$1 million reward offered by Australian police to solve 45-year-old cold case of murdered mom

Australian police offered a $1 million award Friday for help solving the cold case of a mother who was murdered 45 years ago.  Mary Anne Fagan, a homemaker with five young children, was found stabbed to death in 1978 at her Armadale home, Victoria police said. 

Detectives said in a statement they "believe that it is possible there are still people in the community who know what happened to Mary Anne and who was responsible."

On the morning of Feb. 17, Fagan drove her children, then 15, 13, 12, 6 and 17 months, to school in the family's station wagon. She returned home around 9:15 a.m. and was seen about an hour later in the front yard of the property by a witness who had driven past the house, police said in a statement. 

Her husband, who was away at work, called his 41-year-old wife around 11 a.m. for a brief conversation. That was the last time anyone spoke to or heard from Fagan. 

When her children arrived home around 4 p.m. that afternoon the side gate was open, they couldn't find their mother, and they heard a baby crying in the house. Victoria police said the children found Fagan bound and gagged, and fatally stabbed a number of times in the front bedroom of the house. A number of personal items taken from the home have never been recovered, police said. 

Australian police have offered large rewards previously to the public for assistance in solving cases. Last May Western Australia Police offered a $1 million award for information about 12-year-old, James Patrick Taylor, known as Jimmy, who vanished on Aug. 29, 1974, after walking from his family's home in Derby to a local store about half a mile away.

A month later, Queensland police offered a $500,000 award from information in the case of Meaghan Louise Rose, who was found dead at the base of Point Cartwright Cliffs at Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast on July 18, 1997. Queensland police issued an arrest warrant for 70-year-old Keith Lees shortly after the award announcement. 

In:
• Australia
• Cold Case

Cara Tabachnick is a news editor and journalist at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com

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