Following a staff gathering held at the Parmelia Hilton hotel on June 20, 1988, Julie Cutler, aged 22, mysteriously disappeared. Her unoccupied vehicle was found overturned in the waters off Cottesloe beach two days later, deepening the enigma surrounding her vanishing. Unfortunately, her remains were never recovered.
In an attempt to maintain anonymity, Julie
's stepsister disclosed a concerning incident preceding Ms. Cutler's disappearance. Weeks prior, Ms. Cutler had contacted her parents to share a distressing encounter on her way home from work at the hotel. She recounted being closely followed by a car, seemingly attempting to force her off the road.
For several kilometers along the Stirling Highway, the vehicle persistently tailgated her, at times perilously close to her rear bumper. As she approached the Cottesloe turn-off for Eric Street, the mysterious car abruptly swerved in front of Ms. Cutler’s vehicle after pulling alongside. Subsequently, it slowed down significantly, prompting Ms. Cutler to swiftly maneuver around it and drive away. Despite reporting the incident to the police, the driver remained unidentified.
According to Ms. Cutler’s stepsister, the distress Ms. Cutler experienced was genuine. She conveyed her fear that the person behind the wheel intended harm, unrelated to road rage. The perceived intention was either to force her off the road or coerce her to stop, leaving Ms. Cutler deeply perturbed.
Shortly after this incident, Ms. Cutler's 1963 two-toned Fiat sedan careened off an access road, plunging into the tumultuous waters near the boatsheds of the Cottesloe Surf Club. Forensic analysis revealed that the car's headlights and ignition were on upon entry into the water, with unlocked front doors and an open driver's side window. However, the rear doors remained locked.
Given the circumstances, law enforcement ruled out the possibility of suicide as Ms. Cutler's body would likely have surfaced had she driven the vehicle into the water. On the day of her disappearance, witnesses confirmed her presence near the car in the rear parking lot of the Parmelia Hilton at around 12:30 a.m.
The mystery surrounding the Cutler case persisted until June 1989, when detectives received a crucial piece of evidence: a white blouse. This blouse, one of 37 exclusively crafted for the Parmelia Hilton, was in Ms. Cutler’s size, 14. Around the time of her disappearance, a plastic bag containing the blouse and a pair of black pantyhose was found under a table at the King Kebab takeout in Centreway Arcade, Perth. It was believed that she changed into a black evening gown and carried the bag. The takeaway owner, upon the case's renewed public attention, recollected holding the bag for a year and surrendered it to the police.
Members of the Macro task force, probing the Claremont murders, engaged in numerous discussions with Ms. Cutler’s parents. However, her stepsister indicated that the police never explicitly communicated their belief that she might have been the first victim of the serial killer.
Expressing skepticism, she remarked, “While it was publicized that the police suspected she might have been the initial victim, the detectives never insinuated this to us, and it's not something we fully subscribed to. The first Claremont murder and her disappearance occurred over seven years apart, so the chronological alignment seemed incongruous.”
The stepsister of Ms. Cutler announced plans to commemorate her disappearance at Corpus Christi church today. “It’s been 20 years, but she remains indelible in our memories, and we desire to honor her legacy,” she conveyed.
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