Police say they will “never give up” searching for schoolgirl Lisa Mott, who disappeared while walking home in regional Western Australia 44 years ago.

The 12-year-old was last seen in Collie on October 30, 1980.

Police say she had spent the evening playing basketball with friends on the mining town’s Throssell Street courts and headed to a nearby pizza shop about 8:45pm.

She began walking home around 9pm and was last seen getting into a yellow panel van on Forrest Street.

Lisa is believed to have been murdered, but no body or crime scene has ever been found.

The driver of the van also remains a mystery, despite the offer of a million-dollar reward since 2020.

Four decades on, a team of cold case detectives has travelled to the south-west town, 200 kilometres south of Perth, with the firm belief community members can help solve the case.

Lisa Mott was 12 years old when she went missing in her home town of Collie in 1980. (Supplied: WA Police Media)

Detective Sergeant Greg Dowding said police would follow up on all leads.

“We have a motto and it’s never say never. We never give up,” he said

“Some have provided information and some came up because they just remember the case. We had one gentleman come up, he was five at the time but he still remembers it.

“So a lot of people that come up here have lived in Collie all their life and they do remember it. It’s not something they forget.”

WA killer couple ‘ruled out’

Little is known about current and past suspects in the case.

However, Detective Sergeant Dowding said notorious WA killer couple David and Catherine Birnie had been looked at, but since ruled out.

“The Birnies have been spoken to in regard to this,” he said.

Detective Sergeant Greg Dowding is calling for information into Lisa Mott’s disappearance. (ABC South West: Jacqueline Lynch)

“We have ruled them out of this investigation but if something else came up, we could always bring that back in. But at this stage they are ruled out of this investigation.

“[But] there are suspects … I can’t divulge too much about that but we do have some people we are looking at at the moment.”

Breakthroughs in forensic technology and investigation have led to WA Police closing a number of long-running cases recently, with the arrest and conviction of Claremont serial killer Bradley Robert Edwards the highest profile.

New podcast hoped to help

Lisa Mott’s case features in the newly-released second season of WA Police’s podcast series Cold Case Western Australia.

Detectives are hoping the broad audience interest in crime may help force breakthroughs in the long-running investigation.

Lisa’s sister Bernadette Mott was just three years old when Lisa went missing.

She told the podcast she wanted answers.

“To be able to find her, even if it’s just a few bones,” she said.

WA detectives stationed a police truck in Collie. (ABC South West: Jacqueline Lynch)

“There’s no goodbyes, there’s no knowing where she is … I just want to find my sister.

“Because I think the healing process is really hindered by that not knowing.”

Former Collie MP Mick Murray said he thought the podcast was a good way to unearth new information.

“I think it’s a good idea to rehash it, and you never know where that snippet of information may come from,” he said.

A lifelong resident of Collie, Mr Murray said he still remembered when Lisa first disappeared and the impact it had on the local community.

Mick Murray says he hopes the case is solved so Lisa’s family can get closure. (ABC News: Jacob Kagi)

He said the case had become a cautionary tale among parents in Collie.

“The Lisa Mott story comes up very regularly, it’s something that the community hasn’t put to bed and I’m very hopeful it will be solved in the future.”