Shortcut: The Unsolved Death of Elly Warren in Mozambique

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Australian True Crime

Shortcut: The Unsolved Death of Elly Warren in Mozambique

Host: Meshel Laurie
Guest: Paul Warren (Elly’s father, author of Hunting Elly’s Killer)
Release Date: June 28, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the unresolved case of Elly Warren, a 20-year-old Australian found dead in the Mozambican coastal village of Tofo in 2016. Host Meshel Laurie speaks with Elly’s father, Paul Warren, about his tireless efforts to piece together what happened to his daughter, the failures of official investigations, and his ongoing pursuit of justice—documented in his book, Hunting Elly’s Killer. The conversation highlights the crucial flaws in the handling of Elly's case by authorities in multiple countries, as well as the emotional and personal costs endured by her family.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who Was Elly Warren?

[00:58–01:44]

• Elly described as adventurous, confident, outgoing from a young age.
  • “She stuck up for herself. She was really confident about anything and everything.” – Paul Warren [01:03]
• Popular in Mozambique among locals and fellow volunteers.
  • “She wouldn’t stop talking … she would get back from the dives and nobody else get a word in because Elly was talking about her dives.” – Paul [01:29]

2. The Night of Elly’s Death

[01:55–03:36]

• Timeline reconstructed from inquest transcripts and eyewitnesses:
  • Elly dropped at backpackers’ lodge, then went to Victor’s Bar with friends.
  • Elly’s friends looking for her around 11 PM; last seen heading to the bar.
  • Paul emphasizes this was out of character, as Elly prized group cohesion.
    • “That’s not like Elly … Elly is big with friends.” – Paul [03:00]
• Friends passed by later, around midnight, near the area where Elly’s body was found the next morning—she was not there then.

3. Discovery of the Body

[03:40–05:10]

• At 5:00 AM, local fisherman finds Elly’s body near the beach/toilet block, initially scared to report it for fear of being blamed.
  • He documents the scene with a photograph.
• At 6:00 AM, with police and locals present, Elly’s body is seen repositioned.
  • "Ali was in a Muslim prayer position at that stage." – Paul [05:31]
  • Host clarifies: “In my world, that’s like a yoga pose. It’s a child’s pose ... your forehead’s on the ground and your arms are stretched out.” – Meshel Laurie [05:51]

4. Initial Official Responses and Contradictory Autopsy Reports

[06:07–08:41]

• Family notified by DFAT (Australian Dept. of Foreign Affairs and Trade) after friends suspected the body was Elly.
• Mozambique initial autopsy: “violent death, homicide” with “abundance of sand found in the airways” [06:54]
• Police later claim cause of death was drug overdose, despite lack of toxicology at that stage.
  • “I was furious … no toxicology, no facts whatsoever.” – Paul [07:09]
  • South African autopsy: all toxicology results negative [07:24]
  • “The DFAT sent a message … Have you looked at your own autopsy report? It says violent death, homicide.” – Paul [07:34]
• Police later revert back to homicide in reports after external pressure.

5. Sexual Assault, Struggle, and Forensic Challenges

[08:08–09:44]

• Inquest could not confirm sexual assault due to two prior autopsies and evidence limitations.
• Paul’s belief: “I think the motive is sexual assault. That’s what I think.” [08:25]
• Visible marks and abrasions indicating a violent struggle are noted by family.
  • Paul’s sister said, “there’s no question Elly struggled.” [08:44]

6. Paul Warren’s Investigation and Frustrations with Authorities

[09:47–13:41]

• Frustration with slow and opaque processes in both Mozambique and Australia:
  • Difficult application process for a Victorian inquest; constant delays.
  • “Delay, delay, delay. And it’s just annoying. And the same with the AFP.” – Paul [09:53]
• Contradictions in autopsy findings:
  • Mozambique & South African autopsies report packed sand; Melbourne forensic pathologist Dr. Lynch finds none.
  • Radiology (CT scan) later confirms extensive sand—yet wasn’t acknowledged at the inquest.
  • "If I had my time over again, I wouldn't have one [an inquest]." – Paul [11:09]
• Coroner’s decisions limit key witness participation, including the radiologist and key investigators on the ground.
  • Frustration about lack of access to direct investigation files and witness exclusion, specifically regarding leads followed by private investigator Francois Roos into 2021.
  • “These are really important witnesses that you need … And he said, no, he didn’t want him.” – Paul [12:12]

7. The Ongoing Fight and Resources for Listeners

[13:41–14:27]

• Paul’s book, Hunting Elly’s Killer, aims to inform and keep the case alive.
• Comprehensive updates and case details available at the website: “EllyWarren.net”
  • “Most of the facts, 99% are there and there’s a big homepage on the start, which is overwhelming, but it’s got everything there.” – Paul [13:54]
• The episode closes with a recognition of the emotional labor and the glacial pace of justice in international cases.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Elly’s character:
  • “She was unbelievable … really confident about anything and everything.” – Paul Warren [00:58]
• On the initial, contradictory police response:
  • “They had no toxicology, no facts whatsoever, right?” – Paul Warren [07:17]
• On the pain of reading inquest details as a parent:
  • “What a thing for a father to read.” – Meshel Laurie [08:21]
• On frustration with official processes:
  • “It just moves at a snail’s pace, doesn’t it?” – Meshel Laurie [13:25]
  • “Oh, it’s shocking.” – Paul Warren [13:32]
• On the website:
  • “It’s taken me years to do that website and I keep updating it … it’s got everything there.” – Paul Warren [13:54]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Elly’s Background and Personality: [00:58–01:44]
• Timeline of Night She Disappeared: [01:55–03:36]
• Discovery and Positioning of Her Body: [03:40–05:51]
• Official Reports and Family Notification: [06:07–08:41]
• Forensic Contradictions and Inquest Limitations: [08:41–13:41]
• Resources & Closing Remarks: [13:41–14:27]

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Useful Links

• Book: Hunting Elly’s Killer – A Father’s Relentless Pursuit of Justice by Paul Warren
• Website: ellywarren.net – detailed archive of all case evidence and updates

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This episode offers an intimate, frustrating, and moving account of a family’s search for justice in the face of bureaucratic indifference and international barriers—an essential listen for all true crime followers.

Transcript

[A]

Ten years ago, 20 year old Ellie Warren was found dead in a coastal village in Mozambique under circumstances that remain deeply contested. In the years since, her father, Paul Warren has spent his life savings and travelled across continents in a relentless search for the truth, uncovering alleged failures by authorities along the way. He's written a book about it called Hunting Ellie's Killer and he joins us to share the story of his ongoing fight for justice. 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. Who was Ellie Warren? Tell us about your girl, your adventurous girl.

[B]

Oh, she certainly was. She was unbelievable as a baby. She was hard to deal with even then, you know, at the start. But things happened at school. She stuck up for herself. She was really confident about anything and everything.

[A]

She seemed to make friends easily too. I've seen people talk about her from Mozambique, people that she was volunteering with. Really popular girls.

[B]

Oh yeah, she was out there, she loved it. And she wouldn't stop talking like Jade o'. Shea, one of the ladies that worked at Casey Barry as a bartender said that she would get back from the dives and nobody else get a word in because Ellie was talking about her dives.

[A]

You know Tufo.

[B]

Tufo? Yeah.

[A]

Tufo is the name of the town.

[B]

It's a fishing, small fishing village.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And it's near Innz, which is a bigger town and it's got an airport. It's a 20 minute drive from Minzenbaum. That's where the Zenik main police criminal police were based at.

[A]

So what's your understanding of that last night?

[B]

I think the best understanding comes from Jade o', Shea, her friend, and it's in transcript in the inquest. They dropped her off at the backpackers in Jake's car. Ellie couldn't get out quick enough because she wanted to go with her friends. You know, Johan, the manager there, said he didn't even see her go. She didn't check in, but she left her luggage in the dorm where she was sleeping that night and she was off and she went to Victor's bar where she was dancing and having a good time with her friends. Now the thing is, you've got to remember is Ellie was diving the next day. She was very responsible with her diving, so she wouldn't have been drinking much. And there's a photo of her which was at the inquest. That coroner got at Casey Barry before they went to the lodge with a big, large 2 liter bottle of water. Yeah. And then she went to get her phone and then she came back along the beach and Jade and Nat were a concerned about Ellie, so they went back to Victor's bar and it was about 11 o' clock that night and Ali said, oh, hi, I've been looking for you. And Jade said, oh, where have you been? We've been looking for you. And next minute Jade said, oh, I think, I think Ally went to the bar to get a drink and that was the last time they saw her. Now, that's not like Allie, because Ellie is big with friends.

[A]

And also she said, I've been looking for you. Yeah, and I found you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So she's gone to the bar and then not come back. Nobody saw her after that. Victor had closed the bar and gone to the girls and the girls wanted to go to the toilet. So they went over the position where Allie's body was found the next morning.

[A]

And she wasn't there then.

[B]

She wasn't there then? No.

[A]

So what time was that? About midnight or something?

[B]

Probably about midnight, yeah.

[A]

So then the next thing we know is that about 5:00am, a fisherman.

[B]

Well, what happened with the fishermen was to get the salt water out of their motors, they bring their motors up and they put them in a bin with fresh water to flush the motors. And you can see in some of the photos, there's a bin near the toilet block where they do that. He said that he saw a dark shadow of something in the distance and he walked up and he saw it was the body of a, of a lady. So he took the photo at that particular time at 5am in the morning, but he didn't tell anybody because he was really scared because he found the body, that they were going to blame him.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

So he took a photo, he ran down the beach, but he ran into George Venter, who was a top business owner over there and had Ellie on, on his boat. And he was hysterical, this fisherman talking to George Venter. He told him to calm down, blah, blah, blah. He said, don't worry, I'm here, your police won't blame you. Let's go back. So they went back and that was probably I, probably about 5:30. And when they got back, the police arrived. George told them to rope off the area, don't let anybody in. And that's as much as I know about that. At that point in time, Ellie is

[A]

lying face down or her face is actually twisted slightly to the right. Side, but.

[B]

Well, her chin's on top of the sand, really. Her hands are there. She's not. Her head's not embedded into the sand at all.

[A]

No, no, no. But she's on her tummy, her legs are slightly splayed, she has no clothes on her bottom half of her body. Her underpants are sort of around her knee. But then officially, then how do we get this other position? What happened?

[B]

Well, what happened was the next morning, then at 6am, the same morning that she's found.

[A]

You mean when police are all there? Yeah.

[B]

The business owners were really concerned and she wanted to find out who it was, so she went to the police. Cause they were being there years and years and years. So they knew the police and he let her cross the. To see if she could identify who it was. And Ali was in a Muslim prayer position at that stage.

[A]

It's interesting, when I first read that, I was like, what? I don't know what a Muslim prayer position is. But then when I saw the photos and that, I thought, oh, in my world, that's like a yoga pose. It's a child's pose. So some of our listeners will think of it that way, where you're on your knees, your forehead, say, is on the ground and your arms are stretched out in front of you.

[B]

Yep, that's correct, yeah. So what basically happened was the phone call from Christy to tell me that Ali's dead, which was. She was screaming on the other end of phone. You didn't even know it was her. It was amazing. Then Nicole got on the phone and said, we've just heard that somebody's died over in Mozambique and there's not a lot of Australians over there. And, you know, chances of it being Ali are probably very high. I go, oh, God. She said, I'm just waiting on confirmation from dfat. Ten minutes later, the phone rang again. Paul, Ali's gone. It's Allie for sure. The Mozambique autopsy originally said violent death, homicide.

[A]

That's right, yes.

[B]

And it said abundance of sand found in the airways.

[A]

Yes. Now, but at the same time, is this correct that the autopsy. The forensic pathologist said homicide, but the police initially said overdose, drug overdose.

[B]

That happened later. That was on the 6th of April, 20, 2017. The first police report was overdose. I was furious and I mean, they

[A]

had no toxicology report, they had no

[B]

toxicology, no facts whatsoever, Right, Yeah.

[A]

But they were able to ascertain that there was no drugs.

[B]

The South African autopsy did a toxicology, results all negative. The DFAT sent a message to the Mozambique Police who issued that report said that. Have you looked at your own autopsy report? It says violent death, homicide.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Four days later, on the 10th of April, they send out an official report saying it's now a homicide. You go and work that out. I was furious and I was furious with the AFP because they were misleading the family, because they were saying that they were doing a proper investigation. How can they be doing a proper investigation if they say it's an overdose? And then four days later, because we told them to look at their autopsy, that it's a. It's a homicide.

[A]

Reading the inquest report, there was a moment where they were talking about sexual assault and whether or not they could tell if there'd been a sexual assault. And they said for various reasons they felt they couldn't. And one of the reasons was that been two autopsies by the time it got here, so. And I thought, God, what a thing for a father to read.

[B]

Yeah, well, I think the motive is sexual assault. That's what I think.

[A]

Yeah, I think we all think that. I mean, again, it's difficult cause there's no specific evidence to that. But, you know, she is a young woman, she's found with her clothes torn. Torn apart. Yeah.

[B]

That's the marks and abrasions on her face. You know, like my sister when she viewed divinity in South Africa, she said, paul, there's no question Ellie struggled. I said, yeah.

[A]

How long did it take for you to realise that you had to start investigating this yourself? You've got Ellie home. It's all the shock, the initial shock of it all. And I'm sure you had a funeral and all that, but when did you start to feel let down by the investigation and feel like you had to do it?

[B]

Well, I'd rung Dr. Klepp on the 20th of November.

[A]

This is our South African forensic pathologist.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, South African. When I got back from bringing Ali's body back, and she told me over the phone, she said, paul, Ali's airways were packed with sand. But you see, at the inquest, I said to the coroner, there's New Year's Eve parties, people are passing out everywhere. But since there's been deaths, there's no recorded death of any teenager, Nobody falling over and packing their airways full of sand?

[A]

No, there's. No.

[B]

Not with the marks and bruises around the lips and the cheek.

[A]

Not anywhere.

[B]

Come on. It's just ridiculous.

[A]

Talk to us about the process of getting an inquest in Victoria.

[B]

Well, I had. You have to apply for it through the coroner's court. I put an application in for it, which took forever. They just. I don't know, they just. They just delay, delay, delay. And it's just annoying. And the same with the afp. Delay, delay.

[A]

The pathologist who did the autopsy in Melbourne, Dr. Lynch, his findings were essentially. What was the cause of death? It was undetermined.

[B]

Undetermined, yes. Correct. This is what got me to start my investigation, was the contradictions between the Mozambique autopsy, South African autopsy, were all about the packed sand.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yet he found no sand.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

How's that possible? But the radiology report, which is in the same building. Yeah.

[A]

Came out of the same building, was

[B]

done by the CT scan. So everybody gets a CT scan in Melbourne.

[A]

Yep, yep.

[B]

So that generates the radiology report from that CT scan. Now, that was taken just before Dr. Lynch did his autopsy report. Yeah, his autopsy on Ali. Then he says at a meeting he found no sand whatsoever. Then the radiology report comes out in 2019 and we were shocked, the family was shocked, to see so much sand inside Ellie. Why didn't he find it? I pushed and pushed and pushed for an inquest. If I had my time over again, I wouldn't have one.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because I thought there was some good things that came out in the inquest, but I felt there was bias situation with the coroner and the coroner, in a way, can dictate the terms because he's in charge. People got to understand he's in charge of the inquest. You don't have a say.

[A]

No.

[B]

Right. As the family, he's in charge of the witnesses.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Right. Now, he didn't want a lot of the relevant witnesses, but at a hearing in 2023, in February, he goes to the family and everybody. Oh, there's a lot of gaps in the evidence. Right. But one of the most relevant witnesses, and we were shocked. My barrister and my lawyer were shocked. He didn't want the radiologist at the inquest as a witness. Then Mr. Roos, a Francois Rouge, who was the private detective for Nicole. Right. He reopened the case in 2021 and he got a lot of evidence. He was working with the Mozambique police and he had already given a report on 2019 to Mr. Bracken. So he's a credible witness. Yet Mr. Cain goes, oh, well, we haven't got anything on the Mozambique investigation. We haven't got their file. We wanted Mr. Ruse as a witness because he was hands on over there, experienced, knowing exactly what's going on. And he said, no, he didn't want him. And then we wanted Charlie Benzino, who had given a report to the coroner saying that he would classify this as a homicide unless proven otherwise. So these are really important witnesses that you need to have at the inquest. Mr. Van Squale Roos, who opened the investigation, was working with the new detective from Zenic Criminal Police over there. They went to Truffaut to get more evidence on these people who they suspected at the time. So they were on the trail of these people, but unfortunately they just haven't got enough evidence to convict them.

[A]

And when was this?

[B]

End of 2021. Nearly 22.

[A]

God, that's still a long time ago again, though, isn't it? This is.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This moves, this entire investigation process, it just moves at a snail's pace, doesn't it?

[B]

Oh, it's shocking.

[A]

Ten years ago you lost.

[B]

I know. It's a decade, nearly a decade. 9th November would be 10 years.

[A]

Now. The book, Hunting Ellie's A Father's Relentless Pursuit of Justice. I want everybody to make sure they get a copy of this book and read it. And also, what's your website? When people want. Cause we have obviously only danced across the surface of this story. So what's the website?

[B]

I've got a website, it's Elly E, double L, Y, W, A R E, N And then you put.net got it onto it. It's taken me years to do that website and I keep updating it a little bit with the facts. Now most of the facts, 99% are there and there's a big homepage on the start, which is overwhelming, but it's got everything there.

[A]

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 1-800Respect.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.