Police search property connected to Hayley Dodd’s killer
Police are searching a property in Badgingarra, about 200 kilometres north of Perth, after a tip-off about the location of missing teenager Hayley Dodd’s body.
The property was previously occupied by Francis Wark, who was sentenced to 18 years in jail last week for Hayley’s manslaughter.
It was the longest manslaughter sentence in Western Australia’s history.
Hayley’s body has never been found and Wark has never disclosed its location.
Wark faced two trials over the 17-year-old’s death – first being found not guilty of her murder before last week’s manslaughter sentence.
Hayley was last seen hitchhiking near Wark’s property in July 1999.
Today, specialist crime and forensic officers concentrated their search on an old water tank at the rear of the property, using a bobcat and scouring the surrounding land.
While Wark denied having any knowledge of what happened to Hayley, a cold case review in 2013 uncovered an earring the teen was wearing on a seat cover of a car Wark was driving at the time.
Police had also searched the Badgingarra property during the same 2013 review but found nothing at the time.
Wark has been behind bars since 2007, first for raping a hitchhiker in Queensland and then while awaiting trial over Hayley’s death.
He will be eligible for parole after 16 years, but will not be granted an early release until he reveals the location of Hayley’s body.
At the time of Wark’s sentencing, Hayley’s mother Margaret said she wanted him to feel remorse over her daughter’s death.
“I wanted him to feel it but not a single reaction from him. A heart of stone,” Ms Dodd said outside court.
“My daughter Hayley was a beautiful 17-year-old girl whose only crime was naivety.
“The last two decades have been sheer hell.”
A crime scene has been established at the Badgingarra property and while investigators confirmed there were “no significant developments” today, officers will return tomorrow.
