Darlene Geertsema: The Night She Vanished

A Tasmanian disappearance that remained a mystery for more than four decades

On the evening of 23 October 1978, 30-year-old mother of six Darlene Avis Geertsema disappeared from Devonport on Tasmania’s north-west coast. She had picked up her two youngest children from school, bought fish and chips for dinner and was apparently preparing for a new chapter in her life. By the following morning, Darlene was gone. Her red Holden Sunbird was discovered near the Devonport Oval, close to the mouth of the Mersey River. Inside were some of Darlene’s belongings, but there was no sign of her. No body was ever recovered, and despite reported sightings and numerous inquiries over the years, no confirmed evidence emerged that Darlene was alive after that night.

The Night Everything Changed

At the time of her disappearance, Darlene was living with her two youngest children in a flat in Best Street, Devonport. Her relationship with her partner, John Shepherd, had been troubled, with the couple separating and reconciling on a number of occasions. Evidence presented decades later at a coronial inquest indicated that Darlene was planning to leave Tasmania with her two youngest children. She had airline tickets and had purchased birthday presents for her twin daughters, who were living on the mainland. Shepherd visited the Best Street flat on the night Darlene disappeared. Darlene’s daughter Kathryn, who was only eight years old at the time, would later recall hearing a heated argument between the adults. She remembered hearing what sounded like hitting, followed by silence. Darlene was never seen by her family again.

A Missing-Person Investigation

The initial police investigation treated Darlene primarily as a missing person. One possibility considered was that she had left voluntarily, while another was that she may have taken her own life. But there were troubling questions surrounding both theories. Darlene had regularly communicated with members of her family. After October 1978, that communication abruptly stopped. There was no reliable financial, medical, travel or other documentary trail showing that she had begun another life elsewhere. Most importantly, Darlene had six children. When she had moved away previously, she had taken her younger children with her. Evidence later considered by the coroner indicated that immediately before she disappeared she was making plans to see her older children rather than abandon them.

A Cold Case Reopened

For decades, Darlene’s family lived without knowing what had happened to her. Eventually the case received renewed attention, with investigators re-examining the original police files, interviewing witnesses and family members and attempting to reconstruct Darlene’s final known movements. In 2021, Tasmania Police announced a $500,000 reward for credible information that could assist investigators to locate Darlene and determine what happened to her. The investigation also focused renewed attention on the events inside the Best Street flat on the night of 23 October 1978.

The 2022 Coronial Finding

More than 43 years after Darlene disappeared, a coronial inquest finally provided her family with an official finding about what had happened. In 2022, Coroner Simon Cooper concluded that Darlene was dead and found that she had died as a result of injuries inflicted upon her by John Shepherd on the evening she disappeared. The coroner considered and rejected explanations including suicide, accident and the possibility that Darlene had voluntarily disappeared and established a new life elsewhere. Importantly, a coronial finding is not the same as a criminal conviction. The inquest did not constitute a murder trial and did not find Shepherd criminally guilty of Darlene’s death. Even after the coronial finding, one enormous mystery remains.

Darlene’s body has never been found.

True Crime Tasmania – The Night She Vanished

In this episode of True Crime Tasmania, Hamish and Emily return to Devonport in 1978 and examine Darlene’s life, her complicated relationship with John Shepherd, the disturbing recollections of her children, the discovery of her abandoned Holden Sunbird and the shortcomings and limitations of the original missing-person investigation. We also look at the extraordinary persistence of Darlene’s family, the investigation that was revived decades later, the $500,000 reward and the evidence that eventually led a Tasmanian coroner to conclude that Darlene had not simply walked away from her life. It is a story of a mother who disappeared without a trace, two young children left wondering what had happened to her, and a family that waited more than four decades for answers. But despite everything investigators now know, the final question remains unanswered:

Where is Darlene Geertsema?

True Crime Tasmania examines Tasmanian criminal cases using publicly available court records, coronial findings, police information and reputable media reporting. A coronial finding concerning a person’s involvement in a death should not be confused with a criminal conviction.