A call from this phone in Leitchville was the last call Krystal Fraser received before disappearing. Photo / Supplied
A call from this phone in Leitchville was the last call Krystal Fraser received before disappearing. Photo / Supplied
A lonely payphone on the side of the road in a tiny town 260km north of Melbourne holds the key to solving a missing person case that has police stumped and a grieving family scratching for answers.
Shortly after midnight on June 20, 2009, a phonecall was made from the Telstra phone booth just outside Leitchville Post Office to the mobile phone of Krystal Fraser.
Fraser, 23 and heavily pregnant at the time, had hours earlier disembarked a train not far from her home at Pyramid Hill, an 18-minute drive from where the call originated.
Nobody knows who was calling, but that's just one unanswered question in a case with too few answers.
Nobody knows whose baby she was days away from giving birth to. Nobody knows what happened to her after she took that call. It's that mystery that led friends to wonder whether Fraser, who had the mental age of a 14-year-old, was living a double life.
Someone called Krystal Fraser from this phone box about midnight. She disappeared shortly after. Photo / Supplied
"Whose baby was it?" lead investigator Detective Sergeant Wayne Woltsche asked in 2012.
"No one has ever admitted they are the father of the child to us, but a number of people have admitted they had relationships with her," Woltshe told Fairfax.
This week though, after months without a solid lead, police made an arrest. A 61-year-old man from Pyramid Hill was taken in for questioning, Victoria Police said on Tuesday.
He was released shortly pending further inquiries. Police have not revealed his identity but the news has reignited interest in the case.
Fraser was last seen about 9.40pm on June 20, 2009, at a home in Albert St, in Pyramid Hill, a town named after the hill that rises 180m above sea level, where no more than 500 people live.
Krystal Fraser had an undefined intellectual disability. Photo / Supplied
That day, she had checked herself out of Bendigo Hospital where she was planning on giving birth. The baby was due within three days.
After leaving hospital, Fraser rode the train to Pyramid Hill, a journey that should have taken no longer than 1.5 hours.
At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing black pants, an orange top and a camouflaged-patterned baseball cap.
Fairfax reported in 2012 that locals "reckon there is prime suspect", but they did not name him.
"I've got nothing to say," he told the Age at the time. "I gave [the homicide squad] all the information I could and they've used it against me.
"It's turned my life upside down. They've tried to turn my mates against me."
Krystal Fraser was 23 when she disappeared and was about three days from giving birth. Photo / Supplied
Fraser had an undefined intellectual disability — her mum Karen said she was "just not quite right".
"It could get frustrating," she said. "But underneath she was a really, really good person.
"She didn't like my rules [such as] 'get home at a decent hour, tell us where you are, come home for tea', just normal shit like that."
Fraser carried her mobile phone around with her at all times and would text or call the family frequently. It was out of character for her not to be in touch.
That led detectives to believe from the beginning that she'd met with foul play.
Police believe the 23-year-old was murdered and that her body is waiting to be found. But they also believe somebody knows something more.
In June, 2012 police issued a reward of up to $100,000 for information relating to Fraser's disappearance.
Police say the reward will be paid at the discretion of the Chief Commissioner for information leading to the apprehension and subsequent conviction of the person or persons responsible for Fraser's death.
"Investigators would like to thank everyone who has provided information over the past nine years and continue to appeal to anyone who has knowledge of her whereabouts to come forward," a police spokesperson said this week.
