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Siriyakorn Siriboon

Report as Found / Update

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Disappearance (Desaparición)

Circumstances (Circunstancias)

Siriyakorn (“Bung”) was born in Thailand and grew up there with her mother (Vanidda) and her holder sister (“Pang”). Her father and mother had divorced when she was young and eventually her mother met a new Australian man on a trip to Melbourne in 2004. ‘Fred’ soon became a staple in their lives and he developed a good relationship with the girls and their mother. Eventually, the Fred and Vanidda would marry and in 2008, the family relocated to Australia where he had a new job. Siriyakorn was quite close with her mother and got along well with her sister despite a significant age difference; she had also developed a good relationship with Fred who she now considered to be her father. The family were content as they settled into their new lives.

Siriyakorn was only 10 when they arrived in Australia and mostly spoke her native Thai, but she was excited and swiftly began improving her ESL skills. By 2011, although she was still not fluent, she was comfortably conversational. She was a good student, rumored to be strong in mathematics and was academically successful at Boronia Heights College, the high school she attended near her home. She was enthusiastic about music and dancing, an avid fan of K-Pop and the various popular singing heartthrobs of her era (Link). With hobbies and friends at school and a slowly expanding social circle online and in person, she was forging her place in her new home.

She was a happy person, with a very kind heart and so caring. . . She could be quite shy with new people, but once she got to know them, she was very outgoing. She was always ready to talk to people and try new things. She was just so easy to be around.

Dyamai Hillard (Close Friend)

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Siriyakorn’s school was close enough that she would frequently make the 10 minute trip to school on foot, sometimes walking with friends and sometimes going it alone. She typically would meet her best friend Dyamai at a nearby park and they would head in together. She was old enough to be careful and had made the trip often enough to be readily familiar with the path back and forth. Intelligent and aware of the risks posed by strangers, she would not usually have trusted one enough to get in their vehicle and the distance was not far enough to her to be hitching a ride.

That particular Thursday morning saw Siriyakorn preparing for school as she normally did. She finished breakfast with her mother and sister while her father returned from a night shift at work. As he headed off to bed, the rest of the family got ready to begin their daily plans. Siriyakorn was walking to school that morning and headed out the door around 8:20am – 8:30am. The weather was rather dismal, rainy and with temperatures still in the cool of early spring. Siriyakorn was dressed for the rain in her blue and white school uniform — a blue and white patterned dress and a navy raincoat — as she set off up the road towards her school.

Although she would typically be joined by Dyamai or other friends along her route, the weather had kept many from walking that morning so there is no evidence to suggest she planned on meeting with anyone that morning before class.

With the family home located on Elsie Street, Siriyakorn would typically head east until she reached Albert Avenue, where she would take a short zigzag across the street and head down Harcourt Road. She then would turn left onto Monco Street and enter the school grounds through the rear gate a few meters ahead. All signs point towards Siriyakorn heading down her normal path with no intention for detours or plans to miss school. At approximately 8:25am, a neighbor two doors down looking through his window at a barking dog noticed her walking alone down Elsie Street towards Albert Avenue. This is the last confirmed sighting of her.

When Siriyakorn failed to appear for her classes that day, the school faculty assumed she was at home, perhaps due to an illness. She was a good student who rarely missed a class and never skipped school; so her teachers and friends assumed her family had kept her out that day for some reason and that they were aware or her absence.

Eventually the afternoon wore on and classes ended for the day. As 3:30pm (15:30) rolled around, her mother began to worry when Siriyakorn failed to return home from school. Then at 4:00pm (16:00), Dyamai rang looking for Siriyakorn. Although Siriyakorn had a cell phone, she had left it at home that morning as she often did since the school prohibited phones in classes. Dyamai had looked for and not seen her at school and could not reach her cell, so she was calling the house to ask about a football game the two planned to attend the next day. This was the first time Siriyakorn’s parents knew about her absence from school that day.

Immediately concerned, both parents rushed to the high school but a rapid search of the facilities revealed no trace of the now missing school. They learned that Siriyakorn never made it to her classes and that no one had seen her that day; it appeared that she never actually made it to school in the first place. The family quickly rushed to the police station to file a missing person’s report and began calling friends and family to try and located her.

Unfortunately, after that last sighting on Elsie Road, Siriyakorn had seemingly vanished without a trace.

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With no signs of unusual behavior in the days leading up to her disappearance and with such behavior being completely out of the norm for Siriyakorn, police quickly became concerned that her case was one of abduction. There was no evidence of a romantic attachment (in person or online) and her online and phone communications unveiled no conversations with strangers or suspicious persons online.

Family, friends, and police launched a massive search and media began to spread the story across the city and Australia at large. Missing Person posters were spread across the city and in public areas. Police combed an extensive swath of the surrounding areas, checking outdoor areas (parks, streets), public places (gas stations, convenience stores, public buildings, area businesses) and vacant buildings. Nearby national forests and parks were searched for traces of her. They put out a call for potential witnesses and questioned traveling professionals and deliverymen who might have seen something. There were no signs of her on surveillance footage covered. Sex offenders and men involved in Siriyakorn’s life were investigated and questioned, but nothing of significance was seemingly uncovered.

In November 2011, a taskforce (“Taskforce Puma”) was formed to manage the search. It would eventually be closed a couple years later with no new information revealed. A one million dollar reward remains in place for any information that leads to the closure of her case and the recovery of Siriyakorn.

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This was one of the unusual situations where police actually were given several unconfirmed, potential sightings of Siriyakorn; however, without more reliable evidence, it cannot be concluded which were actually of the victim.

• The most likely second sighting was from a witness who believed they saw Siriyakorn walking alone along Harcourt Road at approximately 8:55a.m. This would put her very close to the school gate and significantly narrow the zone for her disappearance. It does however conflict time wise with later potential sightings. It would also seem to have put Siriyakorn arriving rather late to school given that the walk was normally 10 minutes and she had left before or around 8:30a.m. It is not clear how flexible the witness was about the time frame they gave. (1)
• The third sighting was by someone who thought they saw Siriyakorn walking towards the school along Mount View Road. This would put her near the school’s front gate instead of the rear gate she normally used. Time-wise, the estimate was ‘just after 8:00am’ which would conflict with her being at Harcourt Rd. at 8:55am and would not necessarily work with her leaving home closer to 8:30am. (2)
• The fourth sighting was by a witness who saw a passing white EA to EF model Ford Falcon station wagon (1988 – 1996) between 8:30am and 9:00am with an Asian teenage girl in the back, seemingly fitting Siriyakorn’s description. The driver was an unidentified Caucasian male, 50s-60s, brown hair (slicked back in a ‘rock and roll’ style), with tattoos on his arm (and possibly elsewhere), wearing a blue singlet. The vehicle was seen near the crossroads of Floriston and Boronia Roads. This would however conflict with her being on Harcourt Road at 8:55am, but is only a couple minutes drive from her school or Harcourt Road. (3)
• The fifth sighting was from a witness who saw a girl matching Siriyakorn’s description at approximately 8:45am – 9:00am in the front seat of a white station wagon (1971 – 1973), possibly a Holden HQ Kingswood. The driver was an unidentified male in his 30-40s, bald or light haired, with a large tattoo on his neck and sleeve tattoos covering both of his arms. The vehicle was seen on Napoleon Road close to the neighboring Rowville. Again this would conflict with the second and fourth sightings. (3)
• The sixth sighting was from a witness who thought they saw Siriyakorn walking along Chandler Road in the direction of Dorset Road. The girl the witness saw was wearing the school uniform of Boronia Heights College. (4)

It is worth noting that while the specifics of the fourth and fifth potential sightings are different, both involve a white vehicle southwest of her last known location with a male driver having significant tattoos.

All of these remain potential sightings but information on those vehicles or individuals involved may assist police.

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In 2013, an unidentified man (24) was arrested after he confessed to killing Siriyakorn in a vehicle accident. The man claimed to have buried her remains locally on a reserve, but police were not able to uncover evidence supporting his claims despite a search of the location he pointed them to and his vehicle.

A second person of interest was Robert Knight, a convicted sex offender initially charged with sexually assaulting underage girls in the 80s and 90s with two confirmed victims and possibly more. He had served time in prison but was released in 2009 and was living in the nearby area when Siriyakorn went missing. Notably, he drove a white Ford Maverick which would be similar to the vehicle described in the fourth potential sighting. He would be arrested again in 2013, a couple of years later, on charges of possessing child pornography. Although he was interviewed and considered a possible assailant in Siriyakorn’s case, police eventually ruled him out when his alibi (he was working) came through.

There may be a connection to the attempted abduction of another girl on June 21. The victim (Caucasian, 16) was walking in her neighborhood that afternoon in Ringwood East when she was approached by an unknown male traveling in a light blue Sedan. When she rejected his invitation to get into his car, he got out of the vehicle and attempted to grab her. She was able to fight him off and hide until he drove away. The man was older (50s-60s) with grey hair and bad teeth; he was wearing dark-colored clothes. Although the description of the man seemingly fit with the fourth potential sighting of Siriyakorn and the location was nearby, the rest of the the circumstances (vehicle, time of day, victim description) were different. The man was sought for questioning, but police could not determine whether the two cases were related.

Description (Descripción)

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Distinguishing Marks or Factors (Características Distintivas)

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Medical Concerns (Atención Médica)

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Suspect (Sospechoso)

There are no named suspects. There are however several persons of interest or persons the police would like to interview in case they can provide information or clear up potential sightings.

No hay sospechosos formales. Sin embargo, hay varias personas de interés o personas que la policía quisiera entrevistar. Tal vez puedan proporcionar nueva información o confirmar posibles avistamientos.

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Clothing (Ropa)

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Vehicle (Vehículo)

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If You or Anyone You Know Has Information About The Disappearances, Please Contact:

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Resources

• International Missing Persons Wiki, ‘Bung Kiriboon’, Link.
• Victoria Police, “Siriyakorn Bung Siriboon”, Link.
• Esri Australia Presents, “The disappearance of Bung Siriboon’, Link.
• 7News.com (2021) ‘Fresh appeal ten years after 13-year-old schoolgirl Siriyakorn “Bung” Siriboon vanished’, 1 June, Link.
• Livingstone, T. (2021) ‘Fresh appeal in Bung Siriboon investigation 10 years after schoolgirl’s disappearance’, 9 News, 2 June, Link.
• Rule, A. (2018) “Still Haunted by a Little Girl Lost”, Sunday Herald Sun, 27 May, Link.
• Unresolved.me “Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon”, Link.
• Seedy, K. (2016) ‘Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon disappearance: Five years since Boronia schoolgirl went missing’, Herald Sun, 5 June, Link.
• Devlin, P. (2018) ‘The mysterious case of the missing schoolgirl’, Daily Mail, 2 June, Link.
• The Guardian (2014) ‘Missing schoolgirl may have been spotted in white station wagon’, 2 June, Link.
• ABC.net.au (2014) ‘Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon disappearance: Police appeal for information on possible sighting of Melbourne schoolgirl’, 1 June, Link.
• ‘Yahoo News (2016) ‘Tattooed man sought over schoolgirl ‘Bung’ missing for five years’, 1 June, Link.
• News.Com.AU (2016), ‘New information could lead to the discovery of Bung Siriboon’, 2 June, Link.
• The Guardian (2014) ‘Missing Melbourne teenager Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon: $1m reward offered’, 3 February, Link.
• Buttler, M. and Flower, W. (2011) ‘Missing girl Siriyakorn “Bung” Siriboon led a secret online life’, Courier Mail, 16 June, Link.
• Bucci, N., Butt, C., and Gough, D. (2016), ‘The Kingswood clue to Bung’s disappearance’, The Age, 2 June, Link.
• Buttler, M. and Bice, K. (2012) “Police say Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon was 130m from safety when kidnapper struck”, Perth Now, 27 June, Link
• Lillebuen, S. (2013) “Police, family still frustrated by disappearance of Siriyakorn ‘Bung’ Siriboon”, Daily Telegraphi, 31 May. Link.

Podcasts:

• Unresolved, “Siriyakorn ‘Bund’ Siriboon”, Link
• True Blue Crime, “The Disappearance of Bung Siriboon”, Link
• True Crime Sisters, “Bung Siriboon Minisode”, Link.
• Life and Crimes with Andrew Rule, “How did a schoolgirl vanish without a trace?”, Link.
• Caffeine, Crime, and Canines, “Episode 12 – Bung Siriboon”, Link.
• What Happened?, “WHERE IS BUNG SIRIBOON??”, Link
• Unknown Passage, “Episode 117: ‘Bung’ Siriboon – Thai Teenager Missing in Australia Since 2011,” Link.
• Stolen Lives True Crime, “Bung Siriboon”, Link.
• Cold Case Detective, “The Last Walk: The Unsolved Disappearance of Bung Siriboon”, Link.
• Casefile True Crime, “Bung Siriboon”, Link.
• Morbidology, “140: Bung Siriboon”, Link.

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