At a Dubbo court yesterday the death of Roxlyn Bowie was referred to the unsolved homicide squad.

Coroner Mary Jerram said the mother of two was last seen on June 5, 1982 at Walgett and found that she died on or about that date.

But the evidence heard at the inquest which began on Monday did not allow her to identify more about the death, and letters purportedly written by Roxlyn announcing her intention to leave remained “a puzzle”.

The coroner also said she agreed with the submission of counsel assisting the coroner Sergeant Paul Bush that there would be difficulty in accepting some of the evidence of John Bowie, husband of Roxlyn at the time of her disappearance.

“I put very little weight on it,” she said, adding she accepted Mr Bowie had been open about some of his behaviours including drinking and extramarital affairs.

The findings were delivered yesterday after three days of hearing factual evidence.

Counsel assisting had earlier yesterday said there were some issues it was fair to say were not able to be established at the inquest.

“Unfortunately the passage of time and the frailty of memory are against us,” he said.

The coroner said every witness had provided the most overwhelming evidence she had heard that Roxlyn was “utterly devoted” as a mother.

She said a tiny question mark remained on a letter, sent to Roxlyn’s parents and bearing a postmark from Coonamble on the Monday after she was last seen.

A forensic document examiner had provided evidence to the inquest and the coroner noted 

tests on letters were not yet finished.

Roxlyn did not access the family car and the possibility of her hitchhiking did not match the person they had heard about at the inquest, the coroner said.

She said she would not dwell on it, but that Mr Bowie was in possession of guns when they were at Walgett.

Mr Bowie had been convicted of forging his wife’s signature on a land transfer document in 1984, something he had admitted to the inquest.

The coroner said Detective Inspector Russell Oxford had been on the case for 25 years and was devoted to finding answers for Roxlyn’s family.

The coroner said the mother of two was a “timid woman” and that how she had with “no money and  no access to a car” “simply vanished” was “beyond comprehension to me”.

“It’s highly likely to me she met with foul play,” she said.

The coroner said that left them with the letters as a puzzle and that there was no evidence that they were not Roxlyn’s writing.

“They remain a stumbling block,” she said.

In referring the case to the unsolved homicide squad, the coroner said she would ask that the forensic report on the letters be completed as quickly as possible.

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