Radio Brisvaani
A 43-year-old Bracken Ridge man is being questioned by detectives over the disappearance of missing US citizen Priscilla Brooten.
Police are currently digging up the front yard where Ms Brooten, 46, lived with her former partner after cadaver dogs indicated there was something there.
Moreton District Detective Senior Sergeant Michael Hogan said police served a crime scene warrant on the property this morning and have commenced an excavation.
“The cadaver dogs give an indication and what we do from there is we explore that through the excavation, and the result of that won’t be known for some time,” he said.
Det Hogan said Ms Brooten was heavily involved in online gaming.
He appealed to the online gaming community to come forward with any information about her disappearance, including if she divulged any concerns about her welfare to online friends before she disappeared.
“It’s certainly a possibility that we’d like to explore and it certainly would progress our investigation,” Det Hogan said.
“Police suspect that a lot of the people that she associated with online and also in some private clubs may not know that police are investigating her disappearance.
“Police are asking those people who may have had contact with Ms Brooten come forward and give some information.”
Homicide investigators started an excavation in Bracken Ridge, north of Brisbane, early today.
Brooten disappeared in July 2018 from Bracken Ridge, after having lived both in that suburb and in Redcliffe for the previous six years.
She was reported missing in December last year.
Police said her family and friends not had any contact from Ms Brooten.
Detective Snr Sgt Hogan said Operation Quebec Storage was now a homicide investigation.
“We have a number of inquiries and today the focus will be on the search and excavation at a residence in Bracken Ridge,” he said.
We share the fear of Ms Brooten’s family and friends and have reason to believe she may have met with foul play.”
Det Hogan said investigators also want to speak to anybody who saw Ms Brooten’s blue Volkswagen Golf around the time it was found in Bunton Street, Scarborough about 9pm on July 6, 2018.
“We suspect that that vehicle was moved from Bracken Ridge to that location in Scarborough,” he said.
Ms Brooten had driven the same car for about a year before her disappearance.
We are appealing for anyone who may have seen the car being left in the street that night or may have noticed anything suspicious in the area that night to come forward. Regardless of how trivial you think the information might be, it may be crucial to our investigation,” Detective Senior Sergeant Hogan said.
