Revelle Balmain's mystery disappearance heats up as new pic may be key

Police have released a photo of a man they want to speak to about the disappearance of Revelle Balmain, a young Sydney woman who has been missing for 26 years.

Police are hoping a photo of a man sent to them anonymously could provide the key to finding out what happened to Sydney woman Revelle Balmain, who disappeared more than 26 years ago.

Ms Balmain was 22 when she was last seen in the Kingsford area in the city’s east on November 5, 1994.

Her make-up bag, keys and https://wayanadtouring.com/ a shoe were later found scattered in the same suburb near Ainslie Street.

Ms Balmain was reported missing and has not been seen or heard from since and no one has been charged over her disappearance.

A coronial inquest in 1999 found she had died at the hands of a person or persons unknown and the matter was referred to the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Unit for future investigation.

 Last year, a formal review of the cold case began.

In May, a $1million reward was announced by the NSW government as part of a new appeal for someone to come forward with information that may help police find out what happened to her.

Police have now released an image of a man they wish to identify, who may have information about Ms Balmain’s last known movements.

Strike Force Aramac lead investigator Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Bell said the image was sent to investigators anonymously after the reward was announced.

‘It is believed that this image was taken some time in the mid-2000s, but that the individual depicted may have information that would help us progress our investigation,’ Detective Chief Inspector Bell said.

‘As always, we continue to encourage anyone in the public that may have information about Revelle’s disappearance to come forward and speak with police, so that we may finally provide answers to her family.’

The reward’s announcement followed a series of Daily Mail Australia reports over the past three years about a man previously named as the main suspect in Ms Balmain’s disappearance.

Gavin Owen Samer was 26 when he hired Ms Balmain to come to his home at Kingsford for several hours of sex on the day she disappeared.

Ms Balmain has not been seen since that appointment and Samer was named at a 1999 coronial inquest as the main person of interest in her suspected murder.

Samer subsequently spent at least 15 years living as a recluse in Tasmania but resurfaced in Sydney in 2018 to plead guilty to old theft charges.

After that court appearance Samer told Daily Mail Australia he believed he was still the main suspect in Ms Balmain’s murder but insisted he had not harmed her.

‘I’m one of the softest, nicest blokes on the planet,’ he said when asked about the events of November 5, 1994.

‘I’m mellow. I’m totally anti-violence.’

While Samer told Daily Mail Australia he did not kill Ms Balmain, he knew he would continue to be linked to the crime.

‘I’m not worried about getting arrested over the Revelle thing,’ he said.

‘I’ve done nothing wrong. I hired a hooker, that’s the only thing I did. Big deal.’

Samer was to be the blonde, blue-eyed escort’s final client before she intended getting out of prostitution and was the last person known to have seen her alive.

After their appointment, Samer claimed he drove Ms Balmain from his house on McNair Avenue to the nearby Red Tomato Inn about 7pm, but no witnesses came forward to say they saw him or her that night.

During the inquest, the possibility that two of Ms Balmain’s former employers, Select Companions and VIP Escorts, or their associates could have been involved in her disappearance was investigated.

Also considered was a submission from a group of three men about drug-fuelled parties they claimed to have had with Ms Balmain. The submission was later ruled ‘unreliable’.

Deputy State Coroner John Abernethy eliminated a theory that Ms Balmain had staged her own disappearance, saying there was ‘absolutely no evidence’ to support it.

In his May 1999 findings Mr Abernethy ruled Ms Balmain died on or about November 5, 1994 in New South Wales at the hands of a person or persons unknown.

‘Not only is she dead, but I am firmly of the opinion that her disappearance involves her homicide,’ he said.

‘While Mr Samer certainly had the opportunity to kill Ms Balmain, and rightly in my view is the main person of interest to police, there is no plausible motive proved.’

Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Samer was involved in the death of either woman, only that he was named as a suspect in Ms Balmain’s disappearance.