Huge reward to help solve cold case of missing mum
Police are offering a $500,000 reward for information to help solve a cold case that suspect was a murder.
Tammy Lisa Dyson, also known as Tamela Menzies, was 23 when went missing from the Currumbin area in 1995.
The mother of two was picked up from a drug rehab clinic by a woman claiming to be her sister on July 20, 1995 and has not been seen since.
Dyson was born and raised in Victoria before moving to Brisbane in 1988, where she worked in the adult entertainment industry under the nickname "Pebbles".
Police believe she began mixing with criminals and using drugs while working in strip clubs on the Gold Coast.
In early 1995 Dyson arranged for her young sons, Jyles and Rainey, to stay with their grandmother in Victoria temporarily.
A few months later she made a distressed call to her sister Olivia, who said she had been assaulted.
Olivia and her partner then dropped Dyson off to a drug rehabilitation centre at Currumbin on the Gold Coast, and on July 20, 1995 she was picked up by someone claiming to be her sister.
The following day, Tammy completed a statutory declaration signed by a Justice of the Peace in Tweed Heads, giving custody of her children and her possessions to her mother.
She also called her sister one last time, with Olivia recalling that Tammy "didn't sound like herself" and she had mentioned underworld figures.
Police have received a number of reported sightings of Tammy since 1995 but all proof of life inquiries have been proven negative.
In 2012, the Queensland coroner said that they believed Tammy was deceased and indicated that she may have been a victim of violence, although a certain date, time and cause of death have not been determined.
Police are now offering the huge reward for new information and immunity from prosecution for any accomplice who comes forward.
"Tammy associated with criminals that were known to police and vanished without a trace after giving custody of her children and possessions to her mother; we believe the circumstances of her disappearance is suspicious," Detective Senior Sergeant Tara Kentwell said.
On Wednesday, her sons, who were only three and one when their mother disappeared, made an emotional appeal for public help to find her.
"Growing up without mum and not knowing what happened to her has been very hard," Jyles Lebler said through tears during a media conference.
"Whoever has picked her up, I'm not saying they have done something but they must know something bad has happened."
"We hope we find out what to mum to give grandma some closure before it's too late," Rainey added.
Images: Queensland Police