Fresh information about missing 13-year-old Boronia schoolgirl Siriyakorn “Bung” Siriboon has been released on the third anniversary of her disappearance.
Homicide detectives say a young Asian girl, wearing a light, collared shirt and a dark-blue V-neck jumper, was seen in the back seat of a white EA to EF-model Ford Falcon station wagon on the morning she vanished.
The car was reportedly being driven by a fair-skinned man in his late 50s to early 60s, who was wearing a blue singlet. Police have described the man as having light-brown hair, combed back into a “rock-n-roll” style. He also had a coloured tattoo on his upper left arm.
A witness saw the car at traffic lights in Boronia Road, Boronia, facing east at the intersection of Floriston Road, just east of Dorset Road.
It was then reportedly seen driving east along Boronia Road, and through the roundabout at Albert Road.
Homicide Squad Detective Inspector John Potter said while investigators could not confirm the girl in the vehicle was Bung, it was a lead they were pursuing.
“The sighting may well be completely innocent, but it is relevant to us and we need to investigate it,” Detective Inspector Potter said.
“It’s now been three years since Bung left home and failed to arrive at school that day and has not been seen or heard from since.”
Detective Inspector Potter told radio station 3AW that the girl was sitting in the back seat of the car, which he said appeared odd.
‘‘She was looking out towards the window, and I can’t really go into anything further than that, other than there was something unusual about this particular circumstance.’’
He also told radio station Triple M that the newest information contradicted a previous possible sighting of the schoolgirl, which placed her in Harcourt Road, crossing Paisley Avenue, on foot about 8.55am.
‘‘She can’t have been in two places at once … so we need to work out exactly what was going on here,’’ he said.
The information follows hundreds of calls police have received since Bung vanished on her way to school.
In August last year, a 24-year-old man told police he accidentally ran over and killed the schoolgirl, then dumped her body in a nearby reserve.
Police searched parkland near Bung’s house in August, and Old Joe’s Creek Reserve, a nearby creek bed, in October. No trace of her was found.
The 24-year-old was interviewed again in October and remains a person of interest.
In October, police announced they had dismantled the taskforce created to find Bung’s killer, but detectives continued to investigate several leads.
A $1 million reward and the chance of immunity from prosecution for information about her disappearance was announced in February this year.
