In short:
A renewed search to find any trace of the Nannup Four has begun in WA's South West.
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search → renew → West
Chantelle McDougall and her daughter Leela have not been seen since their disappearance in July 2007, along with her partner Simon Kadwill and friend Tony Popic.
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McDougall → see → partner
Ms McDougall's parents are hopeful, but realistic, about the potential for the search to provide long-awaited answers.
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search → provide → answers
A group of citizen searchers will begin scouring a stretch of almost impenetrable wilderness in southern Western Australia this week in an attempt to find answers to one of the country's most baffling missing person's cases.
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group → begin → cases
Chantelle McDougall and her five-year-old daughter Leela vanished from the outskirts of Nannup in July 2007, along with her partner Simon Kadwill and their friend Tony Popic.
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McDougall → vanish → partner
They've become known as the Nannup Four.
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They → know → Four
In the days after their disappearance, Ms McDougall's family were under the impression the four had emigrated to Brazil, but reported their daughter and grandchild missing when they failed to hear from them.
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they → emigrate → them
Their bank accounts were untouched and their passports hadn't been used.
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passports → use → ?
Mr Kadwill, whose real name is Gary Felton, was living under a stolen identity while running an online cult in which he espoused doomsday beliefs.
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he → live → beliefs
He had spoken of a plan to "wander into the wilderness" and carry out a murder-suicide.
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He → speak → suicide
A 2017 coronial inquest failed to determine if the four were dead or alive.
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four → fail → ?
ABC investigation sparks new search
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investigation → spark → search
Following a long-running investigation, The ABC's Expanse: The Nannup Four uncovered police error, new details of coercive control and evidence pointing to a possible burial site.
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Expanse → follow → site
Among the podcast's audience was Matt Strickland, an exploration geologist with a hand in a number of private searches for missing people.
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Strickland → miss → people
He contacted the McDougall family and offered his assistance.
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He → contact → assistance
"There's not a lot I can say but there's a lot I can do," Mr Strickland said.
Mr Strickland is the vice-president of Find Our Lost Loved Ones (FOLLO), a missing persons search team based in Tasmania.
It was born of a successful volunteer-led search to find the remains of missing Belgian hiker Celine Cremer.
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It → be → Cremer
The group went on to locate the remains of another missing Tasmanian, Peter Willoughby, in May 2026.
uncertain
group → go → May
"We've managed to [solve] two missing persons cases in six months with very limited resources," Mr Strickland said.
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Strickland → manage → resources
"So we know it's possible."
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it → know → ?
Months of correspondence with Chantelle McDougall's uncle Barry McIntosh followed.
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Months → follow → uncle
A retired Victorian police detective, Mr McIntosh has continued to probe his niece's disappearance, with a fresh search effort his long-term goal.
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effort → continue → disappearance
Call for volunteers
In August, Mr Strickland put a call out on ABC radio asking for people with bush experience to volunteer their time for the two-week search in WA's South West.
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people → put → West
More than 40 volunteers signed on over the following weeks.
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volunteers → sign → weeks
"We are going to be operating on what could potentially be a crime scene," Mr Strickland said.
"
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Strickland → go → ?
So we need to be responsible, we need to have responsible people there."
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we → need → people
Despite previous success, he concedes the Nannup Four case brings significant additional challenges.
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case → concede → challenges
"The searches that we've had so far, we've been searching for people who were lost and probably died of exposure, and they wanted to be found," he said.
"
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he → have → exposure
In the case of the Nannup Four, it appears that they didn't want to be."
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they → appear → Four
The search will focus on an area of bushland near the WA town of Northcliffe, about 100km south of Nannup, where the group were living, and 350km south of Perth.
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group → focus → Perth
In the days surrounding the disappearance, two bus tickets were purchased by either Mr Kadwill or Mr Popic, with Northcliffe believed to be the final destination.
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Northcliffe → surround → Kadwill
Three months later, in October 2007, prisoners carrying out track clearing in bushland near the town reported finding items of clothing and a "smell of death" in the area.
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prisoners → carry → area
Police subsequently searched the area, but have since admitted they were in the wrong location.
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they → search → location
A team of cadaver dogs were taken to the right location in 2024, where they picked up the scent of human remains.
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they → take → remains
The near-impenetrable terrain will also increase the complexity for the search teams.
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terrain → increase → teams
"It's all regrown and it's quite thick and it is formerly a logging area," Mr Strickland said.
"So the ground itself … kind of chaotic would be one way of describing it."
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chaotic → regrown → it
A LiDAR drone survey, to identify ground disturbances, and the same cadaver dog team used in 2024 will help assist the search effort.
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survey → identify → effort
Family grateful for help
The search will run for two weeks, with the key aim finding any evidence of the four's remains or possessions in the area.
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aim → run → area
At its centre will be Jim and Cath McDougall, Chantelle's parents, who are driving across Australia from their home in regional Victoria to assist.
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who → drive → Victoria
"I think it's absolutely amazing," Mrs McDougall said.
"
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McDougall → think → ?
I'm so grateful to all these people helping because for years it felt like we had no-one on our side trying to help us.
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we → help → us
…and 6 more, not listed.
The Aporia