TITLE: The Horizon Was Ours
LOCATION: Bourke, Australia
This is the first of our admin lead cases at UCU, and we strongly encourage you to read the below briefing thoroughly and to engage and hopefully have fun with the details of the case. You may like to take this chance to read how cases work again as well. This is the first time any of us have done this, so please feel free to give feedback on how you think it’s going - I will likely be posting in the OOC just to ask what everyone’s thoughts are as we go as well.
The briefing and the leads for this case are given below. The first stage of the case will now begin, where it is determined which members of the team will investigate each lead. Until the end of this stage, we will consider the team to be en route to Australia on the UCU jet.
This stage will last until Thursday 4th June at 3:00pm EST. At that point the next stage will begin.
For this first stage, we will be using this TitanPad chat for in character roleplaying and out of character chat about the case.
Castillo looked around at the faces of the team gathered in the briefing room. She had hoped they would have a little more time in New York before they were forced to fly out again, but perhaps this was good. Another case would take their minds off what had happened before. On the screen behind her, she brought up an image of four teenagers all wearing sunglasses with their arms around each other, smiling easily at the camera. She gave the team a second to take in this image before she began.
“From left to right, you’re looking at Kirra Jones, Brandon Kelly, Hisato Kita, and Amber Davies. Four teenagers aged between seventeen and nineteen from the town of Bourke, Australia. This picture was taken just before they left on a camping trip together, and it was the last time any of them were seen alive. At the time their disappearance was considered strange - these are smart kids from a rural town and they had been camping many times before, so it seemed odd that they would get lost in the outback and be unable to get home or find help. After several weeks of searching with no other evidence though, the police were forced to assume that’s just what happened. There was no sign of them, and no breaks in that case until very recently. I’ll just warn you, the picture I’m about to show does not make for comfortable viewing.”
She pressed a button on her laptop and the next image appeared on the screen, the crime scene photos of a dead teenage boy, pale but otherwise almost identical to the photograph they had just seen. “DNA evidence has positively identified this as the body of Brandon Kelly, and Brandon’s family have verified as well. He was found on the main road leading into Bourke - it’s a well travelled road, so impossible that he was just overlooked until now. Either Brandon made it there himself, or someone put him there. The other three teenagers have still not been found.”
She looked around the room, trying to judge their initial reactions. “I know what you’re thinking. Missing kids are tragic, but not exactly our jurisdiction. Here’s the thing though: Brandon is eighteen years old in both of these pictures.” She flicked back to the first picture of the four teenagers standing together. “But this first picture was taken in 1984. These kids took their camping trip over thirty years ago. We’ve been called in to figure out how he ended up outside his hometown looking the same as the day he left - and while we’re there, I’d like to see if we can’t bring the rest of these kids home. I’ve included more information in the folders in front of you.”
Described as a handsome, popular boy who had many friends and girlfriends during his high school years.
Said to be dating Amber Davies at the time of disappearance, although this has been dismissed by some as a rumour.
Nineteen years old at time of disappearance
Emigrated to Australia with her family from New Zealand shortly before the camping trip
Described by classmates as ‘strange’, and many were apparently surprised she was invited on the trip with the others.
Seventeen years old at time of disappearance
Parents said they were ‘protective’ and only reluctantly allowed him to go on the camping trip at all.
Teachers believed he was a shy and quiet kid, and mentioned he had experienced issues with bullying in the past.
Eighteen years old at time of disappearance
Driven and ambitious student who had a place at the University of Melbourne, one of Australia’s best schools.
Said to be dating Brandon Kelly at the time of disappearance, although this has been dismissed by some as a rumour.
All or some of the following leads must be investigated, as decided by the team. Team members may also choose to investigate a ‘hunch’ - that is, a lead not on this list, by discussing with Castillo. Remember, some of these leads may give useful information while others might not. The better suited your skills to the lead, the more successful the outcome will be.
Examine the body of Brandon Kelly and review the medical examiner’s report.
Interview the family and friends of Brandon Kelly.
Interview the family and friends of Kirra Jones.
Interview the family and friends of Hisato Kita.
Interview the family and friends of Amber Davies.
Look into the original investigation of their disappearance and attempt to determine why they were not found.
As mentioned above, the briefing will now continue in this chat.
