Mrs Chan and her daughters perform a service for Karmein Chan where her body was discovered in Thomastown. One girl was attacked inside her home after her parents were tied up and locked in a wardrobe and two other girls were abducted from their homes and later released. Karmein Chan was kidnapped while babysitting her two younger sisters. Despite a police taskforce being set up to check more than 10,000 tips, search 30,000 homes and interview 27,000 people, Mr Cruel has never been identified, making it one of Melbourne's most high-profile unsolved crimes. Police are set to increase the current reward of $300,000, as next Wednesday's 25-year anniversary of Karmein's murder approaches. Fairfax Media understands the reward could be increased to $1 million. Victoria Police would not comment on the size of the reward or when an announcement would be made.

"An announcement regarding an increased reward in relation to the murder of Karmein Chan will be made in the near future," a spokeswoman said. A former classmate and friend of Karmein Chan's said on Wednesday that the case still haunted a generation of students from their old school, Presbyterian Ladies' College. "Im still scared. They still haven't caught the guy," said the friend, who asked not to be named. "All of us would be too scared to talk publicly or draw attention to ourselves. "It's a very live thing for everyone in our year level. It comes up whenever we hear about a young girl being attacked, especially around the home. That's probably because this happened at a very formative age for us, we were just starting to get our freedom at 14 and then this happened."

Homicide detectives are expected to speak next week about the murder of Karmein Chan. Victoria Police is in the process of reviewing every unsolved murder, and whether a reward has been offered. Once those reviews are completed, the force has announced $1 million rewards for cases. The change in reward policy came after former Chief Commissioner Ken Lay ordered a review last June. Increased rewards have since been announced in relation to several cold cases, often on the anniversaries of the slayings.

MR CRUEL'S REIGN OF TERROR August 22, 1987, LOWER PLENTY The man armed with a knife and a gun removed a pane of glass from the lounge room window and broke into a family home about 4am. He forced both parents onto their stomachs and tied their hands and feet before he locked them in a wardrobe. Their seven-year-old son was tied to a bed and the 11-year-old daughter was then attacked. He cut the phone lines and left. December 27, 1988 RINGWOOD The masked intruder, armed with a small handgun and a knife, broke in through the back door at 5.30am. He forced both parents onto their stomachs and bound and gagged them, disabled the phones and demanded money. He grabbed their 10-year-old daughter, placed tape over her eyes and put a ball in her mouth. He abducted the girl and released her at Bayswater High School 18 hours later.

July 3, 1990 CANTERBURY Armed with a knife and a gun, he broke into a house through a window at 11.30pm and forced the victim, aged 13, onto her stomach before tying and gagging her. He disabled the phones and searched for money. He placed tape over the eyes of his victim, drove her to another house where he kept her for 50 hours before releasing her outside a power sub-station in Kew. April 13, 1991 TEMPLESTOWE The masked offender, armed with a knife, cut through a flywire screen to open a window. He confronted Karmein Chan, 13, and her two younger sisters. He forced the younger girls into a wardrobe and pushed a bed against the doors before abducting Karmein at 9.15pm. Her body was found a year later. - With Nino Bucci and John Silvester