Sally Leydon's mum disappeared 29 years ago.
Marion Barter was taking a year-long holiday in Europe and had been keeping in contact with her family until, one day, the postcards stopped coming.
The ex-wife of "Captain Socceroo" Johnny Warren vanished in 1997 and hasn't been seen or heard from since.
Leydon had spent more than two decades searching for her mother when she decided in 2019 to start a podcast, The Lady Vanishes, which has since captivated audiences worldwide.
With more than 25 million downloads, it's now one of the most listened-to among a growing number of Australian true crime audio productions.
The rise of the podcast genre, alongside more conventional documentaries and books, offers those closely impacted by cases the chance to present their experiences on their own terms and advocate for their loved ones.
Now, the opportunity has emerged for this band of amateur storytellers and investigators to also share their tragic offerings face-to-face.
Australia's first true crime festival, Crime Scene, is happening this weekend in the South Australian coastal town of Victor Harbor, an hour due south of Adelaide.
For Leydon, signing on for it was a given even if it meant finding herself stuck in a big old room full of hard-nosed former coppers and grizzled ex-police reporters, all of them blokes.
Yet this hasn't been the case, with the cohort being increasingly filled by female creators with largely female audiences.
"It's usually journalists recording and reporting and doing podcasts about other people's stories," she explains.
"But unique in my mum's case, is that it was me, the daughter, who was driving the podcast.
"I sort of gained a purpose, in doing the podcast ... it became a community, if you like, in my mum's space and in her honour."
Now also host of a second production, The Missing Matter, Leydon says the majority of her listeners are women.
Bucking the trend, Crime Scene organiser Bryan Littlely is a bit old school in that he's an investigative reporter with his own podcast, Sleepers.
Yet he says the growing fascination with true crime is because it has become more accessible with so many different voices telling heartbreaking stories that people just can't turn away from.
"It's moving out of the space of just your police investigators and detectives ... and more into the online community," Littlely tells AAP.
"More people have more say in the investigations and more people are coming forward with information which could turn some of these cold cases around.
"It's popular because people have a real belief that they might be able to help."
He says the naturally empathetic nature of female listeners explains why they're so keen to tune in and try to help solve mysteries.
"It's that nurturing, caring type role that women play in society that is front and centre in their involvement and wanting answers."
Another Crime Scene presenter, Amanda Schultz, has also been on a mission to uncover the truth about a family member, and the impact of podcasting on female audiences particularly resonates with her.
She is also a fan of the genre and an avid listener of other true crime podcasts.
"People can connect with you better if they can really hear your story, hear the emotion, the impact that things can have on individuals," she says.
The location for this weekend's festival also holds real significance for Schultz, funnily enough.
On October 22, 1981, her father Geoff Whitford, a police inspector in a top-secret South Australian organised crime task force, was due to give evidence in an Adelaide court against a fellow officer facing drugs charges.
He didn't show.
It took just 10 minutes for a state-wide manhunt to be declared and it was based in Victor Harbor.
Insp Whitford was found with a fatal gunshot wound on a nearby beach, with the death deemed suicide.
Only years later did Schultz, who had also by then joined the force, start noticing oddities in the case.
For one, her dad was declared a missing person as soon as the alarm was raised rather waiting the usual 24 hours.
Then there was the decision to base the search for him more than an hour south of where he'd disappeared.
But most damningly, she discovered, her father was found without gunshot residue on his fingers despite the conclusion he'd pulled the trigger himself.
Schultz has thrown herself into a fight to explain these and other inconsistencies by writing a book and appearing on podcasts and television shows.
She's also at Crime Scene, advocating for police to better examine suspected suicides as they would any unexplained death.
However there's another reason the now former officer believes Victor Harbour is the perfect setting for Australia's inaugural true crime festival.
"There was a lot of crime and corruption in South Australia, in the 70s and 80s in particular," Schultz explains.
"There's so many still unsolved cases with missing people and massive murders and all sorts of things that our state is really well-renowned for."
The 1966 disappearance of the Beaumont children, the 1948 Somerton Man mystery, 1977 Truro killings and 1990s Snowtown Murders all come to mind.
Yet there a far simpler reason for taking his event to the South Australian coast, according to Littlely.
"Victor Harbor is my hometown and in the middle of winter, there's never anything going on here," he says.
That's not to say Crime Scene won't throw up a surprise or two.
"There will be revelations that come out from this weekend, I'm absolutely sure," Littlely says.
"When you bring people together, it's like bringing bees to the honey pot."
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