Emergency Call Transcript: Louise Jeffries

TASMANIA POLICE
EMERGENCY SERVICES CALL RECORDING

Incident Number: 2018-08-02/14387
Call Date: 2 August 2018
Call Time: 14:23:17 hrs
Call Duration: 8 minutes 52 seconds
Location: Jeffries Manor, Granton TAS 7030
Caller: Louise Jeffries (DOB: 15/03/1967)
Call Classification: Priority One – Suspect Detention/Missing Person

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TRANSCRIPT BEGINS

000 OPERATOR: Emergency. Police, fire, or ambulance?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [breathing heavily] Police! I need police immediately!

000 OPERATOR: Connecting you to police now. Please stay on the line.

[Connection tone - 3 seconds]

POLICE OPERATOR: Tasmania Police Emergency. What's your emergency?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [voice shaking] My name is Louise Jeffries. I'm calling from Jeffries Manor in Granton. He's here—Luke Smith—the man you've been looking for. I've got him trapped in the shed!

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, I need you to confirm—you're saying Luke Smith is currently on your property?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: Yes! Yes, he came here—he said he was here to see Brianne, my son's fiancée, but then—[voice breaks]—oh God, she's gone. Brianne's gone! Her car's gone! He's done something to her, I know he has. And my son Kain—he's been missing for a week, and my brother Jamie—

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, I need you to stay calm for me. You said Luke Smith is trapped in a shed?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [more agitated] I locked him in there. He was trying to take her, wasn't he? Just like he took Kain. Just like Jamie. Everyone around him just disappears! I heard Brianne screaming—I heard the car—but by the time I got there, she was gone. Her Mazda—the red one—it's gone!

POLICE OPERATOR: Alright, Louise. I'm dispatching units to you now. Where exactly is this shed?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: It's—it's the large one, beside the manor. The green corrugated iron shed near the old stables. I've got a knife from the kitchen. I'm not letting him out. Not this time. You have to send someone immediately before—

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, I need you to put the knife down and move away from the shed. Do not engage with him. Officers are being dispatched to Jeffries Manor right now. Can you tell me—is anyone else in the house with you?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [voice catching] My grandmother. Thelma. She's ninety-four, she's upstairs in her room. She doesn't understand what's happening. She keeps asking for people who aren't here. I can't—I can't leave her alone, but I can't let him escape!

POLICE OPERATOR: Is Thelma safe where she is?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: Yes, she's in her room. The door's closed. But I heard—[pause]—I heard things from in there. From the shed. Sounds that don't make sense. Like—I don't know how to describe it—

POLICE OPERATOR: What kind of sounds, Louise?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [increasingly frantic] I don't know! Mechanical, but wrong somehow. And then it went quiet. Too quiet. What if he's found another way out? What if he's already—

[Sound of footsteps on gravel]

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise? Are you moving?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [whispering urgently] I'm going back outside. I have to make sure he's still in there. I can see the shed door—it's still closed. He hasn't come out. At least I don't think—

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, I need you to stay inside the house. Lock the doors. The officers are en route. They should be there in approximately ten to twelve minutes. Detective units have been notified—they're aware of Luke Smith's connection to your missing family members.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [voice rising] Ten to twelve minutes? That's—that's too long! Anything could happen in that time!

POLICE OPERATOR: I understand your concern, Louise, but these are the closest available detective units qualified to handle this situation. I need you to stay safe. Can you go back inside and lock the doors for me?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [bitter laugh] My safety? My son is gone. My brother is gone. Brianne was here minutes ago and now she's vanished into thin air. This is my family's property—Jeffries land for over two hundred years—and I will not let this man take one more person from this family!

POLICE OPERATOR: I understand you're frightened, but—

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [cutting her off] You don't understand. You can't possibly understand what this place—what this family—[voice drops]—the things we've hidden, the things we've—

[Pause - 5 seconds]

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [recovering] I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have—How much longer?

POLICE OPERATOR: The units are making good progress. Approximately eight minutes now. Louise, I'm going to stay on the line with you the entire time. Can you tell me—are you in a safe position where you can observe the shed?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [steadier] Yes. I'm standing by the front steps. I can see the shed clearly from here. The door's still shut. But—

POLICE OPERATOR: But what, Louise?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: I keep thinking about what Brianne must have felt. When he took her. When she realised—[voice breaking]—she's twenty-three years old. She's carrying Kain's baby. My grandchild. And now she's—

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, we don't know what's happened yet. The officers will investigate everything when they arrive. Right now, I need you to focus on staying calm and staying safe.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [quietly] You're right. You're right, I need to—

[Pause - 3 seconds]

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [sharp intake of breath] There it is again! That sound from the shed!

POLICE OPERATOR: What sound, Louise? Describe it to me.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [voice trembling] It's like—like an engine starting, but higher pitched. And there's this strange echo to it, like it's coming from somewhere far away and very close at the same time. I don't—this doesn't make sense!

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, is the shed door still closed?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [pause] Yes. Yes, it's still closed. But how can I hear machinery if nothing's moving? Unless he's—oh God, what if he's got some kind of weapon in there? What if he's preparing to—

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, I need you to move away from the shed area. Can you go back inside the house right now?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: No! No, if I go inside, I can't see if he leaves! I have to—

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, your safety is the priority. The officers are now approximately five minutes away. Please go inside and lock the door.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [frustrated] Five minutes. Right. [pause] My grandmother used to tell stories about this place, you know. About doors that shouldn't open. About spaces between spaces. I thought she was just confused, the dementia talking, but now I—[stops abruptly] I'm being ridiculous.

POLICE OPERATOR: You're under a lot of stress, Louise. That's completely understandable. The officers will be there very soon.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [almost laughing] You want to know the funny thing? My whole life I've been protecting this family's secrets. Keeping up appearances. Playing the lady of the manor. And now I'm about to hand over the worst one of all to the police. Luke Smith isn't the only monster who's walked these grounds.

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, stay with me. Focus on my voice. Can you still see the shed?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [breathing heavily] Yes. Yes, the door's still closed. But I heard it again—that sound. Like machinery but wrong. Like nothing I've ever—it's stopped now. It's quiet again.

POLICE OPERATOR: Good. Louise, the units are now approximately two minutes out. I need you to stay where you are. Do not approach the shed. Do you understand?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [quietly] Two minutes. Alright. Two minutes and then—then it's not my problem anymore, is it? Someone else can deal with whatever's in that shed. Someone else can explain why people keep disappearing from this cursed property.

POLICE OPERATOR: Louise, I can hear sirens in the background. Can you hear them?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [pause] Yes. Yes! I can hear them! They're coming!

POLICE OPERATOR: Excellent. Those are your responding units. They should be pulling into your driveway any moment now.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [exhaling shakily] Oh thank God. I can see them—the cars are coming up the drive now. Blue and red lights. They're here. They're actually here.

POLICE OPERATOR: That's good, Louise. Can you see the officers?

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [voice breaking with relief] Yes. Yes, they're here. Two detectives—a man and a woman—they're getting out of the car. The woman's coming towards me. I need to—I need to tell them about Brianne, about the shed, about—

POLICE OPERATOR: That's perfect, Louise. You can speak with the officers directly now. You did the right thing calling us.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [to officers in background] He's in the shed! Luke Smith! And Brianne—you have to find Brianne! She was here and then—

[Indistinct voices - male voice saying "Ma'am, I need you to hand me the knife"]

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [to operator, quieter] They're here. They're taking the knife. The woman detective is asking me questions.

POLICE OPERATOR: You did the right thing, Louise. The officers will help you now. You're safe.

LOUISE JEFFRIES: [almost to herself] I hope it's not too late. I hope she's—God, I hope Thelma hasn't heard all this commotion. She gets so confused when—

[Call disconnects]

TRANSCRIPT ENDS

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POST-CALL NOTES:
Operator dispatched Priority One response to Jeffries Manor at 14:23:45 hrs. Detective units CITY632 (Det. Sr. Karl Jenkins and Det. Sarah Lahey) dispatched from Hobart Domain area, arrived on scene at 14:35:41 hrs, response time 12 minutes 24 seconds. Extended response time due to distance from dispatch location and road conditions on Brooker Highway. Subject Luke Smith identified as person of interest in multiple missing persons cases including Kain Jeffries (DOB: 08/04/1995) and Jamie Greyson (DOB: 18/12/1983). Additional missing person Brianne Sitch (DOB: 12/09/1995) reported during call. Caller exhibited significant distress and made oblique references to family history and property concerns. Elderly resident Thelma Jeffries (DOB: 14/01/1927) confirmed present at scene. Caller heard unexplained mechanical sounds from shed during call—nature of sounds unclear. Caller was armed with kitchen knife when officers arrived but surrendered weapon without incident.

Follow-up incident report to be filed by attending officers.

Call recording retained as evidence per TasPol Evidence Handling Procedures Section 4.7

Logged by: Operator R. Pettigrew, Badge #3847
Reviewed by: Shift Supervisor J. Carmichael, Badge #2956
File Status: ACTIVE INVESTIGATION