A SERIES of Australian Federal Police bungles has allowed a fugitive mother who abducted her child from the US to elude authorities and remain on the run in this country for almost a decade.

The Norwegian singer who landed in Perth in 2003 before being tracked down in northern New South Wales in 2006 was put under AFP surveillance before slipping through the net in a bungled raid.

The Courier-Mail can reveal Camilla Ellefsen Lunetta was hiding with her then five-year-old daughter Reya in Goonengerry, southwest of Mullumbimby, when the AFP closed in on the wrong house in the early hours of May 27, 2006.
They had surrounded the next-door neighbour's house by mistake.

Tweed-Byron police, who investigated the case for two years before assisting the AFP in the raid on the multi-occupancy property, said it wasn't clear if the blunder led to her escape but were certain she was not long gone when police found the right house.



"The material I've got in front of me doesn't suggest they went to the wrong house," current Acting inspector Bill Darnell said.

"What it does suggest is that she was given a heads up, she was forewarned and made good her escape before they got to the address and some of the neighbours they (police) canvassed thereafter actually made suggestions which clearly were to misdirect our investigations. They were supporting her with her escape."
Insp Darnell said the case had since been suspended due to a lack of information.

While two sightings were reported to Lismore police in September 2006, there's been no solid trace of her since.

Reya Lunetta the day before she disappeared. Source: The Courier-Mail

However, Maroochydore-based private investigator Col Chapman said he received anonymous tip-offs from at least six members of the public in March and April that Ms Ellefsen Lunetta and her daughter were seen in Caloundra and the Peachester-Beerwah region earlier this year.
"One reported that she was living in Peachester-Beerwah region but no one had seen her since January," he said.

He said other sightings included a service station and a second-hand clothing store in Caloundra.

These reports were enough for Reya's father, Brozzi Lunetta, to return to Australia for the third time to pursue an eight-year search for his daughter, which has taken him to Norway, India and New Zealand, and cost almost $500,000.

Mr Chapman has been working on the case for three years on a pro-bono basis for Mr Lunetta since they lost faith in the AFP's ability to find Reya.

Mr Chapman said the AFP "poorly managed the investigation at every opportunity".

Despite a publication order being granted by the Family Court of Australia, the AFP has refused to make public the most recent photos of the mother and child.

After fleeing the US, Ms Ellefsen Lunetta, 39, is known to have travelled to Norway with Reya and on to in India, before landing in Perth in February 2003 on a Norwegian passport.

Since arriving in Australia, Ms Ellefsen Lunetta has used alias names including Zelma Singer, Camilla Ellerson and Camilla Sullivan, while nine-year-old Reya has been called Hira, which means diamond in Hindi.

Someone who came into contact with Ms Ellefson Lunetta in the Mullumbimby area a few years ago said mother and child moved around freely and appeared to live a normal life, despite being on the run, with the support of "underground" connections.

"She wasn't hiding in a garden shed or anything but she was very good at hiding."

The witness, who did not want to be named, said she looked healthy and tanned with long, dark, curly hair around that time.

Reya also appeared healthy with short curly hair, defined facial features and coffee-coloured skin.

"Her features were very African American. You couldn't pass the child off as anything else," she said.

Lunetta


"A child like her would stand out."

But the witness feared for the child's wellbeing.

"That little girl is going to have a crazy life. When she's a teen, she'll be living out what she's been taught," she said.

"The child is being raised to hate the police, to hide and run from police."

While their exact whereabouts are unknown Theresa Ellefsen – who lives in Norway – believed her sister was still in Australia, despite having not heard from her in eight years.

"I'm not going to go (to Australia). I'm not going to try to find her. I can't use my energy on that," Ms Ellefsen said. "I think the whole family has kind of put it aside because we can't do anything.

"She doesn't want to be found by us. It's impossible for us to find her."

Ms Ellefsen said her sister and niece's disappearance was a "family tragedy" and she wanted her sister to return to Norway, while she said there were many sides to the story.

Brozzi Lunetta's ex-wife Camilla Ellefsen Source: The Courier-Mail

"I'm upset because I haven't got the chance to get to know my niece and that my sister is has been gone for many years," she said.

"Our family and Brozzi's family have lost that child."

The AFP refused to comment on the case.

"The AFP does not comment on the specifics of investigations conducted, and the AFP does not confirm or deny who they are or are not investigating," Federal agent Adam Smith said in a statement yesterday.

"The AFP does not comment on Interpol involvement in investigations."

A visitor to the area said the raid and the story of the "controversial Zelma" was well known in the area.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/mother-who-abducted-her-own-child-remains-a-fugitive-while-authorities-bungle-the-hunt/story-e6freon6-1225917659017





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