It’s been nearly 24 years since Rachelle Childs was found dead in bushland near the NSW south coast town of Gerroa, and her family are still desperate to know who killed the 23-year-old on June 8, 2001.
And now her family may never find answers as her suspected killer, Kevin Correll has been found dead in Pa Tong, Thailand.
Correll, 69, was last seen alive in the pool at the Expat Hotel last Wednesday, and his body was discovered on Friday by a cleaner performing a welfare check.
“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare no matter how old your child is,” Rachelle’s mother, Anne Childs, 73, shared with Woman’s Day ahead of the launch of the podcast series Dear Rachelle.
Anne was on a weekend getaway to Port Stephens with her husband Graham, who passed away in 2021, when their youngest daughter Kristy, 42, called to tell them Rachelle was missing.
“We weren’t particularly worried, until we couldn’t reach her on the phone, so a couple of her friends went to her house and she was nowhere to be found.”
LENGTHY SENTENCE
Rachelle, who also went by Chelle, was last seen leaving the car dealership where she worked in Camden, NSW. It’s believed she was catching up with a friend at her local pub in Bargo, half an hour away, on the evening of June 7.
While Rachelle’s final hours remain unaccounted for, witnesses came forward during the initial investigation, saying they’d seen a car matching Rachelle’s parked near Gerroa, an hour away, where her body was found.
In August 2008, a coronial inquest ruled that Rachelle’s death was a homicide, but there was not enough evidence to charge any of the eight persons of interest named in the inquest with her death.
The chief suspect, Rachelle’s boss Kevin Correll, was the only person of interest the coroner could not clear of killing her.
He was one of the last people to see the 23-year-old alive and he has always denied any involvement in Rachelle’s death.
That same month, NSW Police announced a $100,000 reward for any information that could help catch Rachelle’s killer, which was doubled in 2011 to $200,000.
“The goal is to get a conviction and a very lengthy sentence, so we need people to come forward,” Kristy says. “We’re not going to berate people for not coming forward, we will welcome them with open arms and thank them for giving even the smallest bit of information.”
Kristy and Anne hope the podcast series, which interviews key people from the case, will lead to new information that will see Rachelle’s killer finally identified, arrested and charged.
“I feel quite empowered that we’re doing something for Rachelle and the case,” Kristy said. “It’s been quite lovely hearing people talk about Chelle, because she’s still a massive part of our family and it’s not taboo to talk about her.”
BELOVED DAUGHTER
Following the coronial investigation, Anne and Kristy say the investigation into Rachelle’s death stalled to a standstill, and was passed on to the Homicide Squad’s Unsolved Homicide Unit for review in 2021.
But new hope could be on the horizon as NSW Police quietly reopened the investigation in January this year.
There have been questions as to how effective the police’s investigation was at the time of Rachelle’s death
“The police were definitely under-resourced and underfunded to begin with,” Kristy believes.
In 2024 Kristy wrote to the NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley, asking for the reward to be increased to $500,000.
While Anne and Kristy still have no idea why their beloved daughter and sister was killed, they remember the bubbly and fun Rachelle, who brought them so much joy.
“Her personality was just out there, she’d walk into a room and it would light up,” Anne said.
“She was such a beautiful friend and a kind person, but was quite fierce too. She had a good sense of justice and would stand by her friends,” Kristy said.
They’re also surrounded by close friends and family who have supported them over the last two decades.
“We’ve got great friends who keep us entertained, and a beautiful family, but when it comes to the case, we don’t really need anyone else,” Kristy said. “We’ve got each other.”
