Police scour mine shafts, drain dam in search for missing outback woman

Police to search 1,000 mine shafts, drain dam in renewed search for Trisha Graf Mon 1 Jun 2026 at 3:17pm In short: Police have returned to Andamooka and will scour about 1,000 mine shafts and drain a dam in the search for missing woman Trisha Graf. Ms Graf vanished in December 2025 and her disappearance was declared a major crime in January. What's next? Police will provide an update on the searches as they progress. Police will scour about 1,000 mine shafts and will drain a dam in a renewed search for missing Andamooka woman Trisha Graf. The 41-year-old mother was last seen driving in the town, about 600 kilometres north of Adelaide, in the early hours of December 12 last year. Her car was found abandoned the next day near Blue Dam, about 4km east of Andamooka. SA Police declared her disappearance a major crime in January and have returned to the remote area several times over the past six months. In a statement released today, police said the latest effort to find Ms Graf would involve draining Blue Dam and searching an area to its east, toward Lake Torrens. "The dam will be drained after a previous search by police divers was unable to eliminate the presence of evidence of Trisha's disappearance,"police said. The search will involve officers from SA Police's major crime, STAR Group and mounted operations teams along with SES members. "An update on the searches will be provided as they progress," police said. Last month, police used an inspection camera to view inside mine shafts and disused opal diggings, and searched a residence. In March, they seized a vehicle for forensic examination, while a search in February involved searching a septic tank, but that search was subsequently forced to conclude early due to heavy rains. Police said Ms Graf was at the Roxby Downs hotel at 12:19am on Friday, December 12, 2025, but left with a friend soon after. She drove a white 2012 Ford Territory, SA registration S254BCX, towards Andamooka before colliding with a kangaroo not far from Andamooka. "After striking the kangaroo, Trisha and her friend continued onto Andamooka, where they visited a home in the north-western area of the town," police said. Police said Ms Graf left just before 2am to drive home, and was last seen driving along Dunstan Drive, Andamooka. Shortly after midday the same day, police said Ms Graf's partner and a friend found her car while searching for her. It could not be driven because it had been "perched on a dirt mound", police said. At the time, police and SES conducted an initial ground and aerial search of the area, including Blue Dam, while community members also conducted a search. "These searches have failed to locate Trisha,"police said. Since she vanished, police have conducted multiple ground and aerial searches "without success". In January, Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said it was "out of character" for Ms Graf not to be in contact with her children or partner. "We're now looking for the mother of two young children from Andamooka, so as tough as it is, and as difficult as it is, we will leave no stone unturned to find out what's happened to Trisha Graf," Superintendent Fielke said. Police have appealed to anyone with information about Ms Graf's whereabouts, or her movements leading up to her disappearance, to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.