Lisa Mott: Recent public appeal leads to ‘multiple’ Crime Stoppers reports, investigators continue probe

Cold case investigators are reviewing “multiple” new leads regarding the vanishing of schoolgirl Lisa Mott following a recent public appeal 45-years after she went missing. Police are continuing to call for to help solve the long-running case after it emerged the 12-year-old was spotted by a witness speaking to an unknown man in Collie on October 30, 1980 — the day of her vanishing. Lisa was last seen that night spending time with a friend at basketball courts on Throssell Street about 6.45pm in the South West town. As first revealed by The West, an eyewitness told police that she saw Lisa talking to an unknown man, who was leaning up against a yellow panel van, near the basketball courts. “That male is described as approximately 18 to 20-years-old at the time and tall with curly hair,” a WA Police spokeswoman said. Lisa later went to a nearby pizza shop about 8.45pm before leaving about 15 minutes later, crossing a railway line to Forrest Street, before entering a yellow panel van, believed to be a Holden 1970 to 1978 model. She hasn’t been seen since. A police spokeswoman on Monday said cold case investigators were reviewing fresh information supplied to authorities surrounding her disappearance. “Following the recent appeal for information in relation to the disappearance of Lisa Mott in 1980, WA Police has received multiple new reports to Crime Stoppers,” she said “Part of the role for WA Police Cold Case investigators is to follow up and determine if any new information has been received that might open avenues for further investigation. “The investigation team is assessing all information received and investigating any new leads that present.” “WA Police wish to thank the community for their continued assistance.” An abandoned yellow Holden panel van, first reported to police in 1996, was at the centre of a media blitz by the cold case squad earlier this year after it was initially deemed irrelevant. Detective Senior Constable Raquel Rae last month said the abandoned vehicle had once again been ruled out following “extensive and thorough investigations”. Police still believe Lisa entered a yellow panel van on the night she went missing. In early October, investigators searched wells in the old timber mill town of Noggerup following reports a yellow vehicle was sighted in the area around the time of Lisa’s disappearance. Those searches didn’t manage to locate the school girl. Anyone with information about Lisa’s disappearance is asked to contact crime stoppers online here or by calling 1800 333 000. Reports can be made anonymously. A $1 million reward still stands for information which leads to an arrest and conviction over Lisa’s death.