New search launched for woman who vanished 12 years ago

Police will scour bushland west of Geelong on Tuesday in the hope of finding missing woman Lorrin Whitehead, who disappeared 12 years ago.

She was last seen getting into the driver’s seat of a red 4WD in the centre of Bannockburn after going shopping shortly before 5pm on Friday, February 8, 2013.

Early on Tuesday, Victoria Police announced a new search near Shelford – a town of fewer than 300 people about 42 kilometres west of Geelong in the Golden Plains Shire.

“This search is based on intelligence that Lorrin’s remains may potentially be located in this area,” police said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters near Shelford on Tuesday morning, Detective Sergeant Steven Murphy said police spoke with hundreds of people during their investigation and received more tips after a media appeal, all of which led them to Tuesday’s search zone.

“I can’t go into specifics of the information,” he said. “But, I’d like to make it clear that we’ve got a responsibility to Lorrin, her five children, her elderly parents, and the tight-knit community of Bannockburn to solve this investigation.”

Murphy asked anyone withholding information about Whitehead’s disappearance to consider “what it would be like to not know where your mother or daughter is”.

“For her children, her parents and her loved ones, how distressing it must be to not know where in the world your mother is,” he said.