Civilian Sleuths
Civilian Sleuths is a new investigative podcast shining a forensic light on Australia’s most challenging unsolved murders and missing persons cases.
For decades, these crimes have haunted families, investigators, and communities searching for answers—not for lack of effort, but because the tools of the past were limited.
Using original source material, coronial records, archived media, and modern analytical tools, Civilian Sleuths recreates timelines, re-examines evidence, and explores theories that may have been overlooked for decades. But the most powerful tool remains public memory.
Behind every cold case is a real person. A family. A life interrupted. And often, someone who still knows the truth.
If you know something—no matter how small—it may matter.
Launching January 6 with new episodes every second Tuesday, Civilian Sleuths invites you to become part of the investigation.
Unsolved. Unforgotten. Unfinished.
Listener discretion advised.
Civilian Sleuths
Denise McGregor: She Arranged an Alibi Before She Left
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On the night she disappeared, a thirteen-year-old girl arranged an alibi before she left.
Why?
One detail is a coincidence.
Two is unusual.
Three is a pattern.
Four is something else.
On the evening Denise McGregor disappeared, four details were already in place: an alibi arranged in advance, a deviation from her errand, a separation from her sister, and movement away from home.
Individually, each can be coincidence.
Together, they are not easily explained.
Bureau of Meteorology records confirm rainfall across both Pascoe Vale and Wallan that evening. The road where Denise was found was unsealed. It was dark.
Someone drove it anyway.
The scene indicates activity — not simply disposal.
This episode defines the shape that any explanation must fit.
Nearly fifty years later, that shape has not been met.
If you lived in Melbourne’s northern suburbs in 1978, and something has never quite aligned, it may matter.
Content warning: This series discusses the sexual assault and murder of a child. Clinical, non-graphic language throughout. Listener discretion advised.
If you have information, contact Victoria Police Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or www.police.vic.gov.au/crime-stoppers