A 15-year-old girl who went missing more than 20 years ago in Melbourne's outer-eastern suburbs was a "quick-tempered, stubborn, sporty and very loving" teenager who planned to become a police officer, her foster mother said.
Victoria Police today announced a $1 million reward for information about the disappearance and likely murder of Cherie Westell at Wantirna South in December, 2000.
Cherie was last seen when she was dropped off at a dental surgery on the afternoon of December 12. She later phoned a family member from a public phone box to say she was going to catch a train home to Ringwood, but never arrived.
Cherie's foster mother, Frances, cared for her since she was five years old. Frances said Cherie was "confused" about her place in the world when she went missing and had temporarily moved out of her foster home into state care.
However, Frances said Cherie was addressing her issues and kept in regular contact with her foster family.
"The word closure doesn't exist. If I walk through that door, I've closed it, but in this case Cherie's whole life matters. So it would give us answers, but we'll still talk about her and remember her," Frances said.
"If she walked in here now ... I think I might be a little bit stroppy and say 'what have you been doing all this time?'. Then I would give her a hug and say 'you're alright'."
Cherie's foster sister, Marg, said the 15-year-old would not have gone missing of her own volition.
"She was a state ward but she wasn't a runaway, she'd never been in trouble with the police," Marg said.
"She was just an ordinary girl with some stuff going on in her life, but that is not why she went missing. Someone out there knows exactly what happened to Cherie or someone else has information that can help us."
Because Cherie was a ward of the state, when Frances initially tried to report her as missing she was told only a biological family member could make a police report. As a result, a missing person report was not filed until five days later.
Police urge anyone with information to 'do the right thing'
An inquest in 2003 concluded that Cherie had most likely died, and police believe she met with foul play.
Detectives have spoken to numerous witnesses over the years, but have been unable to make a breakthrough in the case.
Acting Detective Inspector Tony Combridge from the Missing Persons Squad urged anyone with information to come forward.
"We believe there are people out there who have information about who is responsible for Cherie's disappearance and we are appealing to them to do the right thing and to come forward and speak to us," he said.
"This appeal for information is twofold. It's about holding those responsible for Cherie's disappearance to account.
"But most importantly it's about bringing Cherie home and giving Cherie's family some answers as to what happened to her.
"It's never too late to tell us what you know."
Detective Inspector Combridge said that after 22 years, allegiances could change and people with information about Cherie's disappearance might now be willing to share that knowledge with police.
He said Cherie's challenging personal circumstances did not make her case any less important.
"People like Cherie, they matter to people. It's easy to put people in a box because of the challenges in their lives, but they matter," he said.
"If you're responsible for this, we're coming. Someone will speak to us and we'll find you."
Information can be reported confidentially to CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 000.
