Sydney - Australian police on Wednesday began digging at the former home of a woman who went missing more than 30 years ago and whose case was highlighted in a podcast which has attracted millions of listeners around the world.
Police expected to spend around five days at the property in the Sydney suburb of Bayview, where Lynette Dawson lived until her disappearance in 1982, detective superintendent Scott Cook told reporters.
Her case was recently the subject of the "Teacher's Pet" podcast, which explored why police failed to launch a proper investigation into the 33-year-old mother of two's disappearance at the time.
Two coronial inquests, in 2001 and 2003, ruled that Dawson had been murdered by her husband Chris Dawson but prosecutors declined to charge him citing insufficient evidence.
Chris Dawson, a former professional rugby player and high school teacher, was having an affair with a teenage schoolgirl and moved her into the family home two days after his wife was last seen in January 1982.
He did not report his wife missing for six weeks. He suggested she may have gone off with a religious cult and has repeatedly denied any involvement in her disappearance.
Police reopened the Dawson case in 2015 and Cook wrote to the director of public prosecutions in April asking for a review of new evidence collected.
LISTEN: This is the Teacher's Pet podcast which led to police relaunching the investigation into Lynette Dawson's disappearance:
On Wednesday, Cook said he was confident he could still pursue charges against Chris Dawson, even if no body was found.
"It's all about getting justice for Lyn," Cook said.