Bung Siriboon

**Siriyakorn "Bung" Siriboon** was a teenager who vanished in 2011.

## Background

Bung was born in Thailand in 1997, but her family moved to Australia four years before her disappearance. As a result, she wasn't yet fluent in English when she vanished, although she did speak it well. She began attending Boronia Heights College, where she was reportedly a good student with a gift for maths. She liked music and got along with her family, which consisted of her mother, Vanidda, her stepfather, Fred Patterson, and her sister, Pang.

According to Fred, Bung was not particularly streetwise but was aware of the potential danger of getting in the car with a stranger. She would usually walk to school with friends, but this wasn't always the case.

## Case

Bung was last seen in Boronia, Victoria on Thursday, June 2, 2011. The morning began normally with Bung eating breakfast with her mother and sister. At approximately 8:20 A.M., she said goodbye to her mother and exited her house on Elsie Street. She crossed the road and began walking in the direction of her school. She was then spotted two houses down by a neighbor looking through their window. The last sighting of Bung occurred at 8:55 A.M. on Harcourt Road. At this point, she was only around 130 meters from her school's rear gate.

School officials assumed that she was out sick when she didn't show up for class that morning and as a result, her family wasn't alerted to her absence. It wasn't until around 3:30 P.M. that Vanidda realised her daughter hadn't returned home on time and began to worry. She was then called by one of Bung's friends at 4:00 P.M., who explained that she wanted to talk to Bung about what to wear to football practice the next day. When Vanidda asked why they didn't discuss this at school, the friend told her that Bung had never arrived.

Bung's parents went to the school, where they received confirmation that she had been absent that day and quickly searched the premises themselves. At the suggestion of the principal, Kate Harnetty, the police were informed of Bung's disappearance. They then contacted all of Bung's friends, but she was not staying with any of them. Bung had left her phone that day, a common occurrence, so it was not possible to contact her directly.

Early into the investigation into Bung's disappearance, the homicide squad took over her case as they had better resources. The area she vanished from was heavily searched and local sex offenders were questioned. Police knocked on over 1000 doors as part of their investigation.

There was thought to be a connection between Bung's disappearance and the alleged attempted abduction of one of her classmates, which occurred on June 29, 2011. The girl claimed that a man had tried to force her into his car after arriving at school late but eventually admitted to lying. However, her case may be connected to the attempted abduction of a 16-year-old girl, which occurred on June 21, 2011. Bung's case was also considered to have some similarities to the murder of Karmein Chan, a victim of an unidentified serial rapist known as Mr Cruel.

Bung's disappearance is considered out of character and she did not experience any behavioural changes in the weeks leading up to her disappearance. Investigators have concluded that she was probably abducted.

## Characteristics

* Long black hair.
* Brown eyes.
* She had a slim build.
* She was of Thai descent.

## Clothing and accessories

* A blue and white checkered school uniform.
* A dark blue school jacket with a zip up the front.
* A dark-coloured backpack.

## Sources

* Australian Federal Police
* Australian Missing Persons Register