| Michelle Bright | |
| Birth Name: | Michelle Loraine Bright |
| Birth Date: | 2 June 1981 |
| Birth Place: | New South Wales, Australia |
| Death Place: | Gulgong, New South Wales |
| Death Cause: | Undetermined. Homicide |
| Body Discovered: | 5 February 1999 |
| Resting Place: | Gulgong General Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia |
| Resting Place Coordinates: | (approximate) |
| Occupation: | Student |
| Nationality: | Australian |
Michelle Bright was a 17-year-old girl who was found raped and murdered in New South Wales, Australia.
She was last seen at 12:45 am on 27 February 1999 by a friend who dropped her off in Mayne Street, Gulgong following a friend's 15th birthday party that day.[1] The Minister for Police, Michael Daley, announced that the NSW Government offered a reward of $500,000 to solve the murder of Bright, the second-highest reward offered in NSW (the highest being the reward offered for the recovery of William Tyrrell).[2] The police regarded Bright's death as a horrific crime.[3]
On 10 August 2020, the reward was raised to $1,000,000.[4] The following day, 53-year-old Craig Henry Rumsby, a former neighbour of Bright's, was arrested for her murder, and also an assault with intent to rape against an 18-year-old committed in 1998.[5]
On 30 June 2023, Rumsby was found guilty of Bright's murder and the assault on the 18-year-old.[6] [7]
On 7 August 2023, Justice Robert Allan Hulme sentenced Rumsby to 32 years imprisonment with a non-parole period of 24 years: Rumsby will be eligible for parole in 2044, at the age of 77.