US expert contacted over VHS footage of missing woman's last sighting

In short:

Janine Vaughan disappeared in 2001, but the original VHS tape containing CCTV footage has never been examined.

A multiple Emmy Award-winning digital expert is now poised to examine the tape on the back of Ms Vaughan's family's calls.

What's next?

Homicide squad detectives are in talks with the expert about getting the tape analysed.

New South Wales police have contacted a US forensic video expert to examine a VHS tape that recorded the last sighting of a woman who went missing 25 years ago.

Janine Vaughan, 31, disappeared in Bathurst in 2001 after moving there from Muswellbrook.

Her last known movements were caught on CCTV footage at the Metro Tavern, showing her getting into a red car, then vanishing.

Last month, her brother Adam Vaughan told a state inquiry the original VHS tape containing that footage had never been examined.

Today, he told the ABC copies had been made of the tape, but the audio and video quality was poor.

"We do believe that the answers are in that tape,"he said.

"We can definitely hear conversations. We just need it cleared that little bit better.

"I listen and look at the tape every single day, and I can see things and I make out things and I hear things that I think, 'My God, oh could that be, could that be?'"

Ms Vaughan's sister Kylie Spelde told the inquiry the video could hold the key to what happened.

"Our detective has said that the VHS has never been touched. It's still in pretty well pristine condition," she said.

The VHS expert

The inquiry heard the family engaged world-leading US-based forensic digital expert Bryan Neumeister.

The siblings used their evidence to call for the original VHS tape to be securely transferred to him for analysis.

Mr Neumeister worked extensively in television production, winning multiple Emmy Awards for editing, sound design and audio production.

He has provided expert forensic advice in about 1,000 cases, including when he was called to give his professional opinion in the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard defamation case.

He told the inquiry the original tape needed to be looked at.

"With an old … recording like that, if it's ingested properly … you can get up to about 60 times the pixel resolution," he said.

"But again, the evidence does no good to anybody sitting in a box.

"We always want to look with a microscope at the tape and see what kind of situation we're dealing with, because very often, you're going to get one shot at this."

VHS examination

Since then, Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Joe Doueihi has responded to questions on notice, saying police had contacted Mr Neumeister to look at the original.

Mr Vaughan said he was thrilled.

"Her friends and other people on the street were just moments behind her," he said.

"Obviously with the vehicle, with the latest technology, Bryan can work on those pixels and maybe get a better picture of the car."

In a written response tabled in parliament, Detective Superintendent Doueihi said Mr Vaughan had been given an update on the case one week after fronting the inquiry.

"On 18 September 2026, the NSW Police Force wrote to Adam Vaughan informing him of receipt of his correspondence," he said.

"He was further informed that the material supplied will be carefully considered, and the NSW Police Force will make contact with Mr Neumeister to discuss the examination of the VHS tape and the options available.

"Correspondence between Homicide Squad and Mr Neumeister has taken place to determine the appropriate pathway with the examination of the VHS tape."

Mr Neumeister has told the ABC he was limited in what he could say, but he was hopeful of gaining access to the original VHS tape.

"What I can tell you is that communications with the agency [NSW Police] have been ongoing, and the discussions have been encouraging," he said.

"It appears that we may be moving toward making this happen."

Mr Vaughan said he was clinging to hope that the tape contained answers.

"We're feeling excited. We're just trying to stay very, very positive," he said.

"For him to be able to use his expertise on a much better scale and different tools and the latest technology, it can only mean one thing, and it's just going to be a breakthrough."

State Crime Command told the ABC it had "commenced communication with Mr Neumeister and the inquiries are ongoing".