Home / Crime and Justice / Detective Suspects Milat's First Victim in 1971 Cold Case
Detective Suspects Milat's First Victim in 1971 Cold Case
30 Nov, 2025
Summary
- Retired detective believes Keren Rowland was Milat's first victim.
- NSW inquiry seeks submissions on unsolved murders and Milat's potential victims.
- Rowland disappeared in 1971; her remains found months later.
A retired detective, Hugh Hughes, believes Keren Rowland, who disappeared from Canberra in 1971, was serial killer Ivan Milat's first victim. Rowland, then 20 and pregnant, vanished on the night of the Royal Canberra Show, her car later found abandoned and her remains discovered three months later. Hughes has dedicated decades to investigating her case, suspecting Milat, who was jailed for life in 1994 for the murders of seven backpackers.
A new NSW parliamentary inquiry into unsolved murders and long-term missing persons cases, spanning 1965 to 2010, has been established. Initiated by MLC Jeremy Buckingham, the inquiry seeks public submissions and will examine potential miscarriages of justice. Buckingham suggests Milat may have been involved in many more than the 80 murders, citing a resemblance between Milat and an identikit from the Wanda Beach murders.
Milat, who died in prison in 2019, was identified as a suspect in Rowland's case in 1971, though this is not publicly recorded. Taskforce Air investigated 58 similar cases, and three unsolved murders, including Rowland's, Peter Letcher's, and Dianne Pennacchio's, were highlighted by commander Clive Small as having strong similarities to Milat's known modus operandi. The NSW police have pledged cooperation with the inquiry.
