Alison Gardiner

Alison went missing from Harvey in 1988. Mick became interested in the case when detectives failed to make any headway in the inquiry. Journalist Norm Aisbett from the Western Mail newspaper contacted the parents and they advised him they would welcome any assistance he could provide. Mick and Norm Aisbett travelled to Harvey on two occasions making numerous inquiries, which led Mick to believe the young woman was deceased. Norm Aisbett reported what Mick had uncovered in the Western Mail and as a direct result reliable information was received and the male person arrested and charged.

Mick received a number of calls from the public and the W.A. Police Force thanking him for his efforts.

Siti Bahyah

Siti, a Malaysian student, was reported missing in 1992. The police made no progress with the investigation. Mick again liaised with Norm Aisbett, now crime reporter with The West Australian newspaper and offered the family his assistance.

Mick attended Canning Vale prison where a Malaysian national had been charged with serious offences and was known to the missing student. Mick was able to gain the prisoner’s confidence and a conversation began with the prisoner telling Mick of his involvement in the matter.

Mick relayed this information to Senior Detective Mark Andrews of the Brentwood C.I.B. (now a criminal lawyer) and both he and Mick visited the suspect several more times. On the last occasion the prisoner advised them where he had buried her body. The prisoner requested that if he were to show the police the exact spot, Mick must accompany him at all times. The following day arrangements were made to convey the suspect to the bush area off Welshpool Road, Welshpool where the body was found in a shallow grave.

Norm Aisbett’s article regarding the unprecedented actions of a private investigator, received enormous publicity in The West Australian, and headlines in Malaysian newspapers.

As a result, Mick was contacted by high-ranking serving officers, retired police, Major Crime detectives and members of the general public thanking him for his persistence in solving this crime.

Tony Jones

Tony disappeared whilst backpacking near Townsville, northern Queensland in November, 1982. Ten years later, as a result of Mick receiving a great deal of publicity regarding the finding of Sharon Mason’s body (by bobcat operators working at the back of shops in Stirling Highway, Mosman Park) Mark Jones, the older brother of Tony Jones, asked Mick for his advice. The family believed that Queensland Police were not doing enough to solve the matter.

Mick was quick to point out that an identikit should be created of the last known person to be in Tony’s company on the night of the 3rd November, 1982. Queensland Police arranged for an identikit which revealed a face familiar to them. At this point the case seemed to grind to a halt.

Tony’s fate continued to niggle at Mick so he paid for both himself and another investigator to join Mark in Townsville.

The media were very interested in the fact that two private investigators had travelled from Perth to assist the family and the matter gained daily media attention.  Despite Mick’s belief that a particular line of enquiry should have been pursued by Queensland Police, no breakthrough occurred.

However over the past 24 years Mick has been in constant touch with the family and in August, 2016 Mick flew to Townsville to attend a Coroners Inquest to give evidence regarding his inquiries and his findings. The matter is now headed to the Queensland Supreme Court for its consideration.

The case has received extensive coverage in The Australian, The West Australian, The Sunday Times and the Townsville Bulletin during August and September 2016.

Mick has over the years been engaged by numerous insurance companies earning the reputation that comes from achieving superior results in a timely and professional manner.

Examples of two cases are mentioned here to illustrate Insurance Fraud…

Motor Vessel Burnt

A burnt motor vessel from Hillary’s Boat Harbour had been modified according to the instructions of the owner. And was now considered a lemon. An investigator employed by the insurance company had signed off the claim concluding that nothing was suspicious. Due to the claim being over $1 million dollars Mick was asked by the insurance company to investigate further.

Mick gained evidence that the fire was a deliberate electrical fault caused by persons or persons unknown. The matter went before the Western Australian Supreme Court where a decision was given in favour of the insurance company.

They were delighted. Mick had saved them $1 million!

Hay fire

Mick was contacted by an insurance company to investigate a claim for $250,000 as a result of a hay fire in the South West. Mick, in company with a member of his team, travelled to the South West and examined the scene. Consequently Mick made inquiries with neighbouring farmers who provided him with evidence to back his belief that the fire had been deliberately lit.

Mick was also able to establish that the claim was inflated. The claimant had alleged that the round bales were stacked four high, but Mick travelled to Narrogin to interview the hire company and found that the machine hired by the claimant was only capable of stacking the round bales up to three high.

The claimant, when confronted with the evidence admitted the claim was not only false but also inflated. The insurers denied the claim saving them $250,000.

Insurance companies love Mick…he goes the extra yard.

Mick has undertaken numerous inquiries from business owners who believed that staff members were stealing from them.

On one occasion Mick sent an undercover agent to be employed by the stationary wholesaler client on the pretence of work experience. At the conclusion of the two-week period the culprits were identified: without authorization the offenders gave the undercover agent an expensive pen as a going away present. It then became apparent this cavalier behaviour had been indicative of their working day at the warehouse over a long period.

Mick takes staff stealing seriously and has never been able to understand how an employee, given an opportunity by an employer, can breach that trust by stealing.

Mick has been involved in numerous family law cases but is not prepared to outline any of them due to their confidential nature.

These cases include Infidelity, Child Custody, Disputed Divorce Settlements…in fact all types of briefs which appear before the Family Court.

Mick’s gentle yet firm handling of these matters have been of comfort to those who have unfortunately found themselves travelling down this debilitating road.

The most heart-wrenching cases Mick deals with are when a mother approaches Mick in a distressed state begging for help to find their abducted child.

One such case involved a mother from the southern suburbs of Perth. Her estranged husband failed to return her five year old daughter from an access visit. The police were notified but after three weeks of apparent inaction she happened to read an article about Mick in The West Australian.

Having never encountered a private investigator before she rang Mick with some trepidation, and as she says “Out of desperation.”

After gleaning from the young mother information about the husband’s love of camping, Mick hired a 4WD and drove to the small coastal community of Lancelin 127 km north of Perth. An extensive search of the sand dunes provided no clues, and encounters with sympathetic army personnel conducting exercises in the area reinforced Mick’s view that no persons fitting the relevant description had camped anywhere in the vicinity.

Upon discovering the estranged husband had extended family living in the nearby town of Yanchep, Mick door-knocked houses surrounding one of interest and gained the impression his quarry has fled interstate to Victoria. Through contacts Mick has with police forces throughout Australia Mick was advised that no father and child were at a given address in Melbourne.

This is where Mick is at his best. He just doesn’t give up. And bear in mind the West Australian police had put the whole business in the too hard basket.

At this point to protect Mick we cannot reveal exactly how he came to the conclusion that the estranged father and child were now in South Australia, but having established the fact, he informed the Australian Federal Police where the child was likely to be. A search warrant was executed on a house in a suburb of Adelaide and the child recovered. During the seven week ordeal the child was never allowed outside the various homes across three States. To make matters worse the estranged husband’s family was aware at all times of the location of the child.

To this day Mick is still in contact with the grateful family, and proud the young girl he saved is now studying at the University of Western Australia.

Mick became aware that Motor Squad detectives had charged a male person for stealing a truck.

A $90,000 Backhoe on the truck at the time of the stealing offence was now nowhere to be seen.

Acting on behalf of the insurance company Mick made numerous inquiries which indicated that the Backhoe was being used on a goldmine 180kms north west of Meekatharra. Mick and his then partner-investigator travelled to the goldmine and observed it being used on-site. The operator admitted to Mick ‘to receiving’ the Backhoe and the machine was conveyed back to Perth.

As a direct result of this inquiry Mick gained information regarding a second Backhoe that was hidden on a cattle station some 20kms west of where the first one had been operating. Mick contacted the insurance company and was given the task of recovery. After the first attempt Mick, realising that the area where the Backhoe was hidden covered hundreds of kilometres, organised a light plane. The aerial search was unsuccessful and Mick returned to Perth where he made further discreet enquiries.

Not willing to give up, Mick persuaded the insurance company to fund a third trip. With a team member and the informant, he went to a mine-site just out of Meekatharra and persuaded the offender to accompany him to where he had hidden the Backhoe some 12 months previously. Mick then drove 200kms northwest of Meekatharra where the second Backhoe was located. A camouflage  of trees and shrubs had made it difficult to locate from the air and the ground.

Mick’s dedication has been rewarded by the insurance company with constant on-going work over many years.

Mick has recovered many motor vehicles for Hire Car companies.

In one incident a Hire car company was advised that a female who had hired a late model Commodore told a friend she was leaving her address in the south west and was going to South Australia in the Hire car.

Mick’s experience and training kicked in. He girded up his loins and began the hard slog. After a few hours of frustrating calls he  established the time of departure from the country town and by calling police and roadhouses along the route was able reasonably to deduce that the vehicle would be either approaching Port Augusta or would possibly be in the town.

Mick contacted Port Augusta police and advised them accordingly.

Within half and hour Mick had a call from a detective saying “We have apprehended the driver. What do you want us to with the car?”

Mick tracked this girl across half a continent. His ability to think three dimensionally about any given problem and act with crystal clear intent is a talent gifted to few. If you need help call Mick now!

A male offender hid in a warehouse at closing time. When all staff had left he stole a large quantity of jewellery which included a number of rings, a carton of ‘555 Duty Free’ cigarettes and an Australian flag.

Several days later he was apprehended at the East Victoria Markets in East Vic Park attempting to sell several rings. He was apprehended by Fremantle Detectives and charged with receiving four rings. At the Fremantle Police Court he received a fine.

The owner of the warehouse was not impressed as he believed the male person could have been responsible for stealing the large quantity of jewellery from the warehouse. He contacted Mick Buckley. On receiving full details of what was stolen Mick went to the boarding house in South Fremantle where the offender had been staying. As the room had not been relet the caretaker allowed Mick to search the room. In the fireplace Mick recovered several items of jewellery and an Australian flag hanging on the wall.

Upon closer inspection of the fireplace Mick examined some cigarette butts and identified them as being ‘555 Duty Free’. The police had missed this vital clue.

Mick tracked the offender to Mandurah where he interviewed the offender for several hours. He eventually agreed to show Mick where he had hidden the rest of the jewellery. Mick and the offender went to a bush area in Waroona where the jewellery was recovered at the base of a very large tree. On returning the jewellery to the complainant Mick was given a bonus as the property was in excess of what the owner had reported stolen.

The ‘Daily News’ ran a story which started off a long association for Mick with W.A. media outlets: television, radio and newspapers.

Mick knows first hand what it is like to have pets stolen. His son’s horse Princess was stolen from him and he found it two weeks later tied to a tree, appearing to have met a violent death.

Mick has been involved in recovering lost or stolen pets for many families.

One such case involved a young mother whose husband was in gaol at the time her pet staffordshire/bullterrier cross named Chops was stolen from their house in Safety Bay. She advised that her four year old daughter was devastated. Would Mick be able to assist? Mick did not hesitate. He drove straight to Safety Bay and made initial enquiries which pointed to a family in Midland who may have stolen the dog. Mick was able to locate an address in Midland and on attending found Chops, and returned him to the very grateful family.