Lest we forget

Lest we forget. Three words we don’t use lightly, given their strong association with Anzac Day.

Indeed we remember Melissa’s grandfather and great uncle who fought in World War 1, only one returning.

But today we also remember Melissa Hunt (Hallett) whose body was found in Burrenjim Dam on Anzac Day 1994.

Like many who didn’t come home from war and that we remember on Anzac Day, Melissa also died violently and her body was tossed aside. And yet she was no soldier, just a young mother who’d lost her way and was desperately trying to find her way home.

In 2019 we found the courage to visit the dam and place a hand-made cross there to reclaim what is quite a beautiful location. It was an attempt to turn back the darkness that encompassed Melissa that tragic April and shine light on the circumstances of her death.

That first pilgrimage did play a crucial part in refocusing interest and inquiry into Melissa’s murder, beyond what we could have imagined.

But still we wait and in the meantime another young life has been lost in tragic, unthinkable circumstances.

But as I stood on the side of the almost overflowing Burrenjim Dam today, I knew that just as water finds its way down from the surrounding hills, however slowly, so too justice is flowing down and will one day reach the fullness we long for. Dear God, let it be this year.

If you know anything of the life and movements of Melissa from early 1994, please call Crime Stoppers or contact me through this blog.