A recent breakthrough has led to a preliminary identification in a 40-year-old cold case of human remains found on Kangaroo Island. Detectives are seeking information from the Kangaroo Island community to finalise the investigation.

On 8 January 1983, two schoolboys located skeletal remains in roadside scrub along the Playford Highway, west of the Kingscote Airport on Kangaroo Island.  The circumstances of the death were not suspicious.

No identification was found on the deceased.  An anthropological examination determined the remains were from a middle-aged or older man of European ancestry, approximately 162 to 173 cm tall, who wore a full set of dentures and had died within the preceding two to five years.

Despite a police investigation and appeal for information, the man’s identity was never established and his remains were stored by Forensic Science SA.

In early 2021, SAPOL’s Missing Persons Investigation Section commenced a review of this investigation as part of Operation Persevere.

In May 2022, a bone sample was collected and, with the assistance of the AFP National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons, a DNA profile of the deceased was obtained.

This DNA profile was uploaded onto the National DNA database, but searches failed to establish any specific links.

A cranio-facial reconstruction image was created by the AFP following a 3D skull scan, however, this was unable to be matched to any national or international long-term missing persons databases.

This year, Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG) commenced which enabled the AFP’s Genetic Genealogist to create a family history profile for the deceased using publicly available DNA data from family history sites and traditional genealogical research methods.  

A family tree with 649 individuals was provided to Police and through painstaking research and investigation this was narrowed down to a single family branch.

The family was contacted by police and able to confirm that one of the older brothers, William “Billy” Henry Hardie, had disappeared from New South Wales in the late 1970s.

A familial DNA sample obtained from the living brother in June 2023 for comparison against the unidentified remains’ DNA profile provided extremely strong scientific support that they are siblings.

A formal identification is yet to be made and police are preparing a report for the State Coroner.

Police are working to establish Mr Hardie’s movements before and when he arrived on Kangaroo Island.

Police are seeking information, particularly from the Kangaroo Island community, on when or why William “Billy” Hardie may have travelled to Kangaroo Island.

Anyone who saw Mr Hardie in South Australia or on Kangaroo Island any time in the early 1980s or was in contact with him is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online at www.crimestopperssa.com.au