# True Crime: The Brutal Murder Of 12-Year-Old Monica Schofield

- Link: https://stayathomemum.com.au/news-opinion/true-crime/true-crime-the-brutal-murder-of-12-year-old-monica-schofield/
- Published: 2017-08-01T18:00:12+10:00
- Author: Clare Whitfield

### _For detective Peter Cox, there’s no case that haunts his mind more than that of Monica Schofield. Just�12 years old and a recent migrant to Australia, Monica was abducted, raped and murdered on June 17th, 1963._

In the Sydney suburb of East Hills there’s a creek. It’s located just off of Heathcote
Road, and is coincidently named Deadman’s Creek. It was here that young Monica’s
body was discovered on June 25th, more than a week after her murder. Just up the
road from this creek was the East Hills Migrant Hostel, where our story begins.

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Monica’s family had emigrated to Australia in the early 1960s as a part of the ten
pound migration scene. Like many other migrant families, they were housed in migrant
hostels, families living side by side in simple accomodation while they found their
feet. The East Hills Hostel was located on the edge of a tract of land known as ‘
the desert’, essentially a barren stretch, that the migrant children needed to walk
through to reach the East Hills High School.

> **Monica was one of these children.**

## **The Day Of Her Murder**

On Monday morning, June 17th 1963, Monica walked to school as normal. A friend whom
she was supposed to meet for the walk was sick, and another reports not seeing her
on the morning. When Monica hadn’t returned home by 4pm as she usually did, her 
mother was worried. She called on a schoolfriend, who told her that she hadn’t seen
Monica all day. Mrs Schofield knew something was wrong, and she rang the police.

They took a photograph of Monica, and a description of what she’d been carrying 
when she left home. She was a small girl, just under five feet tall. Slim, with 
long light-brown hair, she was last seen wearing her grey school uniform and carrying
a case holding books, a small amount of money, a raincoat and a cut lunch. Police
started canvassing, hoping to turn up a witness of value.

There were several stories that stuck out. Some women reported that a large middle-
aged man had been hanging around close to the footbridge between the desert and 
the high school. A few schoolgirls also saw a man, who they claimed had been sitting
in a car and watching them. The hunt had begun.

## **A Winding Path**

A number of volunteers, including many migrants who knew Monica and her family, 
joined the search with police to find Monica. They were told to look specifically
for the case that Monica had with her when she disappeared, along with a book,�_Born
Free_, that was also in possession. They were also encouraged to search for freshly
dug earth, as police already suspected the girl was dead.

It was 49-year-old Floyd Foster who first caught the attention of detectives in 
the disappearance of Monica Schofield. He had been seen, and searched, by a young
constable just one day after the girls disappearance, having in his possession at
the time a brown case that matched Monica’s. For some reason, the detective failed
to note the name Monica Schofield had been handwritten on the lid, and let him go.

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Floyd soon saw the media coverage of Monica’s disappearance, and realised that he
had a number of the items that police were looking for. He gave the book away to
a barmaid, and then emptied the rest of the contents of the case out of a train 
window. Then, despite working to hide his involvement, he approached police as they
searched near the bank of the Georges River. He claimed he had information, that
he had found Monica’s suitcase, and that he had seen a man and a girl having sex
in the bushes.

Police immediately arrested Foster, and it was Peter Cox, then a young detective,
and his superior Bob Walton, who interviewed him. For Cox, the case had hit close
to home. His own daughter celebrated her birthday on the same day as the interview.
She was almost the same age as Monica, and Cox hurt to imagine if the victim had
been his own child.

### **_Next page: How did they find Monica?�_**

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