When Sydney chef Simon Knight didn’t show up for his shift at a Newtown café, his colleagues immediately suspected something was wrong.
The absence was out of character for the friendly 32-year-old who was well-liked by his colleagues. They reported him missing right away.
Simon Knight was 32 years old when he vanished without a trace.Credit: NSW Police
Earlier the same day, Knight had left his Redfern home on a bike, checked into a Surry Hills motel and vanished without a trace.
Exactly 20 years have passed since that day, and in a mystery that has perplexed police and devastated Knight’s family, detectives are no closer to figuring out what happened to Knight.
On Monday, NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley announced a renewed $250,000 appeal for information that could assist the two-decade-long investigation. With no body located, the circumstances of Knight’s disappearance remain a complete mystery.
“Today we appeal to anyone who might have the smallest piece of information, which can help police bring answers about Simon’s disappearance for the Knight family,” Catley said.
It’s the third time the appeal has been renewed. In 2008, a $100,000 reward for information was issued after a coroner’s inquest determined it was unlikely that Knight had died. A further inquest in 2015 reversed that finding, concluding that it was more likely that Knight was deceased.
When that appeal led nowhere, NSW Police upped the reward to $250,000 in 2020.
Knight’s mother, Robyn Conlan admitted that she had “no hope” that her son was still alive, but that the family “need[ed] to know what happened to him”.
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