What Happened To…

Welcome to a new podcast in this feed. It's called What Happened To...

Each week we will share new stories of long-term missing Australian people. The idea is to bring awareness to these cases. To kick off, we are republishing some of the previous shows we have produced in support of the missing. 

In 2019, we told the story of Zac Barnes, an 18-year-old from the Hunter Valley who vanished in November 2016 after getting out of a friend’s car on the way to Thornton train station and running into nearby bushland.

At the time, Zac’s family was still searching for answers. His body had never been found. The questions around what happened that day and what may have happened afterwards remained unresolved.

Now, almost a decade after Zac disappeared, a NSW coronial inquest has found that Zac is most likely deceased and that he died in suspicious circumstances. The coroner was unable to determine the exact manner, cause, or place of his death but recommended the NSW unsolved homicide team take over the investigation.

This re-release revisits the story we first told in What Happened to Zac? with the benefit of the coroner’s findings and the painful clarity they bring. It is a story about a young man who never came home, a family who refused to stop fighting for him, and a case that still demands answers.

Zac’s mum said he “deserves justice and to be found" and that his family deserves answers.

What Happened to Zac? It is the story of a disappearance, a delayed search, years of uncertainty, and a family’s ongoing fight to find out what really happened to Zac Barnes.

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To close out the season, Sally and Joni come together for one final conversation about Marion's case, what’s been happening in the background, what new information has come to light, and where the investigation may go next. 

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A psychic reading sends Sally to Mullumbimby looking for answers about her mum, Marian Barter — but this episode goes further. Sally also shares moving updates on Joanne’s decades-long grief for Andrew Inglish, Jason’s ongoing search for his father Nicola, and the growing momentum behind the Green Seat Project.

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In this urgent bonus episode of The Missing Matter, Sally shares the story of Yvonne Whear

, a 73-year-old woman who disappeared from her rural New South Wales property in February 2026 without explanation.

As her family searches for answers, the episode explores the final known movements in Yvonne’s case, the growing concerns around missing persons investigations in the Northern Rivers, and the haunting question of what may still lie hidden in local waterways. Joined by Kim Marshall, Sally unpacks the reality families face when a loved one vanishes and why awareness, action, and truth matter more than ever.

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Hedley Thomas started his career as a copy boy at 17 and spent four decades chasing some of the world's biggest stories, from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Hong Kong handover, before finding his most powerful tool yet: the podcast.

In this episode of The Missing Matter, Sally sits down with the award-winning investigative journalist and creator of The Teacher's Pet to explore how long-form audio storytelling has reshaped the fight for justice in cold cases and missing persons investigations.

From reporting on the Dawson case in a Brisbane newspaper library in 2001 to producing a podcast that helped send Chris Dawson to prison, Hedley explains how the freedom of podcasting allows him to go where traditional media can't, unpacking briefs of evidence, finding new witnesses, and keeping cases alive long after the system has moved on.

With more than a hundred million downloads and investigations that have driven real-world change, Hedley reflects on what keeps him going, why he believes the criminal justice system has failed victims, and why the missing still matter even when the guilty think they've gotten away with it.

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In this deeply personal episode, Sally sits down with her daughter Ella to explore what it’s really like growing up in the shadow of a missing person. It’s a raw and honest conversation about family, identity, and the quiet impact of a story that never truly leaves you.

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In this episode of The Missing Matter, Sally sits down with Mindy a relentless behind-the-scenes super sleuth who played a key role in supporting the Dear Rachelle journey. Mindy shares what it’s really like helping families through missing and unsolved cases and how quickly a disappearance can spiral when authorities can’t keep pace. From media pressure to urgent real-time searching, this is a powerful conversation about determination, frustration, and the fight to bring people home.

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The Missing Matter is back.
This Monday, February 9, we return with an all-new season.

This season, Sally once again steps into the missing space having gentle, respectful conversations with those closest to the stories, giving voice to families, friends, and the people still searching for answers.

Across the season we’ll dig deeper into the cases left unresolved, speak with voices you haven’t heard before, and follow the threads others have let go cold.

Season 3 of The Missing Matter — coming Monday, February 9.

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Sally's journey into searching for her mum has travelled the globe, and now so has The Missing Matter. In this episode of The Missing Matter, we travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to speak with Stephanie Tinsley, host of the investigative podcast Everything They Missed.

Stephanie shares how witnessing the Alex Murdaugh murder case up close drew her into the world of true crime and exposed serious flaws in the justice system. That path led her to the 2007 murder of Danny Harris and the wrongful conviction of Andrew Hayes, a man who has spent 18 years in prison for a crime he says he didn’t commit.

We talk about the power of podcasting to uncover missed evidence, the vital work of the Tennessee Innocence Project, and the emotional toll of chasing truth in real time when justice, freedom, and hope are still on the line.

Series 3 of The Missing Matter is back in early Feb. 

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In this final episode for 2025 Sally sits down with Jay to reflect on the year and announce what's happening with The Missing Matter in 2026. 

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