Reported Missing: A True Story of Family and Murder

What’s it like to have your mom charged with murder? In 2009, a yacht was found sinking on its moorings, Sarah Bowles’ step-father was missing and her mother was charged with his murder. There was no body, no murder weapon, no witnesses and no motive. In The Nib’s first serialized work of longform comics journalism, cartoonist Eleri Harris delves into a family’s emotional nightmare and Tasmania’s most controversial murder conviction.

Reported Missing — Part One: The Disappearance

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 23, 2017May 17, 2021

On the morning of January 27, 2009, the Four Winds is sinking with nobody on it. Bob Chappell has vanished.

Reported Missing — Part Two: The Lie

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 24, 2017May 17, 2021

Investigators close in on making an arrest as Sue reveals a secret.

Reported Missing — Part Three: The Arrest

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 25, 2017May 17, 2021

What’s it like to have your mother arrested for murdering your stepfather?

Reported Missing — Part Four: Bob and Sue

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 26, 2017April 21, 2021

Searching for clues in family history.

Reported Missing — Part Five: The Conviction

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 27, 2017May 17, 2021

A case for murder rests on no body and no murder weapon.

Reported Missing — Part Six: Reasonable Doubt

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 28, 2017May 17, 2021

Unanswered questions linger — who really killed Bob?

Reported Missing — Part Seven: The Aftermath

by Eleri Harris

Posted on October 29, 2017May 17, 2021

A family learns to live with the fallout. A campaign to free Sue gains steam. And a final dramatic twist could change everything.