Shortcut: The Disappearance of Pauline Sowry

Summary

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Australian True Crime – Shortcut: The Disappearance of Pauline Sowry

Podcast: Australian True Crime
Host: Meshel Laurie (A)
Guest: Jason Lawrence (B), son of Pauline Sowry
Date: March 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the haunting 1993 disappearance of Pauline Sowry from Wollongong’s northern suburbs. Host Meshel Laurie interviews Jason Lawrence, Pauline’s son, who for three decades has sought answers about his mother’s fate amidst addiction, criminal circles, and repeated investigative dead ends. The episode explores the emotional toll on family, the evolution of the case—including recent police activity and a high-profile arrest—and highlights gaps in the legal process that keep the mystery alive.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Pauline Sowry’s Background & Family Life

• Upbringing: Jason describes their family life in Balghani as “normal,” with traditional roles (“Dad worked hard”), regular family dinners, and playful discipline.
  • "Mum chases around the backyard with a spoon." (B, 01:38)
• By 1993, Pauline and Jason’s father were divorced. Pauline became involved with a new partner, which introduced her to heroin, destabilizing the family.

2. Pauline’s Descent and Exploitation

• After the partner’s suicide, Jason returned from abroad to support Pauline and help her recover from addiction.
• Pauline received around $80,000 from the sale of a property, making her a target:
  • “These parasites took advantage of a vulnerability and wanted that money.” (B, 02:48)
• Despite periods of sobriety, she drifted into circles of addiction, often moving between houses, befriending users, and displaying erratic behaviors.

3. The Disappearance Unfolds (1994)

• Pauline’s sudden absence wasn’t initially alarming due to her history of unpredictability.
• Jason recounts a chilling moment:
  • He’s summoned to collect all of Pauline’s belongings from a stranger’s porch; the man disavows knowledge of Pauline, saying, “I lost her in a white Commodore three weeks ago.” (B, approx. 04:46)
• For years, Jason believed she had voluntarily left town.

4. Initial Police Investigation & Dead Ends

• A reported sighting placed Pauline in Sydney's Cabramatta, a hotspot for heroin use. This lead fizzled:
  • "It was a detective burglars that was involved. They did an investigation and nothing came from it." (B, 06:38)
• The only lead—her disability pension continued to be drawn, but the withdrawals couldn’t be traced.
• Eventually, the family had to legally declare Pauline deceased to claim her remaining funds.

5. Breakthrough: New Witness Emerges (2022)

• Decades later, a then-child witness contacts Crime Stoppers, describing a 1994 incident:
  • Three kids saw Pauline fighting with a man in a white Commodore, later witnessing the man—carrying a machete and her bag—leaving the bush where they hid.
  • “He held a secret for 30 years with his sister and her boyfriend... The main witness can identify the bag and the machete in detail.” (B, 08:06)
• A major police search followed, yielding some of Pauline’s clothing but no remains.
• Jason, deeply involved, recalls the emotional toll:
  • “It was a massive operation, really overwhelming... I broke. I bored my eyes out.” (B, 10:49 / 13:36)

6. Arrest and Legal Setbacks (2025–2026)

• A man, believed to own the white Commodore, was arrested and charged with accessory to murder and concealing information.
  • _"He was sitting with my mum last." (B, 11:36)
  • The investigation suggested possible involvement of others, but no further evidence emerged.
• In court, Jason describes the agony of seeing the accused and the judge doubting the case’s credibility:
  • “Sitting in that courtroom was the hardest thing I ever did, knowing what I knew.” (B, 11:06)
  • “I put my head in my hands and went, oh my God, this is over. This guy's going to walk.” (B, 11:44)
• The accused was denied bail due to threatening behavior, but ultimately all charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence:
  • “With all the information that's there, there's enough to go before a jury... But the Crown Prosecution... are too piss weak.” (B, 13:53)
• Jason’s frustration is palpable, especially knowing the accused is free:
  • “He's walking the streets... living his life as if nothing’s ever happened.” (B, 14:40)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "Mum was pretty strong willed. She always said to me if I was to touch a bong, she would make me smoke it that much that I would turn green. So it was hard to hear and see that she had an addiction.” (B, 02:16)
• "I walked to the left. I broke. I bored my eyes out. Scotty ran over, wrapped me, held me and told me to breathe because I couldn’t stop crying.” (B, 13:36)
• “My keywords are someone's seen something, someone knows something or someone's told someone.” (B, 15:20)

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Key Timestamps

• 00:04–01:10 – Introduction; background on Pauline’s case and warning about graphic content
• 01:19–02:48 – Jason’s childhood memories and Pauline’s decline after divorce
• 04:46–05:45 – Pauline’s possessions on a stranger’s porch; realization she’d disappeared
• 06:00–07:26 – Sightings in Cabramatta; failed police investigation; pension withdrawals
• 08:04–10:00 – New witness testimonial; bush fight and police search
• 11:06–13:36 – Arrest, emotional court experience, and breakdown outside
• 13:53–14:44 – Dropping of charges and Jason’s criticism of prosecution
• 15:06–15:19 – Call for public information; mention of Pauline’s other surname

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Tone & Language

The conversation is candid, raw, and at times, painfully honest. Jason’s narration is marked by grief, frustration, and vivid recollection. Meshel Laurie provides empathy and gentle guidance, focusing on clarity for listeners.

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Resources

• Contact: Listeners with information about Pauline Sowry’s disappearance are urged to contact Crime Stoppers (link in show notes).
• Support: Emotional support contacts for listeners are provided at the close of the episode.

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This episode delivers a nuanced, emotionally charged account of a family's long pursuit for answers amid the shadows of addiction, legal obstacles, and unclosed wounds. It underlines the enduring ripple effects of disappearances in Australian communities—and the hope attached to every new lead.

Transcript

[A]

This is Australian True Crime with Michelle Laurie. Jason Lawrence has spent most of the last three decades searching for answers about what happened to his mother, Pauline Sowery, who vanished from Wollongong's northern suburbs in December 1993 at the age of 49. An inquest in 2008 concluded she likely died after a reported sighting the following year, yet her body has never been found. The case has continued to EVOL with a dedicated police force launched in 2022, a substantial government reward announced in 2024, and a brief charge laid and later withdrawn in 2025. Today, Jason joins us to share who his mother was and the toll her disappearance has taken on their family. This is Australian True Crime. We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this podcast is created, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People of the Kulin Nation and a warning. This episode of the podcast contains graphic descriptions of violence.

[B]

With VRBoCare. Help is always ready before, during and after your stay.

[A]

We've planned for the plot twists, so

[B]

support is always available because a great trip starts with peace of mind. Yeah. I was brought up in Balghani. It was normal. Normal kids, tough. Mum chases around the backyard with a spoon.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Always had meal on the table, Chocolate every Thursday night. Dad worked hard.

[A]

Did your parents stay married? I guess what I'm asking is by 1993, what was the situation?

[B]

93, mum and dad were divorced. Mum had met a person of interest. He introduced her to Heron and things went a bit sour. I left, went to England, then received a call from her dad saying that Mum's partner had hung himself. And then I went home and supported Mum and got her off the Heron. And then after, she and my youngest brother were having issues and she moved out and then started hanging out with a different range of people. Yeah. So Mum was pretty strong willed. She always said to me if I was to touch a bong, she would make me smoke it that much that I would turn green. So it was hard to hear and see that she had an addiction. She had a large sum of money. She had something around about 80,000 after the sale of the property. And these parasites took advantage of a vulnerability and wanted that money.

[A]

You assisted her, you helped her to get clean. After the death of her, the first partner in this period of time, did she start using again when she met the new partner?

[B]

The new partner wasn't actually a partner. He was just a friend.

[A]

Right. And were they using? Was addiction part of this friendship?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

She was back in that circle.

[B]

Yep. Yep. After Christmas, early March, April. We were visiting mum in Warrong and met a gentleman and another lady with my mum at a pub, had lunch, all seemed normal and then mum was jumping from house to house. We visited different houses from time to time and started to work out things weren't right. Then I got a call three weeks later around May where a gentleman asked me to come and pick up all of mum's belongings. I went to a house in Greenville and everything was on his front porch. I asked a gentleman, which wasn't the owner of the property, why is all my mum's belongings on a balcony? And I'm talking records, jewellery, clothing, all the personal stuff, bags, everything. I was there with my ex wife, two cars. I told her to wait in the car because if there was anything wrong to call the police. I met with a young gentleman that didn't own the property, live in it. And I said, where is my mum? He said, I don't know. He said, I don't live here. I said, let me into your house, I want to go and see if my mum's there. He said, she's not there. I said, where is she? He said, I don't know. I lost her in awhite, y com at all three weeks ago. I then left. So how I felt was I believed it. I felt that she didn't want to be in Wollongong and had moved on.

[A]

Unfortunately. I gather that her behaviour had become erratic in the last couple of years and unpredictable to you, like you. There must have been many times where you were shocked by her behaviour. So this was shocking but seemed believable, right?

[B]

Correct. I was working a few years later and I was told by someone that she was seen in Capra Matta with the wrong crowd.

[A]

Big heroin neighborhood, Cabramatta in Sydney.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And that she would. May have been killed.

[A]

She may have been killed, yeah. Wow. So this is a couple of years after this day with her things on the balcony.

[B]

97.

[A]

So when you reported her missing in 97, was your hope that they'll go to Cabramattery and find her? You know we've got a lead.

[B]

Yeah. So it was a detective burglars that was involved. They did an investigation and nothing came from it.

[A]

They didn't even find anyone there who said they knew her, that they'd seen her. Yeah, we know her from around the traps.

[B]

The only thing that came to light that someone was drawing from the bank account because she was on disability pension.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

And you don't need to renew that till every five Years, So it's easy money, but they could never trace it. And then we had to declare a deceased because money founders finders contacted me and there was a sum of money, 70,000 plus in a bank account which belonged to mum. So then we had to declare a deceased.

[A]

So how do you do that? I thought you needed a coroner to do that.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

All right. Okay.

[B]

Right, yeah. So went to coroner's court, involved a solicitor and then got that money. So three and a half years ago the investigation reopened. A young fellow came forward and contact the crime stoppers and he witnessed an event back in 94.

[A]

Oh my goodness.

[B]

So he held a secret for 30 years with his sister and her boyfriend. The three of them were in the bush in a particular area in Wollongong and they saw mum and a male fighting in the car with a handbag. Mum us away because she appeared. They were in danger and they could see the pig and they hid in the bush. What they saw later was him leaving the bush with a machete, her handbag and their mum they stayed, went back to the car. It was a white Commodore. They could not see him. There's a period of about 45 minutes that they hid and it was getting dark. The main witness can identify the bag and the machete in detail. That bag I describe in one of my statements. The description is on point to my description to the man I met in Warawong with my mother. So the investigation went for about three months and I was asked to come home and go to the search site and was advised that they were going to be looking for a body. They nailed it down to an area and I went there and it was a massive operation, really overwhelming. I spent the day there and at the end a juniper, name is Scotty Nicholson, leading detective took me to an area where Garba dogs had gone and found clothing.

[A]

Was it just clothing or was it remains as well?

[B]

No remains. So we had one search site, another one and then another one. And out of all those three they found bits of clothing at different times. And then there was a serious events of the investigation behind the scenes which I can't disclose. And it kept going for a number of years. So I had to be patient. I couldn't talk, I couldn't share anything. But I knew a lot of valuable information. I knew that pieces were joining. The puzzle was coming together. Around nine months ago a gentleman was arrested. He was charged with accessory to murder and concealing information to a murder. He was held through the last seven months. I was contacted by the Department of Prosecution and I went to court hearing in December, the bail application. I saw him face to face by video link. He couldn't see me and I recognised him straight away. Sitting in that courtroom was the hardest thing I ever did, knowing what I knew.

[A]

It's a little bit confusing because you're saying that this person was charged with accessory to murder. So was this the individual that owned the white Commodore that you believe was present when your mum died?

[B]

The investigation points to he was the one Underwai Commodore. Right. Ok. And he was sitting with my mum last.

[A]

Yeah, by the witnesses, the kids that we've talked about. So, okay, can you tell us why he's charged with an accessory to murder? Is there a suggestion there's another individual

[B]

involved or the reason was information come forward that there was two other people involved, they were investigated, interviewed and nothing came of it. And when I was sitting in the courtroom, I could hear the judge questioning the credibility of the charges. And I was sitting there looking at the judge and I put my head in my hands and went, oh my God, this is over. This guy's going to walk. So then I hear the Crown Prosecution defending and the judge is questioning whether it's warrant that charge should be held. His bail was denied because of threats made to police and witnesses and was on recording so he couldn't get bail at that time. It was 40 minutes, longest 40 minutes of my life. I walked out of the courtroom. Scotty, the prosecution and Victim Support Homicide were next to me. I looked at all three of them with disbelief, anger, fear. I said, I need to debrief. I walked to the left. I broke. I bored my eyes out. Scotty ran over, wrapped me, held me and told me to breathe because I couldn't stop crying. I then knew that the prosecution case was weak. I got a call from the crowd Prosecution four weeks later Tabard briefly. I'm now playing conference hookup. I was told that there may not be a case and they can't take it any further. I had to do a statement, a letter of appeal to why I feel that he should not be released and get out of jail. All of that I said, there's too many unknowns, too much information, too many pieces that leads to him. Then I got a call two weeks later to say that the prosecution was not going to go any further and dropping all charges. With all the information that's there, there's enough to go before a jury and it should have been led up to the jury. But the Crown Prosecution, Department of Public Prosecution are two piss weak.

[A]

The fact that he didn't receive bail, his bail application was denied because of threats he had made to. Toward police and other individuals suggests to me that he is a potentially dangerous human being still.

[B]

Very much so.

[A]

So that's part of the frustration too, isn't it?

[B]

Yeah. Well, he's in the public now. He's living his life as if nothing's ever happened.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Walking the streets.

[A]

So this must have collapsed recently, did it? If he was arrested nine months ago. When did all this happen?

[B]

In January.

[A]

Yeah. Wow. Around the anniversary of last time you saw your mum too. If anyone has information about the disappearance of Pauline Sowery, she disappeared from Wollongong.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

We don't think she ever moved to Sydney, do we?

[B]

No, never.

[A]

So from Wollongong in sort of around mid 94.

[B]

Yep. So what's her name is Lawrence.

[A]

Oh, she was also known as Pauline Lawrence.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Right. Okay.

[B]

Yeah. My keywords are someone's seen something, someone knows something or someone's told someone.

[A]

Thank you to Jason Lawrence. If you have any information about the disappearance of Pauline Sowery, please contact Crime Stoppers. There's a link in the show notes to do so. Next week on Australian True Crime, we're joined again by former homicide detective Charlie Bazzina. If you need support after listening to this podcast, you can call Lifeline on 131114 or contact 1-800-Respect on 1-800-737-732 or 1-800-Respect. Org AU. Indigenous Australians can contact 13 Yarn on 139276 or 13yarn.org AU.

[B]

The producers of this podcast recognise the traditional owners of the land on which it's recorded. They pay respect to the Aboriginal elders, past, present and those emerging.