A body found in a wheelie bin in Melbourne‘s east has been identified as graphic designer John Christianos, who went missing 17 years ago, police have confirmed.
Workers at a storage facility in Oakleigh South found the body of Christianos, 40, on July 13 while cleaning out a storage unit. Christianos went missing back in 2001, after last being seen at a residential home in Bentleigh East.
“Even though it has been over 17 years since he was last seen, we believe that it is likely there are still people out there who know what happened to John,” Inspector Andrew Stampe said this morning.
“Clearly something significant has happened after John left his home for his body to be dumped in a bin and locked up for so many years.”
Police confirmed that Christianos had been estranged from his family for some time before his disappearance, and was known to authorities thanks to “a range of matters including drug use and assaults.”
In 2011, the coroner found that it was likely Christianos had died at some point after his 2001 disappearance, but was unable to establish what might have happened to him or the circumstances of his death.
According to workers at the storage facility, the unit in which John Christianos’ body was discovered had not been accessed in years, and rental payments had ceased.
