymously by calling the national hotline at 1800 333 000 or by submitting a report online via Crime Stoppers Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It’s been 46 years since 16-year-old Elaine Johnson vanished alongside her friend Kerry-Ann Joel. But Elaine’s little sister, Helen Cooper, refuses to let her become a forgotten statistic. Her relentless search for answers has taken her to local brothels, into confrontations with bikies and chasing down a mysterious 42-page letter claiming to contain a deathbed confession. In this episode, Helen sits down with Tim and Xanthe after giving evidence at the final 2026 hearing of the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons. She told the committee of decades of baffling police failures - from initially treating the girls as runaways to allegedly failing to link their disappearances for 20 years. Despite repeated requests for a reward denied, Helen refuses to give up, and has been pursuing answers and leads through the podcast: ‘Out From The Cold: Searching For Elaine’. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In our first ever Q & A episode Tim and Xanthe are answering your questions about the inside world of true crime, forensics and criminal psychology.
They were on opposite sides of the law - one robbing banks, the other hunting him. In this extraordinary interview, bank robber Steven Meyers and former FBI agent Shawn Johnson sit down with Tim & Xanthe to share their side of the case and the chase. In 1990s Seattle, Meyers was part of a crew that pulled off 19 bank heists alongside the elusive mastermind known as “Hollywood”. Johnson spent four years tracking them, analysing their every move and eventually setting a trap that would bring the crime spree to a violent end. This episode, the two men reveal the inside story of the robberies, the FBI chase and the shocking final heist. Their high-stakes game of cat and mouse has been retold in the Netflix documentary How to Rob a Bank. Find Steven Meyers’ book ‘The Treehouse’ here See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Was an innocent man sent to the gallows in Australia’s most infamous - and final - execution? On February 3, 1967, Ronald Ryan was hanged for the murder of a prison guard during a chaotic escape from Melbourne’s Pentridge Prison - an execution that shocked the nation and would ultimately help bring an end to capital punishment across Australia. Just over a year earlier, Ryan had escaped Pentridge, triggering a 19-day manhunt. After his capture, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to death, despite conflicting evidence surrounding the fatal shooting. When the countdown to the gallows began, Premier Henry Bolte refused to grant clemency, igniting a wave of outrage across the country - newspapers campaigned against the execution and protesters filled the streets. But Ronald Ryan was hanged and his death helped fuel the movement that would ultimately see capital punishment abolished across Australia. More than 50 years later, the question remains: was Ronald Ryan guilty of murder - or did Australia execute an innocent man? Follow us on YouTube Crime Central Australia HERE. Follow us on Instagram HERE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.