Rhianna Barreau - Episode 01 - a podcast by Ezra Magazine Presents

Music by - Lee Rosevere

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12-year-old Rhianna Barreau lived at home with her brother and mother in a 3-bedroom home at number 47, Wakefield Avenue. She attended the local Reynella South primary school and had a close group of friends. Wakefield Avenue was a quiet cul-de-sac, with only one direction, south, as the exit onto other roads. 

Large gum trees line the streets and an open park sat opposite number 47. October 7, 1992, was a Wednesday in the week following the October 5 Labor Day long weekend. it was term three school holidays and Rhianna was enjoying her time off, spending time at home. it was almost the middle of spring, heading into summer. On the morning of October 7, her mother, Paula Barreau, getting ready to leave for work, entered Rhianna’s bedroom where she found her listening to ‘Love Shack’ by the b52’s, which reportedly was one of Rhianna’s favourite songs.  Earlier that morning, Ms Barreau heard on the radio that there was going to be a snap bus strike. the pair had planned to meet at Collanades shopping centre but due to the bus strike, there’d be no way for Rhianna to get to the shopping centre other than walking the hour-long walk along main roads. Rhianna, who wanted to purchase a Christmas card for her overseas pen-pal, needed to go to a news agency. so, rather than walking to Collanades, the pair decided it would be better if Rhianna made the approximate 20-minute walk to the local Reynella shopping centre instead. Paula Barreau left the house at approximately 8.30am to drive to TAFE, a type of technical college, which was about a 10-minute drive from the family’s home. her brother was away at the time and therefore, Rhianna was home alone, which was not unusual at the time.  

Approximately two hours later, at about 10.30 am, Rhianna, left her home on 47 wakefield ave and walked approximately 1.2kilometres to Reynella shopping centre, now called Southgate square. it’s there she purchased a Christmas card at 11.19 am for her pen-pal. To return home, Rhianna could have walked via acre road and onto Highwray drive. or via sheriffs road and used Morphetvale High School and Stanvac Primary School to cut her walk time by a few minutes. Sheriffs road, which borders the suburb of Morphetvale in the north, is a main arterial road that runs east-to-west linking old Reynella and Woodcroft in the east to Lonsdale, the industrial area, in the west. Due to confirmed sightings, we can theorise she walked approximately 650m west via Sheriffs road, then made her way south using Morphett Vale High School and Stanvac Primary School grounds ending up on Highwray drive. Between 12.05 and 12.30pm, there were confirmed sightings of Rhianna crossing the school grounds carrying a small bag, presumably containing the Christmas card she had purchased from the newsagency. After the 12.30pm sighting of Rhianna on Highwray drive, she was never seen alive again.

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