Louise Jeffries Witness Statement

TASMANIA POLICE
WITNESS STATEMENT

Statement Number: 2018-08-02/14387-A
Witness Name: Louise Elizabeth Jeffries
Date of Birth: 22 June 1971
Age: 47 years
Address: Jeffries Manor, Granton TAS 7030
Statement Taken By: Detective Constable Marcus Rendell, Badge #4729
Date of Statement: 3 August 2018
Time of Statement: 09:30 hrs
Location of Interview: Jeffries Manor, Granton (Drawing Room)

Initial Contact: Witness was present at scene on 2 August 2018 and provided initial verbal account to responding officers Det. Sr. Karl Jenkins and Det. Sarah Lahey at approximately 14:27 hrs, followed by preliminary statement to Det. Sgt. Charles Claiborne at approximately 16:15 hrs. Due to witness's extreme distress and the chaotic nature of the incident, formal detailed statement deferred to following day.

---

STATEMENT:

My name is Louise Jeffries. I reside at Jeffries Manor, Granton, with my husband Thomas, our children, and my husband's grandmother Thelma Jeffries, who is ninety-four years of age.

I must state from the outset that I had previously reported concerns to Tasmania Police regarding the disappearances of both my son Kain Jeffries and my brother Jamie Greyson. I attended Hobart Police Station to file formal missing persons reports. Both men vanished in circumstances I believe are connected to Luke Smith.

On 2 August 2018, my son's fiancée Brianne Sitch was staying at the manor. Brianne is seven months pregnant with my grandchild. That morning, she had received text messages she claimed were from Kain, though I had serious doubts about their authenticity. She insisted Kain had told her Luke Smith would be coming to collect her.

I tried desperately to convince her this was dangerous, that Luke could not be trusted. But Brianne was frantic to find Kain.

At approximately half past two that afternoon, there was a knock at the front door. I answered it.

Luke Smith was standing there. He looked nervous. I was immediately suspicious—why was he here without Jamie?

"What do you want?" I asked. I didn't bother to hide how unimpressed I was. Before he could answer, I added, "And where's Jamie?"

Luke ignored my question about Jamie. Instead, he asked, "Is Brianne home?"

Something wasn't right. "And Jamie?" I repeated insistently.

Luke paused briefly, then said, "He's still in Melbourne."

I started to respond—Jamie still wasn't answering my calls, which made no sense—but Luke pulled out a small white envelope from his back pocket.

"I received this really strange letter in the mail," he said, looking directly at me. "It's addressed to Brianne but for some reason it was posted to my address."

"Can I see?" I asked, reaching for the envelope.

Luke pulled it back quickly. "I think I'd better give it to Brianne myself," he said.

I was irritated by the whole exchange. Luke has always been strange, and I wasn't in the mood to argue. "Fine," I said rather sharply. "I'll go and find her."

"Thank you," Luke said.

I shut the door and went to look for Brianne. The manor is quite large, and it took me several minutes to locate her. She was in one of the upstairs rooms.

When I told her Luke was at the front door asking for her, she seemed confused but agreed to come down. I didn't accompany her to the door.

What happened next occurred very quickly. I watched from the front window as Brianne and Luke spoke briefly at the door, then walked towards her red Mazda. Brianne got into the passenger seat. Luke got into the driver's seat.

They began to pull away.

Suddenly I had a very bad feeling. Something about the situation felt terribly wrong. I don't know if it was intuition or simply the accumulation of weeks of fear and suspicion, but I knew—I absolutely knew—I shouldn't have let Brianne go with him.

I burst out the front door, yelling "Brianne!" as loudly as I could. Their car was already accelerating down the drive, churning up dust and gravel. They made a sharp turn behind the large equipment shed, disappearing from view.

I took off running after them, continuing to scream Brianne's name. I was in a complete panic, running as fast as I could towards the back of the shed where they'd turned.

But by the time I rounded the corner, they were nowhere to be seen. The car was simply gone. There's a dirt track back there that leads to the old service road, but I saw no dust cloud, heard no engine sound fading into the distance, saw no sign of the vehicle at all. It was as if they had vanished into thin air.

I was frantic. Completely frantic. I turned and ran back towards the house—I needed to telephone the police immediately.

As I ran past the dog enclosure near the side of the house, I noticed something that made my panic even worse. The gate to Hudson's enclosure was unlatched and swinging open. Hudson—our Irish Setter—was gone. The gate is always latched. Always. Hudson is Kain's dog, and we've been extremely careful with him since Kain disappeared.

This detail may seem trivial given everything else that happened, but at the time it felt significant. It added to my sense that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

I rushed inside the house and slammed the door shut behind me. My hands were shaking as I dialled triple zero. I was trying to explain to the operator that Luke Smith had taken Brianne, that I needed police immediately, that my son's pregnant fiancée had just disappeared.

Whilst I was still on the telephone with the emergency operator—she was asking me questions, trying to keep me calm, telling me police were being dispatched—I heard a noise from the direction of the large shed.

I grabbed a kitchen knife from the knife block on the counter. I don't know why exactly. Fear, I suppose. A desperate need to be armed with something.

Heart pounding, I went back outside, still holding the telephone in one hand and the knife in the other. I crept closer to the shed and peered inside through the partially open sliding door.

In the dim light, I could make out someone inside.

It was Luke.

He was back. Without Brianne. Without her car. Just Luke, standing there in my shed as if nothing had happened.

"The police are on their way," I called out. My voice was trembling with barely contained fear and rage.

Luke didn't try to leave. He didn't threaten me. He just stood there. I positioned myself at the shed entrance, blocking it, holding the kitchen knife raised. I told him he wasn't leaving. I told him to stay where he was.

The emergency operator was still on the line, asking me what was happening. I tried to explain that I'd found Luke, that he was in the shed, that I was keeping him there until police arrived.

I don't know how long I stood there. It felt like hours but was probably only ten or twelve minutes. Long enough for my arms to ache from holding the knife. Long enough to become increasingly terrified and confused about where Brianne and her car had gone.

When the police arrived—two detectives in an unmarked vehicle—I felt such overwhelming relief. I recognised it as detective's transport. I started calling out before they'd even parked properly.

"He's in the shed! Luke Smith is in the shed!"

The two detectives got out—a man and a woman. I learned later they were Detective Senior Constable Karl Jenkins and Detective Sarah Lahey.

I tried to explain the situation as quickly as I could: Luke had taken Brianne, Brianne was gone, Luke was trapped in the shed. I know I wasn't making complete sense. I was shaking badly and speaking very quickly.

Detective Jenkins told me firmly to give the knife to Detective Lahey, and I did. My hands were trembling so violently I nearly dropped it.

Detective Lahey took my arm very gently and asked me to come inside with her whilst Detective Jenkins approached the shed. She asked if anyone else was in the house. I told her about Thelma, my husband's grandmother, who was upstairs in her room. Thelma is extremely frail and rarely leaves her bedroom.

Detective Lahey escorted me to the living room. She told me to make sure all the blinds were down and the doors were locked whilst she went to check on Thelma. She instructed me to stay in the living room, to get down and stay down for my own safety.

I began closing blinds and locking doors as she'd asked, though my hands were still shaking badly. I kept glancing towards the windows facing the shed, trying to see what was happening.

I was crouched by the window when I heard a sound from outside. It was mechanical—an engine of some kind starting. It sounded like it might be a motorbike, though I'm not certain. The sound lasted only a few seconds, then stopped abruptly. It didn't fade away as you would expect if something were driving off. It just... stopped.

Detective Lahey came running down the stairs very quickly. She looked alarmed. She told me urgently to get down and stay down. Then she went outside.

I stayed where I was, crouched behind the furniture. I could hear voices outside—shouting—but couldn't make out the words. Then more vehicles arrived. Many vehicles. Car doors slamming. Radio chatter. Many people moving about.

Eventually, a police sergeant came inside to check on me. Not Detective Lahey—an older gentleman with kind eyes. He asked if I was all right, asked me to explain what had happened.

I tried to tell him everything, but I was so distressed I'm not certain how coherent I was.

He told me that Detective Jenkins had gone missing. That both Detective Jenkins and Luke Smith had vanished from the shed. That they were searching the property but hadn't found either man.

I was devastated. Horrified. I couldn't believe that a police officer had disappeared whilst trying to help me, that I'd called for help and now a detective was missing because of it.

More officers arrived. They searched everything—the shed, the grounds, the entire property. They asked me countless questions. I answered as best I could, but I kept having to say "I don't know" and "I don't understand" because I genuinely didn't.

They asked specifically about a motorbike. Whether I'd seen one. Whether my son Kain owned one. Whether there had been one in the shed.

I told them I didn't know for certain. My son has owned various vehicles over the years. There may have been a motorbike at some point—I honestly couldn't say with certainty. We have the large equipment shed where things are stored, and I don't keep track of everything that's in there. My husband Thomas would know better than I would.

But I never saw a motorbike that afternoon. I heard what might have been a motorbike engine starting—that brief sound I mentioned—but I never actually saw one. I don't know if there was one in the shed or not.

They told me there were tyre tracks leading from the shed that simply stopped, as if the vehicle had vanished mid-movement. I don't know what to make of that. I don't know what to make of any of this.

I also don't know what happened to Hudson. When officers searched the property, they couldn't find him, which made no sense. Perhaps Luke must have taken him too, but I don't know when or why.

My son is missing. My brother is missing. My son's pregnant fiancée vanished in front of my eyes. A police detective disappeared whilst trying to help us. And I have no explanation for any of it that makes sense.

I should have stopped Brianne from leaving with Luke. I should have physically prevented it. I will regret letting her go for the rest of my life.

This statement is a true and accurate account of the events that occurred on 2 August 2018 at Jeffries Manor, to the best of my knowledge and recollection.

---

STATEMENT CONCLUDED: 10:22 hrs

Witness Signature: [Signature: Louise Elizabeth Jeffries]

Statement Taken By: Detective Constable Marcus Rendell, Badge #4729

Witness Demeanour Notes: Witness was extremely distressed throughout interview, frequently becoming tearful and requiring breaks to compose herself. She exhibited significant guilt regarding allowing Brianne Sitch to leave with Luke Smith, stating multiple times "I should have stopped her" and "this is my fault." Witness appeared to be a composed, educated woman pushed beyond her limits by the sequence of tragedies affecting her family. When questioned about the motorbike, witness became somewhat frustrated, emphasising that she never saw one but heard a sound that "might" have been one. She expressed considerable frustration at her own uncertainty and inability to provide definitive answers. Witness also mentioned dog (Hudson) being moved mysteriously, which added to her sense that events were inexplicable. The guilt she feels about Det. Jenkins's disappearance is profound—she stated "I called them for help and now he's gone because of me." Medical assessment arranged following interview—family GP attended and prescribed mild sedative for acute stress. Husband Thomas Jeffries remains in Melbourne on business and unable to provide physical support.

Interviewing Officer Notes: This interview was extremely difficult. Mrs Jeffries is clearly an intelligent, articulate woman, but the events of 2 August have completely shattered her composure. Her account of watching Brianne leave with Luke and then simply vanishing was particularly distressing—the guilt she feels for not physically preventing Brianne from leaving is consuming her. The motorbike question agitated her; she kept emphasising she never saw one, only heard something briefly. Her frustration at not being able to provide more concrete information was evident. The detail about the dog being mysteriously relocated added to her sense that nothing about the afternoon made sense. Recommend ongoing victim support services and trauma counselling for witness and family.

Supervising Officer Review: Witness account consistent with other witness statements regarding core timeline: Luke Smith arrived at property, left with Brianne Sitch in her vehicle, witness pursued but vehicle had vanished, witness found Luke in shed and detained him until police arrival, Det. Jenkins entered shed and did not re-emerge, Det. S. Lahey heard mechanical sound (both witnesses describe as possibly motorbike). The disappearance of Brianne Sitch's vehicle remains unexplained—extensive search has not located vehicle. Forensics located tyre tracks near shed that terminate abruptly, consistent with witness's description of vehicle "vanishing." The motorbike issue remains unresolved and is subject to ongoing investigation—witness heard sound consistent with motorbike but never observed vehicle. No motorbike has been located on property to date. Witness expressed significant guilt regarding both Brianne Sitch's disappearance and Det. Jenkins's subsequent disappearance. Witness provided detailed, coherent account despite extreme emotional distress. No concerns regarding witness credibility. Family liaison officer assigned. Follow-up interview may be required pending investigation developments. - Det. Sgt. C. Claiborne, Badge #2847

Statement Status: COMPLETED - WITNESS STATEMENT FILED

---

Logged by: Detective Constable Marcus Rendell, Badge #4729
Reviewed by: Detective Sergeant Charlie Claiborne, Badge #2847
File Reference: Case 2018-08-02/14387 (Jenkins Disappearance)
Date Filed: 3 August 2018