Mystery continues to surround the shooting murder of a teenage boy in northern NSW almost three decades ago.
Michael “Billy” Hegedus was shot at a service station roadhouse on Warialda Rd in Inverell on October 23, 1996.
The 17-year-old was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
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A postmortem examination found Billy died of two gunshot wounds to his chest and stomach.
Local police investigated his alleged murder and found about $36,000 was stolen from the service station at the time in what police believe was a botched robbery.
The money has never been found.
In May 1997, a $100,000 reward for information leading to a conviction over Billy’s death was announced by police.
A year later, a man was charged, but was not convicted.
No one else has been convicted over the alleged murder.
Billy’s mother Patricia Page and stepfather Phil Page joined Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty at a press conference on Monday, at which a $1 million reward for information was announced.
“Billy was taken from us a week before his 18th birthday — I remember waking him up that day, hassling him to get on with studying for his HSC, but he just fluttered his big, beautiful eyes at me and told me not to worry,” Patricia said.
“While I’m thankful I know where Billy is and we got to lay him to rest, in our hearts there’s not a day that goes by we don’t ask, ‘what if?’ or ‘what happened?’ As a parent, you just never stop looking for answers.
“Inverell is such a small town that I truly believe someone must know something about that night. And if you know something, please say something to help find justice for our Billy.”
Doherty described the alleged murder as being “reckless and callous”.
“Billy was just a kid who loved his sport and had dreams of becoming a teacher,” he said.
“While he didn’t deserve what happened to him, his family deserve answers, and that’s why we’re appealing for help today.”
Investigations continue.
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