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The last time Faye Leveson saw her son, Matthew, she sensed something wasn’t right.
It was at a 21st party for a family friend, and at the time, 20-year-old Matthew was going through a troubling period with his boyfriend, Michael Atkins, 44.
“I thought something was wrong because when I said, ‘Goodbye, stay safe,’ he hugged me tighter than ever,” Faye told WHO.
“I never saw or held him again.” Matthew, who had been planning to leave his boyfriend according to a colleague at the NRMA call centre where he worked, disappeared on Sept. 23, 2007, after a night out with Atkins.
Now, nearly a decade later, Atkins, who was acquitted of Matthew’s murder in a 2009 trial, has informed police of the location of the body.
In revealing the burial site during an inquest into Matthew’s suspected murder, Atkins was granted immunity from prosecution—whatever his alleged involvement in the crime.
“We had to think this through as a family,” Faye, 56, tells WHO of their decision made with police to cooperate with Atkins.
“It was torturous and heartbreaking; it wasn’t taken lightly.” Since Nov. 10, Police have been searching bushland in the Royal National Park, in southern Sydney.
Matthew’s remains have yet to be found. “We just want him back,” says Faye. “Give us our son.”
For more, pick up a copy of this week’s WHO, on sale now.
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