Natasha Ryan

Natasha Anne Ryan (born 1984) is an Australian woman from Rockhampton, Queensland who went missing in 1998. Police had wrongly assumed that her best friend Maioha Tokotaua, who was 15 years old at the time of her disappearance, killed Ryan but they later accused the local serial killer Leonard Fraser. Ryan was discovered alive in 2003 at her boyfriend’s house hiding in a closet, almost five years after she went missing, during the trial of the man accused of her murder. It was discovered that Ryan had left home willingly at fourteen to be with her boyfriend, Scott Black. In 2008, they married and reportedly the two have three children.[1]

Background

Natasha Ryan disappeared on 31 August 1998 after her mother dropped her off at school, and was subsequently reported as missing. An extensive and exhaustive search was undertaken for her and three other girls two years after her disappearance by police and local State Emergency Service volunteers as part of an investigation into a serial killer.[2] Hopes of finding Ryan alive soon diminished and police concluded she had been murdered by Rockhampton serial killer Leonard Fraser, who was subsequently charged with Ryan's murder.

In the month before she went missing, Ryan had already run away from home once, aided by her boyfriend Scott Black. In that incident, she was found after two days. Black faced Rockhampton Magistrates Court in November 1999, where he pleaded guilty to wilful obstruction of police after he had told officers that he did not know Ryan's whereabouts.[3] But after she could not be located when she went missing the second time, Ryan's family eventually concluded that she was dead. They held a memorial service in Bundaberg, Queensland on her 17th birthday in 2001.[4]

Murder trial

On 11 April 2003, during Leonard Fraser's murder trial in Brisbane, police prosecutor Paul Rutledge informed the court that Fraser was not guilty of the murder of Natasha Ryan. Ryan's father Robert said he almost collapsed when Rutledge made the announcement.[5]

Police had raided a house in North Rockhampton on the night of 10 April 2003 and had found Natasha Ryan alive, hiding in a cupboard. It was discovered that Ryan had been living with her boyfriend Scott Black since disappearing on 31 August 1998. It was reported that for most of that time, Ryan had shared a house in Yeppoon, Queensland, but had moved back to Rockhampton after Black received a transfer with his milk delivery job. Ryan had been living in the Rockhampton house for six months prior to being found.[6]

Despite becoming known as 'the girl in the cupboard' and the media leading people to believe that Ryan had spent most of her time in a cupboard, it was soon learned she only used a cupboard to hide if visitors called around to visit her boyfriend. The remainder of the time, Ryan freely walked around the house but always with the curtains drawn. It was also reported that she had ventured outside a number of times, but always under the cover of darkness, which included a midnight visit to the beach.

Despite the discovery that Natasha Ryan was still alive and the doubt it cast on the evidence which led to Fraser being charged with Ryan's murder, Fraser's defence counsel did not lodge an appeal for a mistrial, and the trial forged ahead. Ryan attended what had been her own murder trial on 30 April 2003 to answer questions. She told the court she had never met Leonard Fraser and did not know the witness who stated that she had been seen in the presence of Fraser before she went missing.[7]

A jury eventually found Fraser guilty of the murders of Beverly Leggo and Sylvia Benedetti and guilty of the manslaughter of Julie Turner. He was sentenced to three indefinite prison terms on 13 June 2003. He died from natural causes on 1 January 2007.[8][9]

Media

The story of Natasha Ryan being found alive during the murder trial attracted international attention.[10][11][12][13][14]

Following her re-appearance, Australian publicist Max Markson signed Ryan up as a client, and negotiated potential deals with several media organisations. Markson eventually secured a media deal with Publishing and Broadcasting Limited, which was the parent company of ACP Magazines and the Nine Network. The deal guaranteed that Ryan would do exclusive interviews with ACP's Woman's Day and 60 Minutes.

60 Minutes sent reporter Tara Brown to Rockhampton to interview Ryan. Assuming Ryan's story was going to hand them a ratings-winning program, 60 Minutes held the broadcast until 20 April 2003 in an attempt to take viewers away from Network Ten's premiere of the third season of their ratings winner, Big Brother Australia. The strategy failed to work and Big Brother Australia won the battle with an average capital city audience of 2.2 million viewers, compared to the 1.7 million viewers 60 Minutes managed to attract.[15]

There were reports that the deal Markson negotiated would bring in more than $200,000 for Ryan, prompting a discussion about the ethics of Ryan accepting the money when so much time, effort and money was spent on the search for her, and the police investigation. Rockhampton State Emergency Service volunteer Lyle Dobbs expressed his view that any profit Ryan gained from her interviews should go back to Queensland taxpayers who funded the search which came at significant cost to police and a lot of effort from SES volunteers.[16] The contract was eventually produced in court proceedings in 2006, which confirmed that Ryan had been paid $120,000 for the interviews.[17]

Ryan and Black married in 2008.[18] It is believed that prior to their wedding, they signed another media deal with Woman's Day for exclusivity to the stories that were published before and after their wedding.[19][20] During the wedding at Byfield, Queensland, there was strict security, with guests screened and strictly forbidden from taking any photos during the ceremony and reception. It was reported the wedding story deal with Woman's Day was worth $200,000.[21]

Punishment

Soon after being discovered alive, it became apparent that Ryan and Black would likely face criminal charges for their role in the false investigation into her murder.[22] In 2005, Rockhampton District Court judge Grant Britton sentenced Black to a three-year jail sentence for perjury, with two years suspended, after he pleaded guilty to telling investigating police officers that he did not know Ryan's whereabouts.[23][24]

In 2006, Ryan was found guilty of causing a false police investigation and was fined $1,000. Police prosecutor Terry Gardiner produced the $120,000 contract Ryan had signed with PBL as evidence of Ryan having means to pay back at least some of the $151,000 police investigation into her murder. However, Magistrate Annette Hennessy ruled that Ryan did not have the means to pay the costs of the investigation. In the same court proceedings, Black was further punished by being convicted, fined $3,000 and ordered to pay $16,000 towards investigation costs.[25]

See also

References
  1. https://www.mamamia.com.au/natasha-ryan/
  2. 60 Minutes Australia interview
  3. Hiding in fear: a girl returns from the dead, Greg Roberts, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 April 2003
  4. She had everyone fooled, The Age, 11 April 2003
  5. Runaway lived only 4 kilometres from her family, Matthew Benns and Miranda Wood, Sydney Morning Herald, 13 April 2003
  6. A haven became a prison, The Age, 19 April 2003
  7. Ryan breaks down as she denies witnesses' claims, Greg Robert, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 May 2003
  8. Secrets taken to grave, Paula Doneman, The Courier Mail, 31 December 2006
  9. Qld serial killer dies in hospital, ABC News, ABC online, 1 January 2007
  10. Girl Reappears As Alleged Killer Is Tried, AAP, New York Times, 12 April 2003
  11. Australian 'murder victim' alive, Phil Mercer, BBC News, 12 April 2003
  12. Australian trial rocked as girl found alive, Belinda Goldsmith, Reuters News Agency, The Globe and Mail, 12 April 2003
  13. Alleged murder victim found alive, The Guardian, 11 April 2003
  14. Alleged murder victim found to be alive, Peter McCutcheon, The World Today, ABC Radio, 11 April 2003
  15. Kerry's losers, Media Watch, ABC Television, 5 May 2003
  16. SES says Natasha Ryan should repay taxpayers, ABC News, ABC online, 16 April 2003
  17. Ryan sold tale for $120,000, The Morning Bulletin, 1 July 2006
  18. Cupboard girl Natasha Ryan marries the man who hid her, Hannah Davies, The Courier Mail, 29 September 2008
  19. Girl in the cupboard: We're getting married, Woman's Day, Angela Mollard, 8 September 2008
  20. Girl-in-the-cupboard: I married the man who hid me, Angela Mollard, Woman's Day, 13 October 2008
  21. Natasha Ryan's $200,000 wedding, The Morning Bulletin, 30 September 2008
  22. 'Murder victim' could face charges, Phil Mercer, BBC News, 14 April 2003
  23. Natasha Ryan's accomplice jailed for perjury, AAP, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 August 2005
  24. Natasha Ryan's boyfriend jailed for perjury, ABC News, ABC online, 12 August 2005
  25. Ryan sold tale for $120,000, The Morning Bulletin, 1 July 2006
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