IT is closing in on three decades since the lifeless body of Melissa Hunt was found in a dam at an abandoned Hunter colliery - nearly 30 years that the young mother's murderer has been allowed to be free; at liberty to go about their business as long as they could live with the heinous acts they committed.
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Melissa was 22 years old when she died. She suffered several serious blows to the head, leaving her with 11 fractures to her skull. And when her killer was finished, they filled her clothes with sandstone rocks and put her into the water. Her daughter Jayde Hallett was only five years old at the time.
This week, Jayde - now 34 - spoke publicly about her mum's murder for the first time. In the absence of charges for almost 29 years, she wants the inquest that was put on hold in 1997 to resume.
The Coronial inquiry was suspended under Section 78 of the Coroners Act - a provision of law that allows proceedings to be paused if there is believed to be enough evidence to charge someone.
Clearly the Coroner overseeing the inquest, Col Elliot, thought that to be the case and handed the matter back to the Director of Public Prosecutions. But it was soon referred from the DPP to the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit, which has had carriage of the case ever since.
It is easy to see how, to those close to Melissa, the way this played out seems like wheels spinning in sand.
The NSW Police Homicide Squad commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said on Wednesday that police are continuing to investigate the murder.
Police in recent years have re-examined clues, re-interviewed witnesses and family, and sent divers into Burrenjim dam again.
They conducted a highly-publicised search of a Waratah property in 2021, but it appears there was no breakthrough from that. A $1 million reward remains on offer.
Police investigating murders are on the clock from the get-go. Every day matters. Those now trying to figure out what happened to Melissa should not be blamed for the lack of answers - there has been almost 30 years for evidence to be lost, witnesses to pass away and memories to become clouded by time. But there are two key questions here: if the inquest was suspended under Section 78, why has there never been anyone arrested in connection to Melissa's murder? And if, instead, the suspension of the inquest was misguided or investigators disagreed with the opinion of the Coroner, why has the inquest not resumed?
Melissa's brother Peter Hallett told this newspaper in 2019 that he believed the inquest should be re-opened. Jayde said this week that she wants to "put the matter to rest" and that resuming the inquest would help after a lifetime of living with the horror of her mum's murder.
If there are no charges forthcoming, after all this time, it is hard to see why the inquest should not resume.
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