When 14-year-old Natasha Ryan vanished on a typical school day in 1998, her disappearance was soon linked to Leonard Frasier, a serial killer who terrorized Rockhampton in Queensland, Australia, for several months.
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Almost five years later, an anonymous caller triggered a chain of events that uncovered an extraordinary mystery, captivating the attention of the entire continent and beyond.
Background
Natasha Anne Ryan was born on May 9th, 1984, in Rockhampton, Australia, to parents Jenny and Robert. Her parents divorced when she was 14, and Natasha didn’t take it well. Overwhelmed by the sudden change in her family life, Natasha began to act out.
She started skipping school regularly and began dating a 22-year-old man named Scott Black, who worked as a milk delivery driver. In July 1998, Scott helped Natasha run away from home, but fortunately, she was missing for only two days.
Since Scott lied to law enforcement by saying he hadn’t seen Natasha while she was missing, he was charged with willful obstruction of police work. He later pleaded guilty to this charge in Rockhampton Magistrates Court in November 1999.
After Natasha returned home, she promised her mother that she would never try to run away again. However, Jenny was skeptical. She decided to drive her daughter to school every morning and urged her to stop seeing her much older boyfriend.
Despite their everyday arguments about Scott, Natasha stopped skipping school. By late August 1998, her attendance had improved, and the overall atmosphere in Natasha’s home seemed to be getting better.
The disappearance
On the morning of August 31st, 1998, Jenny dropped her daughter, Natasha, in front of her school, and the two said their goodbyes before the teen headed to the entrance.
However, Natasha didn’t return home that afternoon. Thinking it was just like the previous time, Jenny waited one day before reporting her daughter as a runaway.
The family expected to see Natasha back home in a couple of days, assuming she would soon run out of money, but weeks went by without any word from her. By that time, Jenny and Robert were beside themselves with worry because it was clear that something serious had happened to their daughter.
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Serial killer stalks Rockhampton
In December 1998, a woman named Julie Turner disappeared in Rockhampton after a night out.
According to those who last saw her, Julie didn’t have enough money to take a taxi back home, so she decided to walk. The 39-year-old was never seen again. Then, in March 1999, another woman mysteriously vanished in the city. This time, 37-year-old Beverly Leggo disappeared near East Street Mall.
Suspecting a connection between the disappearances, the police finally began a thorough investigation of Natasha’s case. Detectives found a witness who confirmed seeing Natasha in front of a movie theater on August 31st, 1998. She got inside a car, which then sped away.
Natasha’s boyfriend, Scott Black, was questioned by police, and he claimed he hadn’t seen Natasha since July 1998. Considering he had lied to law enforcement before, his apartment was searched, but no trace of the missing teen was found inside.
On April 17th, 1999, police were called to an abandoned hotel, where they discovered a bloody crime scene in one of the rooms.
Although they didn’t find a body on the premises, the police believed a 19-year-old Sylvia Benedetti had been murdered at this location. She was the latest person reported missing from Rockhampton.
Five days later, on April 22nd, 9-year-old Keyra Steinhardt was walking home from school when she decided to take a shortcut through a vacant lot. Unbeknownst to her, a predator was hiding in the tall, uncut grass.
A man struck her from behind, sexually assaulted the unconscious girl, and loaded her into the trunk of his car. Luckily, a woman who happened to be nearby witnessed the man carrying the girl and immediately contacted the police.
The eyewitness provided a description of the man, and soon, a prison guard reached out to the local law enforcement. He said they should look into Leonard Fraser. The man had a long criminal record starting when he was only fifteen years old.
He spent decades in and out of prison for sexual assault and was a known serial rapist. Each time he was released, Leonard reoffended, and after his release in January 1997, it was only a matter of time before he began stalking his next victim.
Shortly after, he befriended a terminally ill woman from Yeppoon and moved in with her. The two were soon in a relationship, but Leonard eventually assaulted her as well. After she passed away from cancer six months later, Leonard moved around Queensland, finally settling down in Rockhampton.
Upon learning more about Leonard, the police were sure he was the person responsible for the kidnapping of Keyra Steinhardt.
They quickly found his address and knocked on his door, pretending that Leonard’s car had been broken into. He was taken into the station for an interview, but when Keyra was mentioned, Leonard started professing his innocence.
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Investigators interrogated him daily for several weeks before he finally confessed to the kidnapping, sexual assault, and murder of Keyra. He led the police to her body, which was found by a tree in a wooded area close to Rockhampton.
A forensic examination of Leonard’s car revealed four different DNA profiles, including Keyra’s. During a search of Leonard’s apartment, officers discovered ponytails from three women.
However, Leonard refused to talk about any of the missing women and girls from Rockhampton. So when another inmate approached the police and offered to help them find the bodies, investigators agreed to cooperate.
On December 3rd, 2001, Leonard drew maps indicating the locations of the remains of Julie Turner, Beverly Leggo, and Sylvia Benedetti.
By this time, he was well aware that his jailhouse friend was working for the police. Leonard was probably hoping to avoid serving his sentence in prison because he wanted to be moved to the John Oxley Memorial Hospital.
On December 21st, Leonard guided the police to a remote location near Rockhampton. The terrain was challenging due to thick foliage, but he knew exactly where to go.
Three bodies were recovered that day, none of them Natasha Ryan. Leonard created several maps that allegedly showed where he buried the missing teenager, but investigators were never able to find her remains.
A shocking discovery
Following Leonard Fraser’s confession, Natasha’s family held a memorial service for her in 2001.
The serial killer said he murdered the teen under a mango tree and buried her body behind an abandoned house near a road leading out from Rockhampton. Even though her remains were never recovered, the prosecution firmly believed that Leonard was behind her disappearance and murder.
The trial began in April 2003 in Brisbane, and families of all five victims were present in the courtroom. Less than two weeks into the proceedings, the police received an anonymous tip suggesting that Natasha Ryan was alive. The caller claimed she was living with her boyfriend, Scott Black.
On April 10th, 2003, police officers raided Scott’s home and discovered the 18-year-old Natasha hiding in a cupboard.
Her complexion was ghostly pale as she had only left the house six times in the past four years. At the time of the discovery, Scott and Natasha had been living less than a mile away from her parents.
The prosecution was informed that Natasha Ryan was found alive, but this revelation didn’t change the outcome of Leonard’s trial.
He had already been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Keyra Steinhardt, and in June 2003, he received three indefinite prison sentences for the murders of Beverly Leggo, Julie Turner, and Sylvia Benedetti. Leonard Frasier died of a heart attack on January 1st, 2007.
Natasha’s story
Once the news that Natasha was found alive reached the media, she was dubbed “the Girl in the Cupboard”. According to Natasha herself, she had been living with her boyfriend, Scott, since running away from home on August 31st, 1998.
Afterward, Scott moved to Yeppoon for work, and Natasha went there with him. The couple returned to Rockhampton in late 2002. Wherever they were, they always made sure to keep the curtains drawn at all times.
If Scott had a visitor, Natasha would hide in a closet or a cupboard. She only went outside at night, and the pair visited the beach a few times. Since she didn’t attend school, Natasha learned how to sew and taught herself German using the internet.
According to the teen, she wanted to call her family to let them know she was okay, but she was afraid of the consequences of her actions. The thought of going to prison was enough for her to continue hiding.
One year after she “came back from the dead”, Natasha received a fine of $1,000 for causing a false police investigation. In 2005, Scott Black was sentenced to one year in prison for lying to law enforcement regarding Natasha’s disappearance.
The couple remained together throughout the ordeal and got married in 2008. They welcomed four children together, and Natasha eventually returned to school to study nursing. After graduating, she found work as a radiology nurse.
On the morning of June 2nd, 2024, Natasha Ryan was found dead at the Rockhampton Golf Club. The cause of death is not yet publicly known, but law enforcement has stated they are not treating it as suspicious. Natasha was only 40 years old.
Sources
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