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Heartbroken family of a young girl presumed dead after she disappeared 11 years ago are no closer to finding out how and why she died after her coronial inquest.
The coroner on Thursday concluded that Jasmine Morris is likely dead, but was unable to determine any of the facts of her death because most of her associates were heavy drug users.
While several associates have offered police multiple accounts of the events leading to her presumed death, detectives weren’t able to verify any of the claims.
Ms Morris was last seen on October 6, 2009 and failed to withdraw her fortnightly Centrelink payment the next day.
She was known to withdraw all the funds on the day they were deposited into her account, and has not tried to access her bank or medicare since her disappearance.
The then-19-year-old had fallen in with the wrong crowd, was addicted to intravenous drugs and was trading sex for money in the years leading to her disappearance.
The coroner on Thursday concluded that Jasmine Morris is likely dead, but was unable to determine any of the facts of her death because most of her associates were heavy drug users
An inquest on Thursday concluded the Aboriginal teen from Grafton, northern New South Wales is likely dead, given exhaustive efforts to find her have amounted to nothing.
The coroner also revealed several accounts of her death were investigated and subsequently dismissed by police due to lack of evidence.
Several of her acquaintances, all self-admitted drug users, spoke to police and gave evidence at the inquest about their understanding of the days leading to her disappearance.
While facts of the matter varied wildly among the parties, their stories all had one thing in common: Ms Morris died and her body was hidden.
The first of the theories was that Ms Morris was involved in a heated verbal argument with Virginia Simpson, a friend of her older brother’s which eventually escalated and turned violent.
Several people claimed the pair fell out because Ms Simpson was convinced Ms Morris had a sexual relationship with her boyfriend.
A woman named Pamela Cutmore, who previously refused to assist with the investigation, first told police of the theory in early 2020, after her ex husband (a close associate of Ms Morris) confessed to knowing what happened to the teen.
After receiving a terminal medical diagnosis, he allegedly told Ms Morris’ older brother Daniel Geoghegan to ‘do what’s right’ and tell the truth.
At least two other people corroborated the version of events.
A second story investigated by police was that Ms Morris overdosed on intravenous drugs, which was considered plausible.
Acquaintances, including Ms Simpson, claimed her body was dumped at various locations including in the ocean, in the Clarence River or buried on the property of an associate named Kevin Blanch.
A subsequent search of Mr Blanch’s property was conducted. Nothing was ever found.
While facts of the matter varied wildly among the parties, their stories all had one thing in common: Ms Morris died and her body was hidden
The final version of events mentioned in the inquests findings was that Ms Morris was ‘hotshot’ – the process of purposefully injecting someone with a lethal dosage of drugs.
The person who made those claims said she was then dumped in the ocean. They provided no reason for the alleged murder.
Police later ruled each of the stories as nothing more than gossip, innuendo and rumours after extensive investigations.
The coroner agreed, stating it was likely Ms Morris was in fact dead but she was not in a position to determine how, when or why she died.
He has referred the matter to the unsolved homicide squad to continue investigating.
Ms Morris grew up in a single parent household and moved around a lot growing up before settling in Grafton.
The coroner heard that she was the victim of sexual abuse aged 12, and was sexually assaulted a second time when she was 16 years old.
She left school in grade eight, aged 14, and quickly began the recreational use of marijuana and drinking alcohol.
The coroner heard that by 17 she’d begun spending time with an older man named Doug Marsden at a nearby caravan park.
While with him, she began using intravenous drugs and eventually too moved into the caravan park.
Ms Morris (pictured) had several run ins with the law which resulted in her spending three months behind bars. In total, she was arrested 13 times in her short life
Her mother said that Marsden was taken to jail which led Ms Morris to cease using ‘hard’ drugs, though she was still using marijuana.
Before long, she took up the habit again.
Shortly after, Ms Morris began spending time at nearby all-night truck stops on the Pacific Highway near south Grafton, where she is alleged to have started offering sex in exchange for money or drugs.
She reportedly continued the practice outside the Post Office Hotel in Grafton, where she was also known to visit socially to catch up with other drug users.
She had several run ins with the law which resulted in her spending three months behind bars.
In total, she was arrested 13 times in her short life.
The coroner determined that by October 2009, when she went missing, Ms Morris was a ‘highly vulnerable person’.
‘She had a relatively length history of drug abuse for someone of her young age… She had formed volatile relationships with much older men, and had engaged in risk-taking behaviour to acquire money and drugs,’ the coroner said.
The coroner, in her findings, said some of the information which former the police investigation was sensitive in nature and therefore could not be disclosed.
Ms Morris’ mother, Donna said her daughter was a ‘beautiful girl’ who ‘matured into a beautiful young woman.’
‘She was always willing to make time for others, and put the needs of others above her own.’
Ms Morris was ‘particularly close’ with her mother and younger sister.
The coroner said it would be unlikely that Ms Morris would be still alive and not have made contact with them for all these years.
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