A two-decade mystery about the disappearance of a young mum from rural NSW has come to a close after the couple accused of murdering her were found not guilty.
Husband and wife Robert and Anne Geeves, both aged 64, spent more than two years in prison while waiting to stand trial for the murder of Amber Haigh, which ran for nine weeks in NSW’s Supreme Court.
Supreme Court Justice Julia Lonergan handed down her verdict on Monday, acquitting the couple.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today 
Lonergan said Haigh was a “disadvantaged young woman with poor family support” who appeared to have “needed kindness and support”.
The couple were accused of murdering 19-year-old Haigh back in 2002. She was living with the pair when she vanished from Kingsvale, in NSW’s Riverina region.
She left behind her five-month-old son, whose father is Robert Greeves.
The child grew up in the Geeves house and is now in his early 20s – an age his mum never reached.
The case has haunted the township of Young for 22 years.
The Geeves both said they drove her to a train station on the outskirts of Sydney and left her there. She has never been seen since and her body has never been found.
The couple were charged with murder in 2022
Over eight sensational weeks in a Wagga Wagga courthouse earlier this year, the Crown outlined its case against the Geeves. But it was a circumstantial case. The Crown had no body, nor any physical evidence.
During the trial, the court heard some sensational claims.
One was that an agreement was drafted between Robert Geeves and Amber Haigh.
It was dated January 4, 2002 and read that Geeves would not take Haigh’s baby away from her if she kept it away from her own family.
Throughout the trial, witnesses told the Supreme Court that Haigh feared Geeves would take her life as soon she gave birth.
The court also heard about Robert Geeves’ past with police.
One allegation put to the court surrounded two missing 13-year-old schoolgirls who were found on his property in 1986. He was found not guilty of two charges of sexual assault against the girl in 1987.
The court also heard Geeves came to police attention in 1993 when he was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Janelle Goodwin.
Those charges were ultimately dropped and Goodwin’s death by gunshot was ruled a terrible accident.
In Haigh’s case, the Hilltops couple always maintained their innocence, sticking to their story throughout police interviews.
The case wrapped up a couple of months ago, but because it was being heard by a judge alone, it took some time for a verdict to be reached.
