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Anonymous Letter
An anonymous letter handed to police by private investigator Quentin Doig alleged police were ignoring a tip about who was responsible for the disappearance of friends Olivia Hope (17) and Ben Smart (21). The pair have not been seen since the early hours of New Years Day after they had been dropped off, along with a mystery man, on a yacht moored in Endeavour Inlet off Furneaux Lodge.
The letter sent to police had been formed using newspaper clippings. A photocopy was sent to the private investigators hired by the owner of a sloop seized by police as part of the investigation into the Hope and Smart disappearances.
The letter described a white guy who lived with a ‘chick’ and a former Black Power member who had a reputation for using knives and who sold drugs from a yacht that had been disposed of in January. A copy of the letter had also been sent to TV3.
While Mr Doig says the letter had potential to be a significant lead, Rob Pope said the information in it was ‘not consistent with the facts’ and ‘until it had been assessed properly, we give no particular weight to it.’
The Dominion of 20 March 1998 reported Mr Pope saying the letter was not a hoax, but it had been discounted as a development in the inquiry. The newspaper repo
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| Police spent two days investigating the letter and speaking to those named in it and had discounted it. |
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rted that the letter had been sent to four media outlets and to the lawyer acting for Scott Watson, whose yacht was seized by police on 12 January as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Olivia Hope and Ben Smart.
Police spent two days investigating the letter and speaking to those named in it and had discounted it. Rob Pope said “We are satisfied the letter is not a hoax. The information in it was in fact genuinely provided but has no relevance to the investigation whatsoever. We are satisfied there was no malicious intent on the part of the author. The author genuinely believed that the information may have been useful," the newspaper report said.
For more information refer to any of the 20 topics isolated for you by CrimeCo. Sequentially, Garbage Sifted is recommended.
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Anonymous letter 'might be important'. |
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