Chainsaws roared, people trampled through the dense bush and cadaver dogs strained at their leashes. The group of 30 volunteers were all exhausted after days of searching but they remained focused on their goal.
There could be clues at their feet or even the bodies of the four people – including Chantelle McDougall and her six-year-old daughter Leela – who’d gone missing in 2007.
“I heard about the case [known as The Nannup Four] from Dominique Bayens’ Expanse podcast,” Matt Strickland, vice president of the charity Follo (Find Our Lost Loved Ones) tells New Idea exclusively.
“I offered my help and it snowballed into Follo getting involved. A lot of people put their hands up.”
All were keen to get answers to the 19-year-old mystery that started with a note on the front door of a blue farmhouse.
Chantelle, 27, was living with Simon Kadwill, Leela’s father and a self-styled cult leader. In the months before their disappearance she’d started talking to her parents, Jim and Cathy, about a move to Brazil.
Then on July 13, 2007, a note was pinned to their front door in Nannup, WA, saying they’d gone and apologising for leaving so quickly. Their lodger, Tony Popic, 40, had also vanished.
They left their furniture behind and police later discovered their passports hadn’t been used and their bank accounts were untouched. It took an inquest in 2018 for a theory to emerge.
Simon had talked to an online follower about a family suicide pact but was worried Chantelle wouldn’t go through with it. It also emerged ‘Simon’ was actually Gary Felton, 45. He’d been operating under a false name he’d stolen, for years.
“In my heart I believe Simon, or Gary, killed them,” Jim tells us.
Travelling from their home in Wodonga, VIC, he and Cathy joined the September search, hoping for some closure.
The spot in question was bushland in Northcliffe. In the days surrounding the disappearance, two bus tickets linked to the four were purchased for Northcliffe and in October 2007, people clearing a bushland area there found items of clothing and detected a “smell of death”.
After errors, this area was never properly searched.
“There was always the possibility we wouldn’t find anything,” Jim says, and, after 10 days, this was what happened. “I wasn’t disappointed, just grateful to all the people who came to search and we managed to eliminate the area.”
Matt agrees it was not time wasted and that it was an area that needed Follo’s meticulous search methods to rule it out.
“Our focus will shift and we’re looking at the area around the house they occupied before they went missing in 2007,” Matt says.
“We’re coming up with a plan but my feeling and hope is that there will be something close to that house.”
Jim agrees, saying, “If you were going to kill someone and had a great big backyard, why wouldn’t you put them there?”
The next stage is to raise funds for equipment and to feed and accommodate volunteers.
“The average search Follo does costs $10,000,” Matt says. In the past this has been well worth it with their recent successes including the discovery of Belgian backpacker Celine Cremer’s remains in January 2026 and Peter Willoughby’s in May.
“In Australia, the emergency services do an amazing job with search and rescue, finding 99 per cent of the people who go missing each year. Unfortunately, when the person isn’t found, they join the 2800 long-term missing persons.
“This is where Follo can help,” Alex Smith, Follo’s committee secretary tells New Idea. “We have hundreds of volunteers throughout Australia, many with backgrounds that are suited to searches.”
Alex admits that the Nannup Four case is more challenging than previous ones due to the length of time the four have been missing, but he believes they can still be found.
It’s a hope echoed by Chantelle’s family.
“If anyone knows anything, please get in touch so we can find our daughter,” Jim says.
To donate, visit follo.org.au/donate
