WA mum, baby daughter missing for 20 years

WA’S homicide squad is investigating the disappearance of a woman and her seven-month-old daughter in Western Australia 20 years ago.

Veronica Philomena Lockyer and her daughter Adell Sherylee Partridge were last seen in the Merredin/Burracoppin area in late 1998.

The indigenous mother-of-six led a transient lifestyle, often visited women’s hostels in Perth, and has extended family in WA’s northern Pilbara and Gascoyne regions.

Unconfirmed information indicates that in November or December 1998 Ms.Lockyer had her baby with her and may have caught a taxi from the Centre Point Shopping Centre in Midland.

Ms Lockyer would now be aged 54 and her daughter would be 20.

Even though it’s been 20 years since they vanished, police said their family hoped they were still alive.

“They all assumed that Veronica was staying with other family members and it wasn’t unusual for Veronica to not be heard or seen for quite a period of time,” Detective Senior Sergeant Adrian Richards told reporters on Thursday.

One of Ms Lockyer’s other children, known only as Donna, reported the pair missing in July last year.

“My family thought she was living in Perth with myself and Adell, and I grew up thinking that she lived in Port Hedland, so that’s where the gap is,” she said.

“It’s important to me because it’s been 20 years that my mother has not been in my life, my sister has not been in my life, and it feels like missing pieces.

“My kids go to sleep and wake up to a photo of my mother … it’s just that they’ve never met her in person.”

Ms Lockyer has an impaired left eye, which she often covers with her hair, and walks with a slight limp.

She was in an on-again off-again relationship with the infant’s father at the time she disappeared and police have spoken with him.

Det Sen Sgt Richards said police had serious concerns about the welfare of Ms Lockyer and her baby, and were prepared for the worst.

“We’re approaching this investigation with an open mind,” he said.

Some documents and records have been destroyed since 1998, which has hindered the investigation.

Police urge anyone with information to come forward.