Schoolgirl's family calls for $1m reward to help solve cold case

The family of a Queensland schoolgirl is calling for police to increase the reward for information about her death to $1 million.

Marilyn Wallman, 14, was riding her bike to school on March 21, 1972, when she disappeared near sugarcane fields on the family farm in Mackay.

Two years later a piece of her skull was found in a cattle paddock at McGregor Creek, 40 kilometres from where she was last seen.

A reward of $250,000, offered in 2013, still stands for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for her death.

Marilyn's brother Rex Wallman said he had written to Premier David Crisafulli and Attorney-General Deb Frecklington to request the reward be increased.

"This may be the last chance that we ever get to find out what happened to Marilyn," Mr Wallman said.

"It has been a long haul. We vowed and declared to ourselves that we wouldn't give up until we found out what happened to Marilyn."

Second inquest set to resume

Mr Wallman and his brother David found Marilyn's bike on its side on the day she disappeared.

An coronial inquest in 1980 failed to determine who was responsible for Marilyn's disappearance and death.

A second inquest into her disappearance began earlier this month and will resume on December 8. It was adjourned to allow for new witnesses to be called and new information from the public to be investigated.

Coroner David O'Connell, who is leading a second inquest, told the court that progress had been slow due to the fading memories of key witnesses.

Rex Wallman said the break in proceedings was going to be "very, very important".

"We've had a lot of information come in, but we're still waiting for that last piece," he said.

Rewards used 'strategically'

The Wallman family unsuccessfully called for a $1 million reward in 2022 on the 50th anniversary of Marilyn's disappearance.

In 2018 it was increased to $500,000, but only for 12 months.

CQUniversity criminologist Xanthe Weston said the timing was "strategic".

"Police will target specific information with rewards … they will seek to generate chatter or encourage somebody to come forward sometimes around an anniversary," she said.

"That will be done on a strategic basis, because once you've offered that $1 million, you only get to play that card once."

The largest reward in Queensland history, $1 million, was paid to several claimants in 2024 after the arrest of Toyah Cordingley's killer, Rajwinder Singh.

According to the Queensland Police website there are 130 monetary rewards on offer for unsolved crimes, including $1 million for information about a 24-year-old double murder in the NSW-Queensland border region.

David Crisafulli and Deb Frecklington did not respond to questions about the family's request, instead referring the ABC to Police Minister Dan Purdie.

Mr Purdie did not comment on the reward and said he encouraged anyone with information about Marilyn's disappearance to come forward.

"Our thoughts remain with the parents, siblings and loved ones of missing Queensland schoolgirl Marilyn Wallman whose 1972 abduction remains under coronial investigation," he said in a statement.