Police offer $1 million for help solving NSW disappearance
William Roach went missing in regional NSW nearly 30 years ago and is believed to have been murdered.
William “Bill” Roach was 25 when he was last seen on Barney Street, Armidale, on Friday 31 December 1993 and was reported missing in early 1994. (AAP Image/NSW Police)
Roach, known as Bill, was 25 years old when he was last seen in Armidale on New Year’s Eve 1993.
In 2004, a police strike force was set up to investigate Roach’s disappearance, with a $50,000 reward originally offered.
A later coronial inquest concluded Roach had likely died but the cause of his death was undetermined, and his body has never been found.
A search of a property on the outskirts of Armidale in early 2016 also failed to locate Roach’s body.
The NSW government on Tuesday increased the reward for information about Roach’s disappearance to $1 million.
The new reward was welcomed by Roach’s sister Kim.
“It has been 27 years since we have heard from Bill and we just want to know what happened to him,” Ms Roach said.
“We are so grateful for a reward of this magnitude to be offered to assist investigators finally solve this case and find out what happened all those years ago.”
NSW Police Detective Superintendent Steve Laksa said police were keen to speak to anyone with information about Roach’s whereabouts.
“We believe there are people in the community who have vital information about William’s disappearance and what happened to him on the last day he was seen alive,” Laksa said.
At the time he went missing, Roach was described as being of Caucasian appearance, 180cm tall, thin with brown wavy hair and brown eyes.
It’s believed he was wearing blue jeans, work boots and a red flannelette shirt when he was last seen.
-AAP
