THE sister of a model feared murdered after disappearing three decades ago says a new inquest has left more questions than answers.
, 22, was set to travel to on November 5, 1994 – but vanished without a trace the night before in , Australia .
Revelle Balmain disappeared 30 years ago
Revelle was about to go on a dance tour in Japan when she vanishedCredit: The Australian
What should have been the start of a lifetime of fulfilling her dream of being a professional dancer instead turned into a 31-year nightmare for her family.
Revelle’s case has baffled detectives for decades – and an inquest that concluded last week failed to provide her heartbroken sister Suellen Simpson with any answers.
Instead, it has left grieving Suellen with more pieces of the puzzle to try and make sense of.
Suellen told The Sun: “Even last week new information was heard that no one ever knew about.
“After all this time, it’s very hard to make sense of anything – especially when a witness changes their story every time they open their mouth.
“But I guess murder is just a game to some, as long as it’s not one of their own.”
Cover star Revelle briefly worked as an escort to make quick cash before her big break on a dance tour of Japan.
On the night she disappeared, Revelle visited client Gavin Samer – the last known person to see her alive – before he dropped her at the Red Tomato Inn in Kingsford at around 7pm.
The trained dancer was due to go to her final booking with two “important” clients at 10.30pm that night before her trip to Japan – but never showed up.
Those three critical hours have never been explained.
Suellen has long believed her as Revelle was dismissed as “just a sex worker” – despite it being a fleeting stint in her life.
“Revelle was a cherished family member, a classically trained dancer since the age of three, and briefly worked as an escort,” she added.
“She was also an aspiring model with great potential for the future.
“Over the years I have learnt not to expect anything, then quite simply there is no disappointment.
“I’ve always known without Revelle being found it was always going to be a cliff-face battle to get a result.
“Interviews and statements have been meticulously re-examined, finding inconsistencies that should have been corrected more than 30 years ago.”
Contradictions in witness accounts and missed clues have now been left for detectives and her family to grapple with.
Crucially, Suellen insists it allowed her killer to fly under the radar and remain free all these years.
“It feels like Revelle’s murder was just a part of daily life and nothing to be concerned about – a thing that happened, no one is responsible,” she said
“It allowed anyone, whoever was involved, to walk away free.”
Revelle had made her debut on the cover of fashion magazine OysterCredit: Alamy
Her bag and one of her shoes were found after she disappeared
A previous inquest in 1999 concluded that Revelle – who had made her debut on the cover of fashion magazine Oyster – was murdered at the hands of a person or persons unknown to her.
The case was passed to , who offered a $1 million reward for information in 2021.
In 2024, a fresh inquest into her disappearance and presumed murder reopened, and finished last week.
Suellen – Jane King and Zoran Stanojevic – would take the stand and reveal key clues.
“All I ever wanted was the truth,” she said.
Revelle was working for an escort agency known as Select Companions, which was run by owners King and her then husband Stanojevic.
Disputed phrasing of a phone call hours after Revelle – who studied at the former Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts in London as a teenager -disappeared is just one element plaguing the case.
An inquest at a Sydney court last week heard how King had told she and Stanojevic dined at a pizza restaurant on the afternoon Revelle vanished.
That claim has never been verified, but Detective Chief Inspector Stuart Bell – who is leading the case – told how a witness reported King calling after.
The witness recounted how King asked the manager to verify she and Stanojevic had been there as one of their employees “had been murdered”.
“The words used were quite intriguing,” DCI Bell told the hearing.
King, however, challenged this – claiming she had used the word “missing” rather than “murdered”.
An inquest into Revelle’s disappearance finished last weekCredit: 60 Minutes Australia
A missing poster from when Revelle disappearedCredit: The Australian Newspaper
DCI Bell also said he found it “odd” that she felt the need to contact the restaurant to corroborate her whereabouts the day Revelle went missing.
Revelle owed the company around $400 (£200) at the time she vanished – and it was known she was due to soon leave for Japan.
Former madam King told the hearing that “no one was hunting Revelle down for money”.
Revelle was reported missing on the morning of November 5 when she failed to show up at Newcastle railway station as planned.
Her make-up bag, keys and a shoe were found scattered in a street close to her last known whereabouts.
The inquest also heard how Revelle’s final call as an escort was due to be with two “important” clients, who were associates of agency owner Stanojevic.
King said she recalled Stanojevic returning home angry the following morning as Revelle had not made the booking.
“My version of angry and frustrated for you would be someone in a rage,” she said.
At an earlier inquest, one of Revelle’s former escort colleagues told how Stanojevic had been “infatuated” with her.
He often drove his staff to their appointments, and King recalled how Stanojevic once mentioned that they “got on really well”.
It feels like Revelle’s murder was just a part of daily life and nothing to be concerned about – a thing that happened, no one is responsible
Matthew Johnson SC, counsel assisting, asked King whether she had questioned where he was the night Revelle disappeared.
She replied: “No, because I thought he was at work.”
DCI Bell stressed there will still unresolved questions – including where Stanojevic was between 6.30pm and 10.30pm the day Revelle vanished.
Details about Stanojevic’s association with two Serbian clients who Revelle was due to meet and why the appointment was important also remain unclear.
Who was the prime suspect?
GAVIN Samer was named as a suspect by police after Revelle Balmain vanished in 1994.
When he was 26, he hired Revelle to go to his home at Kingsford, in Sydney’s south-east.
Revelle failed to meet friends after, or turn up for her final client
Samer said he had dropped her at a nearby pub at around 7pm.
He was named as a person of interest – but his involvement in her disappearance was dismissed by Deputy State Coroner John Abernethy in May 1999.
Abernethy said: “Not only is she dead, but I am firmly of the opinion that her disappearance involves her homicide.
“While Mr Samer certainly had the opportunity to kill Ms Balmain, and rightly in my view is the main person of interest to police, there is no plausible motive proved.”
During a coronial inquest, it was revealed police did not search Samer’s house with a specialist forensics team.
His car was not searched for nine days and police did not ask him to hand over the clothes he was wearing that night.
Samer has never been charged over Revelle’s disappearance and has always maintained his innocence.
Both returned to Serbia after Revelle vanished. A request to the country’s government for assistance on the investigation has been pending for five years.
Stanojevic and a receptionist from Select Companions were due to give during the fresh inquest this month, but instead it concluded a day early.
Suellen said: “Counsel for the Crown were excellent and for once I felt that I was heard throughout the inquest.
“Communication was of the highest standard and for me, it made an extremely stressful time pretty much bearable.
“DCI Stuart Bell and his team reinvestigated Revelle’s case from 2020 until the inquest, turning over every interview, statement for all the 135 witnesses.
“I believe it was said that this case was one of the most complex that he had ever worked on. And I couldn’t have asked for a better team.
“But by the end of the week, I did feel let down, even though I was warned of the outcome.”
A young Revelle with dad Ivor in London when she was studying at Bush Davies School of Theatre ArtsCredit: Supplied
Revelle in her childhood bedroom with her great auntCredit: Supplied
Suellen has long insisted that if her sister’s case had been thoroughly investigated when she first vanished, she and her family wouldn’t have suffered decades of turmoil.
Revelle’s grief-stricken parents Jan and Ivor died without ever knowing what happened to their precious daughter.
“I believe I tried everything over the last 30 years, and I doubt any more could have been done,” Suellen said.
“But I would like to say that the public play a major role in these investigations, especially if they see, hear or know something.
“In Revelle’s case, unfortunately there were a few anonymous calls to police but they didn’t help because police couldn’t verify their information.
“I have to stress the importance of leaving some details, and if you don’t hear back, make the call again.
“If you have a chance to make a difference, then please do so – because it’s never too late.
“Revelle’s story is just one of thousands and I know I am extremely grateful that the police took the time to reinvestigate her case, but I guess you can only do so much with so little.
“Her case is not close, and just like many others, until someone is charged her file remains open.”
Coroner Joan Baptie will hand down her findings at a later date.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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