Many suspects in WA woman's disappearance

Dozens of people were identified as suspects in the 1988 disappearance of Perth woman Julie Cutler, an inquest has heard.

Ms Cutler was 22 when she was last seen leaving the Parmelia Hilton Hotel in the early hours of June 20 after a staff function.

Her car was discovered two days later in the sea off Cottesloe Beach but her body has never been found.

Coroner Sarah Linton is examining Ms Cutler's suspected death and is expected to hear evidence from homicide detectives who launched a fresh investigation in 2018.

Counsel assisting Jon Tiller on Thursday said the cold case probe had identified 48 possible suspects.

Of those identified, 44 could not be eliminated from consideration. Five had died prior to the review, he said.

Investigators believed Ms Cutler had either been killed or taken her own life by driving her vehicle into the ocean.

But the inquest heard it was considered unlikely Claremont killer Bradley Robert Edwards was involved.

Edwards was sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of abducting and murdering Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in 1996 and 1997.

"Your Honour will hear in this inquest about what consideration was given as to whether Mr Edwards might have also been involved in Julie's disappearance," Mr Tiller said.

"At this stage, I simply note it is not considered a likely possibility."

Ms Cutler's car was discovered about 50m from shore, turned on its roof and half buried in sand.

Police found two champagne flutes, similar in appearance to those used at the Parmelia Hilton, wrapped in a tea towel.

"There was no sign of Julie or her handbag," Mr Tiller said.

"Some hairs were located on the bottom of the front seat cover, but that was the only evidence of a person having been in the car."

Soon after, one of Ms Cutler's cousins reported receiving a phone call from an unknown woman living near Cottesloe Beach.

The woman claimed she heard a female screaming on the night Ms Cutler disappeared.

A white blouse, identified as being part of the Parmelia Hilton uniform and in Ms Cutler's size, was brought to police by the owner of a Perth kebab store the following year.

The man said his wife had found it in a bag under a table at their store. How it came to be there was never established, Mr Tiller said.

Police also investigated six phone calls received by members of Ms Cutler's family between 1993 and 1994, "purportedly from a male with a European accent".

The caller referred to Ms Cutler, said he was leaving WA and claimed he was the person they were looking for.

The inquest continues.

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