A second coronial inquest is underway to determine who was responsible for the disappearance and death of 14-year-old Marilyn Wallman, who vanished on March 21, 1972, after cycling down a dirt road to catch her school bus. In 1980, an initial inquest failed to reach a conclusion due to missing evidence. A request to reopen the case in 1988 was denied because crucial documents related to convicted sex offender Michael Anthony Frances had disappeared; these included diaries and notebooks that referenced Marilyn Wallman but had sections torn out around the time of her disappearance.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-08,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In short:
A second coronial inquest is being held after the first in 1980 failed to determine who was responsible for the disappearance and death of 14-year-old Marilyn Wallman.
asserted
who → hold → Wallman
A request to reopen the inquest in 1988 was rejected due to missing evidence relating to convicted sex offender Michael Anthony Frances, who was interviewed several times.
asserted
who → reopen → Frances
Frances, who died in 2020, kept diaries from 1971, but a section surrounding the dates of Marilyn's disappearance had apparently been torn out.
asserted
section → die → disappearance
An attempt to reopen an inquest into the disappearance of Mackay schoolgirl Marilyn Wallman failed in 1988 because evidence linked to a sex offender had disappeared.
Fourteen-year-old Marilyn disappeared soon after 7:42am on March 21, 1972, after cycling a kilometre down a dirt road to catch a school bus.
A fragment of her skull was found in October 1974 in bushland at McGregor Creek, about 40 kilometres from where she was last seen.
asserted
she → reopen → Creek
The current inquest has heard that a convicted repeat sex offender, Michael Anthony Frances, who died in Victoria in 2020, was in Mackay when she went missing.
asserted
she → hear → Mackay
Counsel assisting Coroner David O'Connell, John Aberdeen, said Frances was first arrested in Mackay in 1974 after falling through the ceiling of a women's change room at Eimeo Beach.
"When he was apprehended at Eimeo riding his landlady's scooter, found on the scooter were also a woman's dress, halter top, brazier, panties and two false breasts," Mr Aberdeen said.
asserted
Aberdeen → assist → scooter
The inquest heard Frances dropped a notebook in the change room that referred to other sexual assaults, including one at the Mackay School of Arts where he wrote he had "got a young girl".
asserted
he → hear → girl
Police located a crime report that fit the scenario, and he was arrested after admitting his guilt.
asserted
he → locate → guilt
"It seems Mr Frances kept a record of what he had been up to,"Mr Aberdeen said.
asserted
Aberdeen → seem → what
A search of his house found diaries, notebooks and a mud map with references to Marilyn Wallman, along with 400 pieces of women's underwear he "snow dropped" from clotheslines.
asserted
he → find → clotheslines
Mr Aberdeen said Frances kept diaries from 1971, but a section surrounding the dates of Marilyn's disappearance had apparently been torn out.
asserted
section → say → disappearance
Evidence existed until 1976
The diaries, notebooks and mud map were still in police evidence in 1976, as it was referenced in a statement from a new detective who was briefed on Marilyn's disappearance.
asserted
who → exist → disappearance
"Detective Mitchelson gave evidence that he located a mud map, drawing or sketch of an area in Eimeo which featured roads which matched the area of Wallmans Rd and Eimeo Road," Mr Aberdeen said.
"
asserted
Aberdeen → give → Rd
He noted that on that sketch was written the initials MW."
asserted
He → note → initials
He said "not surprisingly", Frances's possible involvement in Marilyn Wallman's disappearance was seen as a distinct possibility, and he was questioned by homicide detectives.
asserted
he → say → detectives
Mr Aberdeen said Frances claimed entries in his books and diaries were in general not referable to any particular person.
asserted
entries → say → person
When questioned, Frances claimed he was home when Marilyn disappeared, waiting for a phone call about a new job in the railway.
asserted
Marilyn → question → railway
Mr Aberdeen said the diaries and mud map no longer existed.
asserted
diaries → say → ?
He said reports indicated they were stored in a locked "steel press" at Mackay police station but that the CIB and exhibit room had since changed.
"Quite simply, Your Honour, no one knows what happened to those documents after 1976."
asserted
what → say → 1976
In 1987, Daphne Wallman told police underwear had disappeared from her bedroom drawer in the 12 months before Marilyn disappeared; however, she was never shown the underwear Frances was found with.
asserted
Frances → tell → underwear
The inquest heard Frances had a record of violent sexual offending against young women, including abduction, sexual assault, assault with intent to rape and detaining by force.
asserted
Frances → hear → force
Inquest rejected
Mr Aberdeen said police requested to reopen the inquest in 1988, but the coroner rejected this due to the missing evidence.
asserted
coroner → reject → evidence
The coroner referred his decision to the under-secretary of the Department of Justice and later the Crown Law Office, as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions, who supported his view that there was insufficient evidence.
asserted
who → refer → view
"It should be specifically mentioned that Coroner Bradshaw said had the map been available it would have provided the necessary evidence as it established a provable link between Marilyn and Mr Frances.
asserted
it → mention → Marilyn
Car in sand dunes
Mr Aberdeen said Frances first came to police notice two days after Marilyn's disappearance when he was found in the sand hills north of Mackay Harbour by a search party.
asserted
he → say → party
Searchers came across a Wolseley car and Frances, who said he was there digging sand for his landlady's garden.
asserted
he → come → garden
Mr Aberdeen said that despite the encounter being logged in the police "running sheet", it was two years later, in 1974, that police checked anything to do with the vehicle despite having its complete registration number.
asserted
police → say → number
By this time, Frances had sold the car, which had been stripped and used in a kindergarten playground at Bluff in central Queensland and could not be forensically examined.
uncertain
which → sell → Queensland
The inquest is expected to hear from more than 20 witnesses over the next two weeks.
asserted
inquest → expect → weeks
The Aporia