Nancy & Victoria: The Beaumaris Beach Mystery

Two young female tourists are staying in the same quiet spot in Tasmania…one disappears, never to be seen again and two years later, the other woman is brutally murdered.

The women are 26-year-old German Nancy Grunwaldt, reported missing on April 15th 1993. Getting around on a bike, she was spending some time at Beaumaris Beach, reading a book. What happened after that is a mystery…so far. Nancy’s never been found but she was declared deceased by the coroner in 2003. Read the reports here: https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/about_us/coroners/coronialfindings/g/182_of_2004

Italian woman Victoria Cafasso who was 20, was found dead on 11 October 1995 on Beaumaris beach. She’d been stabbed numerous times and had been beaten. Victoria was staying in the tiny hamlet of Beaumaris with her cousin and had been there less than a week. Read the Coroners’ report here: https://www.magistratescourt.tas.gov.au/about_us/coroners/coronialfindings/c/2005_tascd_125_-_cafasso,_victoria_anna_elizabeth

Tasmanian journalist and author Melanie Calvert was on a trip back to her home state not long after Victoria’s murder. It’s haunted her ever since and she spent years researching and wrote a book Tasmania’s Beaumaris Beach Mystery: What Happened to Nancy and Victoria?

There’s been suspects for Victoria’s murder and could it be coincidence that Nancy disappeared from the same place? The initial police investigation into Victoria’s murder has come under scrutiny too.

Melanie’s book is Tasmania’s Beaumaris Beach Mystery: What Happened to Nancy and Victoria? And it’s available online. There’s details in the show notes for this episode.

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If you have been affected by anything discussed in this episode you can contact:

Lifeline on 13 11 14

13 YARN on 13 92 76 (24/7 crisis support phone line for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people)

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More information Melanie Calvert and where to buy her books can be found here: https://melaniecalvert.com/buy-freycinet/

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