ACT Offers $500,000 Reward in Hope of Solving 55‑Year‑Old Keren Rowland Murder Linked to Serial Killer Ivan Milat

On Monday, the ACT government unveiled a $500,000 cash reward for anyone who provides information that results in an arrest for the 1968 murder of Keren Rowland, a 20‑year‑old dental nurse who was five months pregnant when her body was discovered in a shallow grave in Fairbairn Forest near Canberra airport. ACT Police Minister Dr Marisa Paterson said the reward would act as a “strong incentive for someone to tell police what they know,” while Chief Police Officer Scott Lee noted that, although “significant time has passed,” it does not preclude the existence of witnesses.

Rowland’s body was found in a pine plantation on the outskirts of Canberra 55 years ago, and her family has long believed she was the first victim of Ivan Milat, the serial killer who later murdered seven backpackers in New South Wales’ Belangalo State Forest in the early 1990s. The suspicion stems from the fact that Rowland’s murder occurred 18 years before Milat’s known killing spree.

In June, a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into unsolved murders and missing people heard from NSW Police that a taskforce established in the early 1990s to investigate the backpacker murders concluded Milat was “highly likely” to have killed Rowland. That assessment was passed to ACT police, but Rowland’s brother, Steve Rowland, says the family has received little clarity on what actions ACT police have taken since receiving the information.

Steve Rowland, who was 16 when his sister vanished, described the reward as a bittersweet development after eight years of campaigning. He said, “Someone must know something whether it’s related to Milat or not… That figure could draw something from even the Milat family.” While hopeful the money might generate new leads, he cautioned that it may not instantly bring justice after decades of dead ends and lost evidence.

The reward is one of five announced by ACT police for cases deemed most likely to have living witnesses or untapped information. Authorities have asked anyone with relevant details to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.