A CLOUD that has hung low and dark over Dubbo since 2005 lifted this week, and as a community we should be grateful for that.
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The confirmation that a bone belonging to murdered woman Lateesha Nolan had been discovered at Butlers Falls, and subsequent uncovering of further bones and bone fragments has gone part of the way to ending one of this city’s shadiest tales.
For more than a decade we have all wondered where Lateesha had been buried.
Her murderer Malcolm Naden, who was also responsible for the death of Kristy Scholes in the same year, has long been caught and sentenced but that alone didn’t create finality in this matter.
Ms Nolan’s friends and family have waited more than 11 years to be able to say goodbye to the young mother who will be forever 24.
For the rest of us, we have waited from afar hoping and praying they would get the chance to farewell their loved one.
Now, thanks to one observant river user, they have something.
Whether it’s one bone or the finds from this week add to it, it is something.
Little has been made of the person who found the femur bone.
No doubt it must have been a startling discovery to make, and one that no doubt has had a profound effect on them.
Another group of people that this case has had a profound effect on is the police who have worked hard, on and off, since 2005 to get this case solved.
The likes of Mick Willing, Sue-Ellen Scott and Mark Meredith have been there from the start.
Mick is now in Sydney as the commander of the Homicide Squad, but has had a profound impact on what has gone in this week as the search unfolded.
Beneath them has been a willing band of helpers, including those tasked with the role of helping dig up the bank of the Macquarie River on Tuesday and Wednesday.
As a city we should join with Lateesha’s family and friends in thanking everyone who has been involved in this case, whether it was 2005, 2016 or the long years in between.
Its grizzly nature has at times captivated us but always concerned us.
Here’s hoping the family and friends of another Dubbo murder victim, Alois Rez, take heart from the fact that when all hope looks to be lost these cases can be solved.
And here’s hoping that, finally, Lateesha Nolan’s loved ones can rest easy knowing their girl isn’t alone anymore.