In the 14 years since teenager Kathleen Harris vanished, rumours, speculation and fear have swept through the small South Coast community of Huskisson.
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Much of it relates to the main police suspect, Rebels bikie associate Clinton Hanlon.
He was allegedly sleeping with the 15-year-old and had her ‘‘under his control’’, a Sydney inquest into her disappearance and suspected death has heard.
Community members have told police different and horrifying versions of what they claim Mr Hanlon said he did to Kathleen.
He took the teenager out on his boat, slit her throat and dumped her body in the ocean, Detective Sergeant Paul McCann told of one version to Glebe Coroners Court on Monday.
Another is that he hit her over the head with a motorbike helmet before burying her body in dense bushland.
Mr Hanlon, who was in court for the inquest, has denied having anything to do with the teenager’s disappearance on May 31, 1999.
He was the last person to see her alive near the unit she was renting from him located next to the Rebels motorcycle gang club house in Huskisson.
The inquest has heard allegations Mr Hanlon was sleeping with the Costa Rican-born teen who had moved to Australia with her father a few years previously.
Police describe her as a ‘‘mixed-up young woman’’ who had dropped out of school and was leading a ‘‘high risk’’ life involving illegal drugs.
But they believe it’s unlikely she killed herself or disappeared.
Instead, suspicion rests on Mr Hanlon, a married man who says he last saw Kathleen at the clubhouse that night about 9pm
He kissed her goodbye and left.
His movements for the rest of the night have not been established, counsel assisting the coroner, Senior Sergeant Daniel Maddocks said.
‘‘She feared no one as much as Mr Hanlon,’’ the officer told the court.
He added there was evidence Mr Hanlon was possessive of Kathleen and that she owed him money for rent and drugs.
The witnesses who told police about Mr Hanlon’s alleged admissions did so in spite of their fear of retribution from bikies.
‘‘It was common knowledge throughout the community that Mr Hanlon was in a relationship with this young girl, so why would anyone else step in and do harm to her,’’ Det Sgt McCann said.
The inquest heard some of Kathleen’s personal items were discovered in Mr Hanlon’s home 10 years after her disappearance, including handwritten notes, a dream catcher and the coat she is believed to have been wearing on the night she was last seen.
One of Kathleen’s close friends, Arianne de Casanove, said Kathleen appeared withdrawn the last time she saw her.
‘‘It was like she had grown up and distanced and withdrawn (from me),’’ Ms de Casanove said.
‘‘And now when I think about it, I think this poor girl was calling out to me and I was too immature to see it.’’
The inquest continues before Deputy State Coroner Derek Lee.
AAP
