Missing mum was petrified of partner, coroner told

A Queensland woman suspected dead after disappearing more than eight years ago was petrified of the volatile man she had been in a relationship with, the Coroners Court has been told.

No evidence of Tina Greer has been found since she left her daughter, then 13, with a friend in January 2012, planning to visit her partner of six years Lesley "Grumpy" Sharman.

An inquest set to be held in August aims to find some answers.

Years before she disappeared Ms Greer had been flung into the air when she was hit by the tray of a ute that Mr Sharman drove at speed towards her.

He swerved away from her at the last minute, but Ms Greer had a split lip and was favouring one leg after being knocked, counsel assisting Stephanie Williams told a pre-inquest conference in the Brisbane Coroners Court on Friday.

Ms Greer told people who stopped the incident was her fault before leaving with Mr Sharman.

Witnesses reported it to police but the couple denied any violence.

Ms Greer told others of violence like Mr Sharman firing a gun at her and breaking her arm.

She talked of not being able to leave her partner of six years because "he'll kill me".

In December 2011 Ms Greer and her daughter Lili moved into a flat at Beechmont on the Gold Coast hinterland.

She told Lili she was trying to break up with Mr Sharman as she was sick of his abuse and knew neither of them were safe.

But Lili and her friend were so scared one night when Mr Sharman kicked in the flat door they slept with knives under their pillows, Ms Williams told the court.

On January 18, 2012 Ms Greer left to visit Mr Sharman on his acreage near Boonah and be back the following day.

She never returned.

Days later her car was found at the Governors Chair lookout at Spicers Gap - a dead end road passing Mr Sharman's house.

After her mother's disappearance Lili said Mr Sharman "was really volatile and mum was petrified of him," according to Ms Williams.

No evidence of Ms Greer has been found, but police advised in 2015 she was believed dead.

Mr Sharman, who died in 2018, told police the couple had a stable, non-violent relationship and she left his property alive.

No further useful evidence has been found since police offered a $250,000 reward. 

Coroner Kerrie O'Callaghan is expected to hold a five-day hearing in August.

She will consider the police response to allegations of domestic violence, their investigation into Ms Greer's disappearance and investigations into the disappearance of missing women who were known to be domestic violence victims.

It will also consider the response by the Gold Coast-based rehabilitation centre run by the Salvation Army to Ms Greer's disclosures of domestic violence.

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