True Crime Collection

Karmein Chan

Karmein Chan was born on 5th November 1977. She lived in Templestowe, Victoria, Australia.

On the night of 13th April 1991, Karmein was at home babysitting her 2 younger sisters while both her parents worked at a Chinese restaurant they owned in the nearby Melbourne suburb of Eltham. Karmein and her sisters were confronted by a man in a balaclava with a knife. He forced Karmein's sisters into a wardrobe before fleeing with Karmein. Before leaving, he spray painted "Asian drug deal", "payback" and "more to come" on a vehicle in their front yard. Police suspect this was a ruse to distract them from the killer's real motive. Karmein's mother made an emotional plea on television for Karmein's return. 

There had been several abductions of girls in Melbourne prior to the abduction of Karmein by an offender known in the media as Mr Cruel. Victoria Police had started scaling down Operation Challenge the day before Karmein's abduction that had been established to investigate 2 abductions in which the victim was raped and an earlier home invasion also involving rape. Detectives believed that Karmein would be released the same as previous girls abducted. 

On 6th May 1991, 23 days after Karmein's abduction, Victoria Police formed the Spectrum Taskforce to investigate Karmein's abduction and to continue Operation Challenge investigations. A reward of $100,000 was offered for information on her abduction. 

On 9th April 1992, Karmein's remains were found nearly a year later in a landfill area at Edgars Creek in the suburb of Thomastown. The skull had 3 bullet holes in the back of the head. The body had probably been there for 12 months. On 31st January 1994, the Spectrum Taskforce was disbanded. The offender was never brought to justice. A few detectives had doubts whether Karmein was a Mr Cruel victim. An inquest was held in 1997 with the coroner finding that she met her death through foul play, but it was not possible to identify the person or people responsible. 

The case has remained open with cold case detectives regularly reviewing the investigation. On the 25th anniversary of her abduction the reward was increased from $100,000 to $1,000,000.