The two adult sons of a missing woman who vanished when they were infants have made an emotional plea for information on her whereabouts – as police announce a major new cash reward.
Jyles and Rainey Lebler were aged just three and one, respectively, when their mum Tammy Lisa Dyson, 23, went missing from the area of Currumbin, on Queensland’s Gold Coast in 1995.
The brothers’ mum, who legally changed her name to Tamela Lisa Menzies in the months before her disappearance, had been picked up from a drug rehabilitation centre by a woman claiming to be her sister, and has not been seen since.
The announcement of the $500,000 reward, which includes immunity from prosecution for any accomplice who sheds light on Ms Dyson’s disappearance, is welcome news for her children.
Trying to hold back tears at a press conference on Wednesday, Jyles Lebler, 31, explained how tough life had been without her.
Last Santa family photo: Tammy Dyson (pictured with her young sons Jyles and Rainey Lebler) went missing in July 1995, months after this picture was taken
Rainey (left) and Jyles Lebler (right) were aged one and three, respectively, when their mum disappeared. The boys were emotional on Wednesday when asking for any information as part of a renewed push to discover what happened to their mother
‘Growing up without mum and not knowing what happened to her has been very hard,’ he said.
‘She won’t be at our weddings and she will never get to meet her grandchildren. Someone obviously knows something.’
From Victoria, Ms Dyson moved to Brisbane in 1988 when she was 17 and began working in the adult entertainment industry, under the alias ‘Pebbles’.
Police say when she started working in the seedy strip clubs of Fortitude Valley, she started mixing with criminals and using drugs.
In early 1995, Ms Dyson arranged for her two young sons to stay with their grandmother in Victoria. Her mother, Loretta, told police it was a temporary arrangement and her daughter was going to come back to get her boys.
Months later, however, her sister Olivia received a call from the mum-of-two in a distressed state.
Olivia drove to Inala, in south-west Brisbane, to pick up her sister. She described Ms Dyson as having been assaulted.
Later, Olivia and her partner drove Ms Dyson to the drug rehabilitation centre at Currumbin on the Gold Coast.
On July 20, 1995, however, a woman claiming to be her sister Olivia picked Ms Dyson up and she has not been seen since.
Olivia confirmed to police in 1995 she had not collected her sister from the clinic.
Tammy Lisa Dyson was only 23 when she vanished after being picked up by a person impersonating her sister from a drug rehabilitation centre at Currumbin on the Gold Coast
Her sons believe this incident ‘screams suss already’.
‘Whoever has picked her up, I’m not saying they have done something but they must know something bad has happened,’ said Jyles.
The day after being picked up from the clinic by the unknown woman, Ms Dyson filled out a statutory declaration that was witnessed and signed by a Justice of the Peace in Tweed Heads, the NSW-Queensland coastal border town.
The legal document gave custody of Ms Dyson’s children and all her possessions to her mother, Loretta.
Ms Dyson also made a final call to her sister and mentioned underworld figures and ‘didn’t sound like herself’.
Police say that although there have been reported sightings since her disappearance, none have proven to be of Ms Dyson.
The mum changed her the name to Tamela Lisa Menzies before she disappeared, and used the name ‘Pebbles’ as her stripper alias, after moving to Queensland when she was 17 from Victoria
In 2012, the Queensland coroner was unable to conclude the date, time and cause of Ms Dyson’s death, but said they believe the mother-of-two was dead and indicated she may have been a victim of violence.
Detective senior sergeant Tara Kentwell said Tammy could have met with foul play.
‘Tammy associated with criminals that were known to police and vanished without a trace after giving custody of her children and possessions to her mother; we believe the circumstances of her disappearance is suspicious,’ she said.
Even though her sons want to know what happened to their mum, Rainey Lebler, who was just one when his mum was last seen alive, believe it is more urgent for their grandmother.
‘We hope we find out what happened to mum to give grandma some closure before it’s too late,’ Rainey Lebler said.
‘It hurts every bloody day.
‘She wouldn’t just disappear and leave us behind.
‘Even if you think your information doesn’t matter, it could be the piece of the puzzle that helps us find out what actually happened. Please come forward and help our family.’
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