Police are offering a $500,000 reward for information to help solve a Gold Coast cold case that they suspect was a murder.
Tammy Lisa Dyson, also known as Tamela Menzies, aged 23, was a mother of two when she went missing from the Currumbin area in 1995.
She was picked up from a drug rehab clinic by a woman claiming to be her sister and has not been seen or heard from since.
Dyson was born and raised in Victoria but in 1988 moved to Brisbane where she began working in the adult entertainment industry, under the nickname “Pebbles”.
Police say she began mixing with criminals and using drugs while working in strip clubs on the Gold Coast.
In early 1995 she arranged for her young sons Jyles and Rainey to stay with their grandmother in Victoria.
Months later, Tammy called her sister Olivia in a distressed state. Olivia drove to Inala in south-west Brisbane to pick her up. She described Tammy as having been assaulted.
Olivia and her partner later drove Tammy to a drug rehabilitation centre at Currumbin on the Gold Coast.
A woman claiming to be Olivia picked her up on July 20, 1995. She was never seen again.
Olivia was her only sister and confirmed to police at the time she had not collected Tammy.
The following day Tammy completed a statutory declaration signed by a Justice of the Peace in Tweed Heads, giving custody of her children and her possessions to her mother.
She also made a final phone call to Olivia during which she mentioned underworld figures.
Police say there have been a number of reported sightings of Tammy since 1995 but have all proven negative.
In 2012, the Queensland coroner was unable to ascertain the date, time and cause of Tammy’s death, but gave the opinion she was deceased and indicated she may have been a victim of violence.
The $500,000 reward has now been offered for new information. It includes immunity from prosecution for any accomplice who comes forward.
Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said Tammy’s disappearance was suspicious.
“Tammy associated with criminals that were known to police and vanished without a trace after giving custody of her children and possessions to her mother; we believe the circumstances of her disappearance is suspicious,” she said.
Her sons yesterday made an emotional appeal for public help to find their mother at a media conference.
“Whoever has picked her up, I’m not saying they have done something but they must know something bad has happened,” Jyles Lebler said.
