Developments in the cold case of a glamor model’s disappearance almost 30 years ago have prompted the New South Wales coroner to open a second inquest.
Revelle Balmain, 22, was last seen in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford on November 5, 1994.
A makeup bag, keys and a single shoe found on nearby streets were all that remained of her life.
Balmain worked as a model and dancer, but had also just started working as a prostitute to make ends meet.
Her last known date before she disappeared was with a client on McNair Avenue in Kingsford.
After an anonymous tip and a mysterious photograph, police discovered a new person they believe is linked to the case and subsequently raided three “important premises.”
Revelle Balmain (pictured) was last seen in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford on November 5, 1994 and a make-up bag, keys and a single shoe found in nearby streets were all that remained of her life.
On Monday, New South Wales deputy state coroner Joan Baptie held a hearing to set up a second inquest to begin on April 29.
The coroner heard that outstanding material in the police report was expected to be handed over within a week.
Magistrate Baptie was also told that an updated statement would be requested from the police officer in charge to submit in addition to his main statement.
A week has been set aside for the investigation.
The previous coronial inquest in 1999 found that Ms Balmain died at the hands of an unknown person or persons, and the matter was referred to the unsolved homicides unit.
No one has ever been charged for Ms Balmain’s disappearance.
Balmain only joined the escort agency she worked for, run by Jane King and her then-husband Zoran Stanojevic, six weeks before her disappearance.
In 2023, King claimed that he had new information that Balmain had been booked to meet Stanojevic’s Serbian friends later on the night of her disappearance.
There is no indication that the police are investigating Mr. Stanojevic.
In December 2021, he was arrested on unrelated charges as police reinvestigated his disappearance.
He was one of five men arrested in Sydney in connection with an alleged Serbian crime syndicate.
The focus of the initial investigations centered on Balmain’s last known client, Gavin Samer, who denied any involvement and claimed he dropped her off at a nearby pub after their date.
In 1999, the coroner found that Mr Samer “certainly had the opportunity to kill Ms Balmain” but “no plausible motive” ever emerged.
Samer has never been charged and there is no indication that police still consider him a suspect.
A lawyer for Samer called the court hearing on Monday.
In May 2021, a $1 million reward was announced for information regarding the disappearance of Revelle Balmain. Mrs. Balmain in the photo.
Balmain’s sister, Suellen Simpson, also participated in the hearing via video conference and watched the proceedings silently, Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Her parents died without knowing what happened to Revelle.
“For many years, our family worked tirelessly to find out what happened to my sister, but sadly both our mother and Revelle’s father, Ivor, passed away without knowing what happened to their little girl,” Simpson said in 2021.
Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Bell and Force Aramac tricycle took charge of Ms Balmain’s case in 2020.
The following year, a $1 million reward was announced for information about his disappearance.
“Revelle’s family have been campaigning for justice for more than 26 years and strike force detectives are determined to finally find the answers they seek,” Inspector Bell said at the time.
Several months later, in July 2021, the strike force revealed that it had received vital new information, including a blurry photograph of a man wearing sunglasses and a white T-shirt sitting at a wooden table.
Revelle Balmain’s parents died without knowing what happened to the dancing advertising model
The photo was sent anonymously, but the man was later identified. Strike Force Aramac was trying to establish where he had been on the night Ms Balmain disappeared.
“The new line of investigation is that we are investigating a person previously unknown to Revelle, (who) may have met her on the night of her disappearance,” Bell said at the time.
King, Balmain’s former employer at the escort agency, said the million-dollar reward had come years too late and she feared police had missed vital clues.
He said the Balmain “group”, including two women from the agency and a doctor, had never been questioned.
