Missing mother Elisa Curry has been a vocal supporter of drug addicts, a critic of the price of prescription medication and a defender of using the word ‘poofter’.
The 43-year-old, who disappeared from her $1 million Victorian holiday home last weekend, has shared her thoughts on social issues in regular letters to newspapers over the past three years.
In a letter to The Age published six months ago, Ms Curry wrote in response to a column by a Melbourne academic who had been a heroin addict while maintaining a successful career.
Mother-of-three Elisa Curry was last seen at her Victorian holiday home on Saturday night
The 43-year-old mother-of-three was initially thought to have disappeared around 10pm on Saturday after watching the AFL Grand Final with neighbours at her $1 million holiday home (pictured) in Aireys Inlet
Police search for missing mother-of-three Elisa Curry who disappeared on Saturday night
The Aireys Inlet holiday home of Melbourne woman Elisa Curry with her family’s black labrador visible behind the gate
Missing mother-of-three Elisa Curry wrote to The Age about countering ‘junkie’ stereotypes
The column by Dr James Rowe had ‘helpfully’ countered the ‘”junkie” stereotype’ the mother-of-three wrote.
‘His family’s ultimate acceptance of his drug use was no doubt an important part of enabling his recovery,’ Ms Curry declared.
‘I think it is equally important to stop using such terminology as “beating” or “winning the battle” against drugs.
‘Such vocabulary carries with it great stigma, making addicts feel like they are failures, and creating the perception among families and friends that their loved one is simply not trying hard enough.
‘This creates further mental trauma for users. What we need is more understanding and acceptance of drug users: for a father to hug his son, tell him he is 100 per cent worthy and that he will support him whether or not he continues to use drugs.’
Ms Curry was last seen about 10pm at her family’s holiday home at Aireys Inlet, off the Great Ocean Road, south-west of Melbourne.
Elisa’s husband David (pictured) spoke to the media on Monday and made an emotional plea to his wife to come home
Elisa Curry was last seen at her family’s holiday home (pictured) at Aireys Inlet off the Great Ocean Road on Saturday night
A helicopter hovers over the area police are searching for missing mother Elisa Curry
That afternoon she had sent a text to The Herald Sun about same-sex marriage.
‘You should know what you are voting for before you cast your vote,’ Mrs Curry wrote at 2.21pm on Saturday.
‘Thank you John Howard for being forthright and honest in what has been a vicious campaign largely run by extremists. I love and respect gay people and they deserve better than this.’
Three years ago she wrote to The Age in defence of the word ‘poofter’ after AFL commentator Brian Taylor was stood down for using the term.
‘The word ”poofter” is Aussie slang that has evolved and is more broadly used to describe a man who is acting in a very effeminate way, more like a woman than a man,’ she wrote.
Missing mother Elisa Curry’s family home in Surrey Hills in Melbourne’s inner eastern suburbs
The Aireys Inlet holiday home from which mother-of-three Elisa Curry disappeared last Saturday night
Elisa Curry wrote to The Age defending the use of ‘poofter’ by AFL commentator Brian Taylor
‘It is not used exclusively as a gay slur. The free speech police should stop construing things so literally and negatively. The real wrong here is the level of persecution and hysteria that follows such comments.’
‘First they crucified Eddie McGuire for racial vilification, now Brian Taylor for homophobia. Hang on … am I allowed to use the term “crucified”‘? Anyone offended?’
In June 2004 Ms Curry was concerned about department store Myer hiring a star recruit based on a questionable resume.
‘It’s time companies rid themselves of CV-bias and focused on individual talent and ideas, whatever the age or experience,’ she wrote.
Two years ago Ms Curry wrote what seems a tongue-in-cheek letter about the benefits of sending her three children to private primary schools.
‘Among the many benefits I have experienced are my daughters looking simply elegant in their wool blazers, being able to proudly display the private school sticker on the back of my European luxury car, and of course telling everyone who asks (and even those who do not) where my children go to school.’
Mother-of-three Elisa Curry wrote to The Age about employers’ using CV-bias when hiring
‘I, my kids, we just want her to come home,’ Elisa Curry’s husband David (pictured left) in his address to the media
Mr Curry and the couple’s three children, all aged between seven and 12, have now returned to their family home (pictured) at Surrey Hills, in Melbourne’s inner-eastern suburbs
Victoria Police search for any sign of missing mother-of-three Elisa Curry on Thursday
Mother-of-three Elisa Curry wrote a tongue-in-cheek letter about private primary schools
In November last year it was the price of prescription drugs that was concerning the former economist from Surrey Hills, in Melbourne’s inner-east.
‘I had a prescription filled at a pharmacy at a local shopping strip yesterday for some medication I take regularly,’ she wrote.
‘The price was almost three times that of a major pharmacy chain in an adjacent suburb – almost $20 extra per month for the same medicine.
‘When I queried the price discrepancy, the pharmacist explained the larger chains are able to source product more cheaply by buying in bulk.
‘So why aren’t large retailers like supermarkets allowed to dispense medicines under the supervision of qualified pharmacists?’
In January this year Ms Curry returned to the topic of drug use when she penned a letter praising the late Star Wars actor Carrie Fisher.
Mother-of-three Elisa Curry wrote to The Age about the cost of prescription medication
David Curry, the husband of missing mother-of-three marathon runner Elisa Curry, spoke to the media on Tuesday
Elisa Curry has been missing from her family’s holiday home (pictured) since Saturday
‘Carrie Fisher used her genius wit and personal experience to de-stigmatise addiction,’ she wrote.
‘Please use the sadness and mourning of her passing to extend empathy and understanding to all those who are impacted by addiction and mental illness in our communities.
‘Carrie would have wanted that. Thank you, Carrie, for your honesty and self-deprecating humour which helped so many people.’
Ms Curry had watched the AFL grand final at her home with neighbours on Saturday night.
One neighbour told police she was with Mrs Curry when she started to get ready for bed about 10pm.
When Mrs Curry’s husband David, who was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the game with the couple’s children, arrived at the house the following morning she was not there.
Elise Curry wrote to The Age thanking Carrie Fisher for de-stigmatising drug addiction
Missing mother Elisa Curry sent a text to The Herald Sun about same-sex marriage just hours before she disappeared
A black labrador (pictured) which went missing at the same time as Ms Curry has been found
Missing mother-of-three Elisa Curry wrote to The Age praising palliative care staff
Police initially believed the marathon runner went missing after going on a jog with the family’s black labrador, which was found distressed but uninjured in a neighbour’s yard.
Victoria Police Inspector Peter Seel said investigators were now unsure if Mrs Curry went on a run at all.
‘We are not discounting… that she may have gone down to the beach and something has happened down there,’ Inspector Seel said.
Inspector Seel said whether Ms Curry’s body could be found depended on what happened to her ‘and whether she’s disoriented, lost or injured’.
‘She could have gone for a run and injured herself, she could have become disorientated and lost, there could be suspicious circumstances,’ he said.
Investigators believe Ms Curry may have gone for a run on Aireys Street and become disorientated