The Case of Keren Rowland & the Suspected Ivan Milat Victims

Keren Rowland, 20 and pregnant with her first child, disappeared near Canberra on 26 February 1971 after her car ran out of petrol. Her remains were discovered months later in a pine plantation. More than five decades later, her family believes Ivan Milat may have killed her, placing Keren at the centre of renewed investigations into his possible additional victims.

Keren Ellen Rowland was 20 years old and pregnant when she disappeared on the evening of 26 February 1971. She had been travelling to meet friends when her vehicle ran out of petrol on Parkes Way in Canberra. Keren left the stranded vehicle, apparently intending to obtain assistance. She never reached her destination and did not return to the car. Her unexplained disappearance triggered a search, but investigators were unable to determine what had happened to her. On 13 May 1971, nearly three months after she vanished, Keren's remains were discovered in a pine plantation between Canberra and Queanbeyan. The original coronial investigation ultimately recorded her death as misadventure without establishing a clear cause of death. Decades later, information uncovered by Keren's family raised serious questions about that conclusion. Their investigation identified evidence of injuries potentially consistent with strangulation and historical material indicating that Ivan Milat had once been considered a person of interest or suspect. Keren's murder has consequently become one of the most prominent unresolved cases being reconsidered in relation to Milat's suspected offending before the murders for which he was eventually convicted.

Keren's remains were found in an isolated pine plantation between Canberra and Queanbeyan, approximately 10 kilometres from where she had disappeared. Her body had been concealed in bushland and covered with vegetation. The location, circumstances surrounding her disappearance and evidence subsequently identified by her family have contributed to the belief that Keren may have been deliberately killed rather than dying accidentally. Questions have also arisen over the preservation of evidence from the original investigation. More than five decades later, Keren's family discovered that significant investigative material and exhibits could no longer be located, complicating attempts to apply modern forensic techniques to the case.

The original investigation failed to identify the person responsible for Keren's disappearance and death. Ivan Milat subsequently emerged as a possible suspect. At the time Keren disappeared, Milat was working around the Queanbeyan region, placing him geographically close to the case. The timing is also significant. During 1971, Milat was accused in an unrelated case of abducting two young women who had been hitchhiking near Liverpool. One woman alleged she was sexually assaulted. Milat was ultimately acquitted, but the allegations later became important when investigators examined whether his predatory behaviour began decades before the murders that made him notorious. Historical police material examined by Keren's family reportedly indicated that Milat had been considered a significant suspect in her death. Former investigators have also expressed the belief that Milat may have killed considerably more people than the seven victims for whose murders he was convicted. Keren's family has spent years pursuing the possible connection and seeking access to police records and surviving evidence. Their efforts eventually became part of the wider examination of unresolved murders and disappearances potentially connected to Milat. In 2026, a NSW parliamentary inquiry heard evidence concerning Keren's death and other unresolved cases potentially associated with Milat. Police revealed that 11 specific homicide and missing-person cases had been assessed for possible links to him, while investigators had considered dozens of additional cases.

Keren Rowland's death remains unsolved. Ivan Milat was never charged with her murder and died in prison in 2019 without admitting responsibility for Keren or any additional suspected victims. More than 50 years after Keren's death, her case remains under scrutiny as investigators, her family and the NSW parliamentary inquiry attempt to determine whether she was among Milat's earliest victims. Unless new forensic, documentary or witness evidence establishes a connection, her killer must remain officially recorded as unknown.