A Plea To Find A Missing Best Friend

Image 1: Sharon Fox is urging people to not forget about her friend Helen Barnett who has been missing February. Photo credit: Sam Gillespie

Image 2: Helen was last seen about 300m from her home on Turnors Paddock Road at around 4:20pm on Sunday, February 13. Photo supplied

Sharon Fox was looking forward to a road trip with her good friend Helen Barnett earlier this year but before the two could reunite, Helen went missing.

54-year-old Helen of Koumala went missing on Sunday, February 13, 2022, and after thorough searches, no trace of Helen has been uncovered.

“My immediate response was shock because she expected me to be there on the following Wednesday,” said Sharon.

“I just couldn’t believe it.”

Sharon and Helen met around nine years ago through mutual friends and became very close very quickly.

“We had similarities and we always called each other sisters,” said Sharon.

“She’s just an amazing person – loved life, loved people, not once in all those years have I ever seen Helen in a bad mood.”

Sharon said Helen is a free-spirited person who loves to travel but when she had a seizure at the wheel of her small bus and lost her license, her mental health took a turn.

“That contributed to a fair bit of her depression at the time she went missing,” said Sharon.

The pair planned a road trip, with Sharon to pick Helen up from her Koumala home on Wednesday, February 16.

Helen was seeking support for her mental health at Sharon’s suggestion and was released on Friday, February 11.

“She’d gone home and then her carer called me on the Sunday and said she was missing,” said Sharon.

“From that day on, I searched for a whole week down there with a couple of friends to no avail.

“We’ve found nothing, we’ve heard nothing.

“It’s just heartbreaking to know that we can’t find her.”

Helen’s disappearance is shrouded in mystery.

While it wasn’t unlike her to go for walks, Sharon says she would never have left without her joggers and phone.

She was also taking regular epilepsy and blood pressure medication, which was left at home alongside her beloved dog Rocky’s ashes and her cat Smudge.

“Helen would never have wanted people to give up on her,” Sharon said.

“She would never have given up on us.

“That’s the sort of person she was.

“I hope we find her, and I hope she’s returned to us all in one piece.”

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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