BRAVE COP: 'MY BRUSH WITH THE MORNINGTON MONSTER'

FACING SOME OF AUSTRALIA'S CRUELLEST KILLERS TOOK A TOLL ON THE POLICE DETECTIVE

- Sarah Marinos

Gut instinct and decades of experience told Narelle Fraser that something wasn't right. As distraught husband and father, John Sharpe, faced journalists and TV cameras outside his beachside home in Mornington, Melbourne, Narelle felt uneasy.

Sharpe pleaded for anyone with information about his wife, Anna, and 20-month-old daughter, Gracie, who were missing, to contact the police as a matter of urgency.

“But I just knew his tears that day were crocodile tears, Narelle tells New Idea.

Anna Sharpe, 41, was three months pregnant and a devoted mother to little Gracie when she suddenly vanished from the family home. John told police he had no idea where they'd gone - but someone was still using Anna's mobile and bank card.

In early 2004, Narelle was a detective with the Missing Persons Unit in Victoria. A police officer since 1987, Narelle had witnessed the worst side of human nature. She'd solved murders, child sex abuse cases and was involved in investigating the carnage of the 2002 Bali bombings.

Not a lot shocked Narelle anymore, but Sharpe's callousness was on another level. He appeared to be mild-mannered and inoffensive, but Narelle and her colleagues suspected otherwise.