Nannup cult case: family might never know if quartet is dead or alive
The Coroner says he has not been able to find the deaths of four people - who vanished from their Nannup home over 10 years ago - has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.
Coroner Barry King handed down his long awaited findings on Tuesday in the long running and tragic case of the so called Nannup cult family of four.
The Coroner held an inquest into the suspected deaths of the four people - Chantelle McDougall, Leela McDougall, Tony Popic and Gary Felton - at the Busselton Courthouse in December.
The four vanished from their Roberts Road property in July 2007.
They left behind wallets, credit cards and dirty plates on the table at their weatherboard home.
A note left at the house said they were moving to Brazil. They have never been seen or heard from since.
The inquest last year heard details about Mr Felton's links to a bizarre underground cult.
Mr Felton - who was was Leela's father and Chantelle's partner - also went by the name Simon Kadwell.
He was reportedly linked to a cult based on a doomsday book called Servers of the Divine Plan which called on "servers" to take up their positions on earth before the world's imminent end and rebirth.
In his report Mr King said there were reasonable grounds to believe Chantelle, Leela and Tony were dead, especially due to the fact they have not been in touch with their respective families for over a decade.
"There is also evidence, especially the evidence relating to Simon’s apparent despondency and his belief in ascension, which would, if accepted, support a conclusion that Simon is dead," the report said.
"However, given the nature and quantity of evidence inconsistent with any of their deaths, I cannot be satisfied to the required standard of proof that any one of them is dead.
"I have not been able to find that the death of any of the members of the group has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.
"For the sake of clarity, I must add that my conclusion does not mean that I have found that any of them is alive. I must also emphasise that my conclusion is based on the evidence presently available."
Counsel Assisting the Coroner Lyle Housiaux told the inquest last December that in October 2011 the then State Coroner received a letter from Chantelle's parents, Jim and Cathy McDougall, asking for an inquest to be held.
"The brief of evidence received at the court is the result of a prolonged investigation by WA Police," Mr Housiaux told the court.
"The circumstances are that all four people had been living in a farm house in Nannup... after telling family members that they planned to move to Brazil for spiritual reasons, they seem to have disappeared.
"Extensive inquiries have failed to locate any of them and they remain as long term missing persons."
During the inquest last year Chantelle's parents said they had accepted the coronial inquiry might not solve the mystery, but that they would never give up trying to find answers.
"I'm a bit anxious, I want some answers, if we can find anything that will find them or what's happened to them," Catherine McDougall told reporters last year.
Last year an age enhanced photograph of Leela was one of six images put together by forensic artists from the United States National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.
The image was released as part of International Missing Children's Day.
"She (Leela) loved to dance around and play jokes and do all sorts of funny things," Ms McDougall told WAtoday last year.
"Her mother was like that when she was little."
A fresh appeal on the case was made by police in 2013 through a Channel 10 television program.
In the program, detectives revealed how a man calling himself Tony Popic checked into the Underground Backpackers in Northbridge on July 15, 2007.
The next day, the same man is believed to have caught a train from Perth to Kalgoorlie.