news, local-news

BALLARAT woman Shirley Macey should have been celebrating her daughter’s 50th birthday this year. But instead of balloons and cakes and presents, the grieving mother is left frustrated by the lack of information about the murder of her daughter, Belinda Williams, 14 years ago yesterday. Even the posting of a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Ms Williams’ killer has failed to yield any news on the mystery. Like most days since her daughter’s murder, Ms Macey spent yesterday at the Buninyong Cemetery grave of her daughter, who disappeared from her Buninyong home on June 25, 1999. Ms Macey sits by her daughter’s grave to keep Belinda up-to-date with information about her own daughter, now a young woman. “I like to visit her grave every day. It’s one of the ways I still feel close to Belinda,” Ms Macey said. “I talk to her about what has been happening and I tell Belinda I love her every day.” Ms Williams’ murder rocked Ballarat at the time, particularly as her young daughter was in the Elizabeth Street house when her mother disappeared. The 36-year-old had said goodbye to two girlfriends before they left her home at 9.30pm on June 25, 1999. Ms Williams then cuddled up in bed with her six-year-old daughter and read her fairytales before she went to sleep. It was the last time anyone remembers seeing Ms Williams alive. Her body was discovered by bushwalkers on the Mt Buninyong Access Road two weeks later on July 9. “We should have been celebrating Belinda’s 50th birthday in February this year. Instead, we are still mourning her and are still desperate for answers about her murder,” Ms Macey said. “Her death was such an awful crime. She was abducted while her six-year-old daughter was still in the house. “Like Belinda’s, there are other unsolved murders in the Ballarat area, but there seems to be some apathy about them. I want people to give a damn.” Ms Macey and the rest of her family are still looking for closure to the mystery surrounding her daughter’s murder. Anyone with information about the murder of Belinda Williams can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. kim.quinlan@fairfaxmedia.com.au

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