Mother’s one goal is to find her son’s killer

Josh Warneke’s mother still wakes up expecting him to walk through the door, 18 months after his sudden and violent death in Broome.

But reality sets in quickly and she remembers. He is gone, and never coming back.

Today, Ingrid Bishop’s numb grief has given way to burning anger that the person or people responsible for her son’s death have not owned up.

She is upset that Broome residents have held candlelit vigils over other issues in the community, but there was little public outcry over the murder of an innocent young man.

“I’m very angry that no one has been held accountable,” she said. “How can our community continue to harbour a murderer, why won’t people speak out. I just can’t comprehend how some people can live knowing that they have destroyed lives.

“Try walking in our shoes for a day, that will show what it’s truly like to live in a nightmare.”

The Major Crime Squad is still trying to piece together who was responsible for the fatal head injuries inflicted on the friendly 21-year-old, who was found dead on the side of Old Broome Road at about 3am on February 26, 2010.

Minutes earlier, he was captured on CCTV at the McDonalds drive-through down the road after a night out at the Oasis Bar and Bungalow nightspots, before making the fateful decision to set off home on foot.

Having left town for Adelaide weeks after Mr Warneke’s death, Ms Bishop recently returned to take up a position as deputy chief executive of the Broome Shire. While it is painful to be back and to drive past her son’s white cross almost every day, Mrs Bishop has vowed not to leave again until his killers were brought to justice.

“It’s hard for people to understand, and I don’t expect them to, but if you had lost a child wouldn’t you want to be there to help resolve it,” she said.

“Adelaide is too far away and I need to be here to continue to raise awareness about Josh’s murder.

“I need to make sure that those decent community folk who want to come forward know that they can approach me personally as well as the police.”

Major Crime Squad detective Senior Sergeant Cameron Western said police were continuing their murder investigations and were committed to solving the crime.

“The family is obviously working as closely as possible with the investigators and we will continue to do so until it’s resolved,” Ms Bishop said.

“Finding out who did this is our one goal in life right now and we will not stop.”

Anyone with information about the death of Josh Warneke should phone Broome Police on 9194 0200 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.