Murder of Karmein Chan

Karmein Chan
Born	(1977-11-05)5 November 1977 Templestowe, Victoria
Disappeared	Templestowe, Victoria
Status	Found dead
Died	c. 1991
Cause of death	Murder (gunshot)
Body discovered	Edgars Creek, Thomastown (9 April 1992)
Nationality	Australian

Karmein Chan (born 5 November 1977 – c. 1991) was a 13-year-old Australian girl from Templestowe, Victoria who was abducted on 13 April 1991 and subsequently murdered.

While both her parents worked at their Chinese restaurant in Eltham, an individual abducted Karmein from the family home in Templestowe. Before leaving, he spray painted "Pay up Asian Drug Dealer, More and More to Come" on a vehicle in their front yard. Police suspect this was a ruse to distract them from the killer's real motive. Karmein's mother made an emotional plea on television for Karmein's return. The investigation was hampered by the use of an old school photo of Karmein, which may not have represented her true appearance at the time of her abduction. Her badly decomposed body was found a year later in Melbourne's northern outskirts in Edgars Creek, Thomastown.

This crime is believed to have been committed by a man aptly known only as Mr. Cruel, who despite much effort on the part of Victoria Police, has never been brought to justice.

On 14 December 2010 Victoria Police announced that a new Taskforce had been established about eight months earlier following substantial new intelligence. The new Taskforce has been reviewing both the Spectrum Taskforce investigation and some new leads that have come in the last year or so.

External links

• Turton, Shaun (13 April 2011). "Mother marks 20 years since Karmein Chan's murder". Manningham Leader. Retrieved 18 December 2012.