General News
19 January, 2025
Maryvale murders: radar equipment will be used in latest search for graves
Radar equipment used in the search for graves of Maryvale murders
Descendants of the mother and infant daughter, murdered at Maryvale in Western Victoria in the late 1800s, may soon be closer to finding their final resting place.
Radar equipment will be brought to Edenhope from South Australia on January 23 by Spacial Scientist Dr Andrew Frost to search for the unmarked grave sites of Maria Langly and her 18-month-old daughter Louisa at the Edenhope cemetery.
Mr Frost has many years of experience in the industry, a degree in Applied GIS (Honours) and a major in Archaeology.
His work at Edenhope is the next step in the search for the young mum and her illegitimate infant who went missing in 1874.
The main suspect in the murders was her husband, Robert Cook, who disappeared at the same time.
Their bodies were found buried in a shallow grave under a tree 10 years later near Edenhope.
Adding to the mystery was the death of a young man who was thought to have died about the same time and whose remains were not discovered until 1886.
Records show the mother and daughter's remains were moved from the shallow grave where they were discovered in 1884 to the Edenhope cemetery in 1918.
However, the unmarked graves were not recorded on the cemetery plans, so their final resting place has been lost to history until now and would remain lost except for descendants' relentless efforts to find the graves.
Kevin Ryan is one of the descendants, and he will travel from Ballarat to Edenhope to witness the proceedings.
He hoped the graves could be identified and a monument could eventually be erected.
Dr Frost will begin his study at the Edenhope cemetery on Thursday afternoon and continue on Friday.
Dr Frost said his equipment may identify disturbed ground, indicating a grave, but it seldom identifies bones or remains of this age.
These can only be identified if exhumed, and this is not often done in his work in South Australia, and he believes it is unlikely to occur in this case.
If the bodies were buried in deel timber coffins as they often were in the 1800s, the wood was soft and would most likely not be intact.
The added challenge for Dr Frost is the likelihood of other remains being buried in what was probably the pauper's section of the cemetery, so identification of Maria and Louisa may only be possible by DNA testing.
The mystery surrounding the fate of Maria Langly and her 18-month-old daughter Louisa has piqued the interest of locals and many further afield as each investigation uncovered new information over the years.
School teacher and author Nick Manganas is writing a book on the deaths. He will travel from Sydney to attend the historic event.
Writing Maria and Louisa's story has become a passion for Mr Manganas, and he will be on-site during Dr Frost's scanning work.
His extensive research and findings into the victims and their circumstances are the most comprehensive works on the mystery, and descendants and those supporting the investigation keenly anticipate the release.
Edenhope resident Helen Mulraney-Roll has followed the numerous stages of the investigation into the murders and lodged a successful grant with West Wimmera Shire Council through Edenhope Tourism to fund Dr Frosts' search for the graves.
The WWSC grant partly funded the search, with a grant of $3200 and the remaining $1600 was raised through various fundraising efforts.
"We are so pleased to have the support of WWSC in this latest attempt to locate the unmarked graves of Maria and Louisa.
"The location of any unmarked graves will help the council identify what space is available as the cemetery expands," she said.
Dr Frost's findings will take about a week to analyse and publicise.