'WAS MY DAUGHTER IVAN MILAT'S 8TH VICTIM?'

Mary believes her daughter was taken by Australia's worst serial killer

- Maisy Rae

When Ivan Milat was arrested in 1994 for the murders of seven backpackers in the Belanglo State Forest, Mary Ashby immediately realised he might also be responsible for the baffling disappearance of her teenage daughter.

Australia's worst serial killer lived just 10 minutes away from Mary's family home.

At that point, it had been six years since Mary last saw Debbie after the 16-year-old left their home in Leumeah, in Sydney's south-west, and was never seen again.

Over the years there have been rumours about Milat's missing victims and the bodies that could remain hidden in Australia's bushland.

Speculation about the secrets he took to the grave when he died in 2019 - 23 years after he was convicted - still continues.

"One of the scariest fears of all is that I will never know what happened [to her]," Mary tells Woman's Day.

"My other fear is that we find out it was Milat because he was particularly cruel, and that would be incredibly difficult to deal with, knowing that's how her life ended."

At the age of 75, Mary is still terrified. She's spent the past 30 years plagued by the lack of answers after Debbie walked out of the family home around 1pm on October 9, 1987, saying she was visiting a friend.