What really happened to Belinda Peisley? Single mum feared for her life before she went missing - but her body has never been found
- Aunt of missing woman Belinda Peisley claimed niece had feared for her life
- Aunt Sharon Versace said her niece was worried 'someone was trying to hurt her'
- Ms Versace said her niece asked her about fake identifications and passports
- Ms Peisley was last seen leaving Katoomba Hospital on September night, 1988
The aunt of missing woman Belinda Peisley has added further mystery to the unsolved disappearance of her niece and claimed Ms Peisley feared for her life days before she vanished.
Sharon Versace spoke on ABC's true crime podcast series Unravel and said her then-19-year-old niece showed up at her house in Sydney clearly rattled just days before she disappeared.
'She was just worried for her safety and felt that someone was threatening her,' Ms Versace said.
Ms Peisley was last seen leaving Katoomba Hospital in the Blue Mountains region on September 26, 1988.
The aunt of missing woman Belinda Peisley (pictured) said her niece feared for her life before she disappeared
Sharon Versace said the then-19-year-old was clearly concerned for her safety before she went missing (pictured, Ms Peisley's Katoomba property)
Circumstances surrounding her disappearance has eluded authorities for decades, though a 2013 coronial inquest determined Ms Peisley likely died around the time of her disappearance,
Only in June last year, New South Wales Unsolved Homicide Unit reopened the cold case in an attempt to crack mystery after more than 30 years.
Ms Versace said as little as two weeks out from her niece's disappearance, Mr Peisley turned up at her place concerned for her welfare.
'She was worried that someone was trying to hurt her,' she said.
Not long before she disappeared Ms Peisley, who lived in Katoomba, NSW, said told her aunt she was considering running away.
'She [Belinda] was talking to me about getting a fake identity and clearing out,' she said.
Ms Versace said she told her niece to contact the police, but an adamant Ms Peisley ignored the advice.
When she went to visit her niece in Katoomba with Ms Peisley's mother Lesley, she found that the house had been trashed.
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'There was actually blood in the shower recess and on the floor … you could see there had been a bit of an altercation.'
The Coroner's Court heard Ms Peisley was taken to hospital on the night in 1988, after neighbours reported a female screaming and glass smashing at her home.
When police arrived, they found her intoxicated and alone.
The mother-of-two had a long history of drug abuse.
Ms Peisley came from a troubled childhood had often mixed with questionable characters.
She lived alone with her single mother who suffered from mental health problems and Ms Peisley would occasionally stay at women's refuge centres or with her aunt.
When she was only 15, she gave birth to her first son Cody. Her second son Billy came along two years later.
Ms Peisley's (pictured) disappearance has eluded authorities for decades, however a 2013 coronial inquest determined Ms Peisley likely died around the time of her disappearance
Only in June last year, New South Wales Unsolved Homicide Unit reopened the cold case in an attempt to crack the more than 30-year-long puzzle (pictured, Ms Peisley)
Ms Peisley's father Mark Wearne has suspected foul play from early on.
Mr Wearne reconnected with his daughter about a year before she went missing and they would meet for dinner and speak on the phone.
Mark Wearne (pictured) reconnected about a year before Ms Peisley's death, according to the father
But Mr Wearne started to suspect Ms Peisley was in trouble after she asked him to rough up some people that were causing her problems.
After he refused, she didn't speak to him again.
When Mr Wearne went to inspect his daughter's house after she disappeared, he said evidence pointed to a dark end Ms Peisley.
'Her favourite pair of shoes was a pair of doc martins, they were thrown on the floor… there was a cardigan she lived in, that was there… that is what convinced me very clearly that Belinda was dead.’
Three persons of interest were identified in the conclusion of the 2013 coronial inquiry 'who may have been involved in, or have some personal knowledge of, the circumstances in which Belinda disappeared and/or died'.
An excavation at a weatherboard property in Katoomba late last year uncovered a dress and woman's underwear.
'The undergarments are consistent with Belinda's clothing size,' Detective Chief Inspector Grant Taylor said at the time.
A $100,000 reward is still on offer for information about Ms Peisley's disappearance and presumed murder.
Police have yet to locate the remains of Ms Peisley.
An excavation at a weatherboard property in Katoomba late last year uncovered a dress and woman's underwear
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