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The original was posted on /r/unresolvedmysteries by /u/Ok-Ebb2872 on 2024-01-16 05:40:13+00:00.
On October 7, 1992, Rhianna Barreau of Adelaide, South Australia, was 12 years old when she disappeared after coming home from buying a Christmas card for her pen pal in the US at a newsagent. Since there was a bus driver strike, she had to walk there by herself. The last confirmed sighting of Rhianna was at approximately 12:30 PM as she was walking home.
When her mother arrived home after 4:00 PM, Rhianna was not there. Only the Christmas card in the newsagent's bag was still there. The eeriest/creepiest part was that the television was still on with a record on the floor.
Despite a massive search by police and volunteers, Rhianna was nowhere to be found. At a local mall near Rhianna's home, a mannequin wearing a set of clothes that Rhianna had been wearing on the day of her disappearance was set up in public in hopes to get the attention of the public.
Two notable leads were:
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A suspicious white Torana vehicle with Victorian license plates was spotted with "suspicious looking people", but nothing came out of that lead.
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A man found a set of keys in High way Drive that matched the description of keys Rhianna had on her. Again, nothing came out of that lead.
Police had to deal with lots of false leads and hoaxes, such as one tip where someone claimed Rhianna was being held hostage in an apartment on Anzac Highway in Kurralta Park. Police did raid the building, but there was no sign of her.
There have been no definitive suspects whose names have been released to the public as there isn't much articles or information about Rhianna Barreau online that I could find. Especially new leads or clues.
Did the police ever contact Rhianna's US penpal to see if the penpal knew anything about Rhianna? I don't want to accuse the penpal about anything, but perhaps maybe the penpal from the US might have a clue related to her disappearance? Strange how I can't find anything online about who Rhianna's penpal was.
I wonder if the parents of Rhianna ever told her penpal from the US about what happened to Rhianna? I can't imagine how difficult it must have been for the parents to break the news.
In my opinion, Rhianna was probably murdered by someone living close to her home, like a fellow neighbor or someone who had a friend or family member living in the same proximity. The alleged killer, in my opinion, would probably be someone inconspicuous like Mr. Harvey from The Lovely Bones movie. If you haven't seen the movie, it's about a girl who was killed by a harmless-looking neighbor living next door to her home and no one, not even the police, suspect he is the killer because of how he doesn't appear out of the ordinary, despite the fact that in the movie he carried out his crime right next to his home. For all we know, the killer who killed Rhianna might at one point have been talked to or interviewed by police, but they might not have suspected it was them due to looking "too normal." Like Ned Flanders perhaps. Maybe the killer lured her outside her house, like what Mr. Harvey did. Or maybe he picked the lock into her home as there were no signs of forced entry.
Maybe she met someone at the mall as she spent a long time at the mall?
The case of Rhianna Barreau is suspiciously very similar to the disappearance of 13 year old Bung Siriboon in Melbourne in June 2011 as both disappeared under similar circumstances as in both cases, no visible clues were left behind, close age ranges, and both disappeared in broad daylight. Could the case of Rhianna Barrea and Bung Siriboon be related or connected? Maybe the same perpetrator was behind both of these cases.
What was even creepier was the dropped record on the floor, as if whoever took Rhianna did so as she was holding a record.
Whoever took Rhianna, they must have done this before as there was practically no evidence whatsoever that was left behind. No one reported seeing anyone suspicious, no screaming, or anything out of the ordinary.
Even though I'm an American who has never been to Australia, this case really hits me in the feels due to the fact that she had her whole life ahead of her and was just doing a simple task of buying a Christmas card for her friend.
What do you think of my theory? What do you think happened to Rhianna Barreau? Please tell me your theories of what happened. RIP Rhianna. If you have any leads or tips of what happened, contact Australia's Crime Stoppers at 1800 333 000.
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