Leisl Smith disappeared in August 2012, leaving no trace beyond the last sighting of her stepping into a car with a man she knew well. Her father clung to the hope she might still be alive. Her mother pressed for answers. Investigators kept searching. And all the while, there was no body, no closure, and—because of the way the law works in down under—no official verdict.

James Scott Church Killed Himself Before He Could Be Found Guilty

Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame ruled that Smith was killed on the night of August 19, 2012, at the hands of her partner, 42-year-old James Scott Church, confirming what prosecutors argued in open court but were never able to make official: that Smith’s disappearance was not a mystery, not an accident, but a deliberate act of violence. Church himself never faced the consequences. In July 2022, on the eve of a verdict in his murder trial, he died by suicide. With his death, the court sealed its decision, leaving Smith’s family in limbo once again. It is only now, more than a year later, that Grahame’s inquest has made clear what happened—and who was responsible.

Leisl Smith is Still Missing

Smith’s body has never been found, though the coroner said there is a high chance her remains lie in or near the Goulburn River National Park in New South Wales. According to evidence, Church was angry that Smith might be pregnant and feared that news of his relationship with her would unravel his life with another partner. Smith, friends testified, had already complained that he was violent and had threatened to kill her. “It is clear he had an opportunity to harm Leisl, given they were alone and traveling in a motor vehicle,” Grahame said in court. Her words made official what Smith’s loved ones long suspected but could never prove.

Smith’s Father Has Faith That She’s Still Alive

Smith’s father still believes that his daughter may be alive, a conviction Grahame acknowledged even as she concluded otherwise. “I regret that my findings are unlikely to be accepted by all,” she told the courtroom. What everyone agrees on is the loss itself. Grahame described Smith as “a fiercely free-spirited daughter and sister… someone who danced to the beat of her own drum, who was adventurous and always looking for the joy in life.” That portrait stands in stark contrast to the brutality of her death.

Will This Case Change the Law?

The case has also sparked a debate about the justice system itself. Because Church died before the verdict in his trial could be read, the decision remains sealed, depriving Smith’s family of the finality they were waiting for. Grahame recommended lawmakers review whether such verdicts should be made public even if the accused is deceased.

The Smith Family May Never Get Closure

Smith’s mother, Sandi Harvey, has fought for exactly that change. “Everybody had worked so hard and we were waiting and waiting to hear guilty or innocent and we got nothing,” she said after the inquest. Hearing the coroner’s recommendation, she added, was at least a measure of vindication: “The things that I wanted to hear, I got to hear.” The case is, in many ways, over. The man responsible is gone. The coroner has spoken. But the absence of a body, the silences in the record, and the open questions about how the justice system treats victims’ families mean that closure—real closure—still feels elusive.