The women of the Frankston district locked themselves indoors and the streets were noticeably deserted at night. Real estate sales and rental inquiries plummeted. Frankston became known as the place where a serial killer lurked among its residents and everyone was a suspect. Every day the newspapers gave an update and detailed reports of the huge police manhunt that was underway to track down the killer.
Police were relentless in their investigations. Every lead, no matter how small, was followed up and even the slightest clue as to the assailant's identity was looked into immediately. A help center named Operation Reassurance was set up to advise local women what they should do if attacked by the Frankston Serial Killer and how to prevent from being attacked in the first place.
But it was to no avail. On the afternoon of July 30, 17-year-old Natalie Russell went missing while riding her bike home from the John Paul College in Frankston. Eight hours later, her body was found in the bushes beside a bike track that ran between the Peninsula and the Long Island Golf clubs. She had been stabbed repeatedly about the face and neck and her throat had been cut. It appeared that the savagery in Natalie Russell's slaying was far worse than in the previous two victims. Natalie had not been sexually assaulted.
But this time the killer had left a damning piece of evidence that would prove him guilty should he be apprehended. A piece of skin, possibly from a finger, was found on the neck of the dead girl. It didn't belong to the victim; the only other possible explanation was that the killer had cut himself as he attacked the student and the slither of flesh had attached itself — stuck by dried blood — onto her skin.
The other good news was the sighting of a yellow Toyota Corona on a road near the bike track at 3 p.m., the time the coroner estimated that Natalie Russell had been murdered. The observant police officer had written down its number from its registration label because the car had no plates.
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