Police in Victoria, Australia are offering a $1 million reward for help in the suspicious death of a mother of five 46 years ago.
Mary Anne Fagan, then 41 years old, was last seen alive on February 17, 1978 in Armadale, Australia. She was last seen by a neighbor around 10:30 a.m. after she dropped her four children off at school, Victoria Police said in a statement.
The last known contact that Fagan had was a telephone conversation with her husband around 11:00 am
After the school day ended, her four older children – ages 15, 13, 12 and 6 – arrived home to their 17-month-old sibling crying alone in the house. Fagan’s car was in the driveway; all the doors in the house were locked, but the house gate was open.
After the children broke the window of the house to get inside, they discovered their mother dead in the bedroom. She was “bound and gagged, and fatally stabbed several times,” police said.
Mary Anne Fagan.
Victoria Police
$100,000 reward offered for information on whereabouts of man accused in fatal attack on Tennis deputy
Victoria Police said “a motive for her murder has never been established and a number of personal items taken from the home have never been found”, adding, “Detectives believe there may still be people in the community who know what happened to Mary Anne and who is responsible .”
The February 15, 2024 announcement of the $1 million prize follows the $20,000 prize from April 1978 and the $50,000 prize from June 1978.
“Investigators hope this new reward will encourage someone to come forward with information,” Victoria Police said in a statement.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(399x0:401x2)/Mary-Anne-Fagan-021524-2-2718de9ca35d41129aef5c069ad9ac29.jpg)
Mary Anne Fagan.
Victoria Police
Man arrested in 40-year-old case after DNA links him to murder
“A significant investigation into Mary Anne’s death has been carried out over the past four decades to try to establish who was responsible for her murder and what the motive was,” Victoria Police Homicide Detective Inspector Dean Thomas said in a statement.
“Police have spoken to dozens of people as part of this investigation, but there’s always the possibility that there’s someone yet to speak to us,” Thomas said, explaining that any new information could give authorities an opportunity to “pursue any lead or new avenue of inquiry .”
“Mary Anne was a beloved mother, wife and daughter and we know her family still feels her loss as strongly as it did 46 years ago,” Thomas said. “Each of her children had to grow up without their mother and I know they thought about that almost every day.”
Want to keep up with the latest crime reports? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for the latest crime news, coverage of ongoing trials and details on intriguing unsolved cases.
Police are urging anyone with information about Mary Anne’s death to contact Crime Stoppers Victoria on 1800-333-000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education