Revelle Balmain’s former boss claims to have new evidence that police “never found” that could crack the case into the missing model.
Ms Balmain was just 22 when she disappeared from the Kingsford area on November 5, 1994. The young dancer’s make-up bag, keys and a shoe were later found scattered near Ainslie St.
She was reported missing that same evening and has not been seen or heard from since.
A coronial inquest in 1999 found Ms Balmain died at the hands of a person or persons unknown, with the matter then being referred to the unsolved homicide unit.
After an anonymous tip-off in 2021, police have uncovered a new person they believe is linked to the case, and are urging the public to come forward with anything that can help.
“We want to identify that person and speak to anyone that does know him. And hopefully, they can come forward and provide that information to us, not anonymously,” Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Bell told 60 Minutes.
The new information, along with other breakthroughs by police which they continue to investigate, has led to the case being reopened, to be examined by the Coroner in February next year.
The 22-year-old had been working as an escort on the night of her disappearance, only joining the agency run by Jane King and her husband Zoran Stanojevic six weeks before she disappeared.
Ms King also claims she has new information, claiming that Ms Balmain had been booked to meet Mr Stanojevic’s Serbian friends later that night.
Mr Stanojevic is not the man police are seeking to identify, nor is there a suggestion he is being investigated by police.
She claims that he then left for Thailand the day after that meeting.
“Zoran arranged a ticket for that client to leave Australia the next day, through a travel agent we used to use all the time,” Ms King said.
It’s understood that police are not investigating Mr Stanojevic in their new line of inquiry.
The focus of initial investigations fell onto her last client, Gavin Samer, who denies any involvement and claims he dropped Ms Balmain at a nearby pub after his appointment.
Mr Samer has never been charged, and there is no suggestion police still consider Mr Samer a suspect.
Ms King now claims she has proof he should be ruled out as a person of interest in the investigation.
“I have had evidence put to me that does take Samer out of the picture to some degree, evidence that the initial police never found,” she said.
“I can tell you that his whereabouts were verified and they weren‘t verified by the first batch of police that investigated,” she added.
Police are urging anyone with information about Ms Balmain’s disappearance to call Crime Stoppers.
There is a $1 million reward for information into her disappearance.