‘HOPE IS ALL WE HAVE'

TWO DECADES AFTER SHE VANISHED, HAYLEY DODD’S MUM MARGARET IS ON A MISSION FOR ANSWERS

- Megan Rowe

Margaret Dodd laid a bunch of yellow roses at a memorial plaque to mark what would have been her beloved daughter Hayley’s 40th birthday last month – just like she has every year for the past 22 years.

Sadly, the 65-year-old cannot visit her daughter’s grave, where she has been laid to rest, because Hayley’s remains have never been found.

In April, convicted rapist Francis Wark was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for killing 17-year-old Hayley on a remote dirt road in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt region in 1999. Margaret says there is some justice in this conviction, but she is still seeking answers to one important question: where is Hayley’s body?

“I don’t believe we will ever know because Wark keeps saying he’s innocent, but I can’t give up hope,” Margaret tells New Idea. “But it’s a hell of a limbo because not being able to lay her to rest plays tricks with your mind.