Inquest into the suspected death of missing person Jasmine MORRIS
Deceased
Jasmine Morris
Demographics
19y, female
Date of death
2009-10-06
Finding date
2020-12-02
Cause of death
Unknown – not determined
AI-generated summary
Jasmine Morris was a 19-year-old Aboriginal woman last seen alive on 6 October 2009 in Grafton, NSW. She was reported missing on 20 October 2009 after a two-week absence. Despite extensive police investigation, her body has never been found and the circumstances of her death remain unknown. The coroner found that Jasmine is deceased on the balance of probabilities, based on eleven years with no signs of life—no financial transactions, no contact with family, and persistent community rumours of her death. However, the available evidence does not permit findings about the cause or manner of death. The coroner found several shortcomings in the initial missing person investigation, including lack of formal risk assessment, inadequate supervision, and delay in reporting to the coroner (21 months). The coroner recommended the case be referred to the NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Team and Missing Persons Registry for specialist review, and noted that subsequent reforms to missing persons procedures (2019–2020) have addressed identified deficiencies.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Contributing factors
- Vulnerable person status – illicit drug use, itinerant lifestyle, history of sexual assault
- Possible drug overdose (one of several uncorroborated rumours)
- Possible involvement of known associates in suspicious circumstances (rumour)
Coroner's recommendations
- Recommend that the New South Wales Commissioner of Police cause the investigation into the suspected death of missing person Jasmine Morris be referred to the State Crime Command Unsolved Homicide Team and the State Crime Command Missing Persons Registry for the allocation of specialist consultants to review the matter and to assist the Grafton Detectives in the ongoing investigation
- A copy of the brief of evidence and transcript of the Inquest be provided to the Unsolved Homicide Team and Missing Persons Registry for this purpose
Full text
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