Angie Fuller’s mate Loraine Baumgarten sheds new light on missing mum’s last days before suddenly vanishing

It was late afternoon in the central desert when two friends, travelling through the Outback together, pulled up alongside each other on a dusty patch of scrub off the Territory’s main artery.

The two women Angie Fuller and Loraine Baumgarten had just driven in convoy down the centre of Australia from Darwin to Alice Springs.

Late in the afternoon of January 9 last year, the pair parked their cars on the side of the Stuart Highway, near the Tanami Road intersection, to say goodbye before going their separate ways.

Neither knew that they would never see each other again.

Within hours, Ms Fuller had vanished and Ms Baumgarten became the target of online sleuths who accused her of being involved in her friend’s shocking disappearance.

Now, almost two years later, Ms Baumgarten is breaking her silence in the hope that publicity will help find her “beautiful” friend, who vanished that day without a trace.

Ms Baumgarten — who says she has nothing to hide — spoke exclusively to The Nightly about her reaction to discovering Ms Fuller was missing and her friend’s “happy” final days.

The two women had set off from Darwin, in separate cars, on a Sunday morning. It was January 8, 2023.

Ms Fuller was driving the red Toyota Corolla her dad had recently gifted her.

The little second-hand car was choc-a-block full of belongings and items she was bringing back to Alice Springs to furnish the unit she had recently leased.

That evening, they stopped about halfway at Renner Springs, where they rested overnight.

They also made multiple other stops to pose for happy snaps at tourist attractions including Devils Marbles and an outback pub along the way.

Ms Fuller was returning to Alice after spending Christmas in the Top End with her family.

After a turbulent few years, the 29-year-old was trying to break free of the addictions that had derailed her 20s.

She had a new job at Drug and Alcohol Services Australia, renewed her sense of purpose and was incrementally starting to turn her life around.

Ms Baumgarten was working in Alice Springs, so they had decided to drive back down together.

She said Ms Fuller, who has two daughters, was in high spirits during their road trip and was looking to her future.

During the two-day drive, Ms Fuller was in regular contact with her new boyfriend Jake Jefferson Peters, who she was planning to visit when she got back to town.

She seemed excited to catch up with Peters, who she had been casually seeing for about a month or so before she went back to Darwin in December 2022.

When they arrived back in Alice Springs in the late afternoon of January 9 they pulled over near the corner of the Tanami Road and the Stuart Hwy, not far from Peters’ home.

“She was plumping up her lips, trying to look pretty to go and see him,” Ms Baumgarten said.

“We were just mucking around because she had bought this new lip plumper and we were both sitting there plumping up our lips and laughing.

“I took photos of her just minutes before she pulled up at his house.

“She was just in the best frame of mind when she left.”

At about dusk, Ms Fuller headed up the road to Peters’ place at nearby Burt Plains, with wrapped Christmas presents for his kids in her car, and Ms Baumgarten drove to her workplace, where she had accommodation.

At 6.40pm, Ms Fuller and Peters were captured on CCTV at a service station, next to a truck stop, north of Alice Springs in what police say was the last independent and confirmed sighting of the young mum.

Ms Baumgarten says she was communicating with her friend through both phone calls and text messages until later that evening.

“At one point I tried to call her but I couldn’t get through. Her phone was off,” she said.

Ms Baumgarten said that when Ms Fuller stopped responding to her texts, she assumed it was just due to the patchy reception at Peters’ place which was out of town.

But Ms Fuller has not made contact with her family, accessed her bank accounts or logged into her social media accounts since that night.

In the early hours of the next morning, Ms Fuller’s car was involved in an incident with another vehicle on the Tanami Road, north-west of Alice Springs.

Police said their information indicates that Ms Fuller was likely the driver with Peters travelling in the front passenger seat.

More than 48 hours later, late on the night of January 11, Peters reported his girlfriend missing.

The next morning, police turned up at Ms Baumgarten’s workplace, asking if she knew where Ms Fuller might be.

“I said, ‘she was at Jake’s house’,” Ms Baumgarten said.

“I drove straight out there … to ask him where the f... she was.”

By the time Peters reported his girlfriend missing to police, Ms Fuller’s abandoned car on the side of Tanami Road appeared to have been pillaged.

The next day, Ms Baumgarten and three other women — all friends of Ms Fuller — visited Peters to try to find out what had happened to their friend.

They covertly recorded their conversation with him.

“We all just wanted to know where the f... she was,” Ms Baumgarten said.

In the recording, Peters denied any involvement in his girlfriend’s death.

“You know, I’m about to go to jail for something I f...ing didn’t do,” he told them on January 13, 2023.

“You know, I love that woman … I wanted to start a life with her.”

Homicide detectives interviewed Ms Fuller’s friends, including Ms Baumgarten.

“I gave the police my phone, I gave them access to everything, to help find out what happened to her,” she said.

“Whenever they call me, I don’t hesitate. I don’t have any dramas talking to them about anything.

“It’s about finding her and whatever helps find her.”

Meanwhile, online sleuths were quick to point fingers in Facebook groups dedicated to Ms Fuller’s case.

“Even I got accused of killing her,” Ms Baumgarten said.

“I left one particular discussion group because I was dealing with my friend missing and I didn’t need to deal with that.

“At the end of the day, my heart is pure and I know exactly what happened, so I don’t need to defend myself from strangers.”

Meanwhile, Ms Baumgarten says she was “privileged” to have spent those final days with her “good friend”.

“At least I know that the last two days of her life were so happy and we had the best time,” she said.

“She was just smiling and laughing the whole way. She was just happy.”

Ms Baumgarten now just wants her friend’s body to be found.

“She was an amazing lady. She was just the best chick,” she said.

“I miss her so much.

“I’m never going to get a chance to laugh and hang out with her again and that really breaks my heart.”

Northern Territory police continue to investigate Ms Fuller’s disappearance.

Its major crime squad suspects Ms Fuller was murdered and, despite conducting multiple wide-scale searches last year, have found no trace of her.

There is a $250,000 reward for information leading to her body and the conviction of anyone responsible for her death.

In addition to the quarter-million dollar reward, indemnity from prosecution may be recommended for any accomplice, not being the person who actually committed the crime, who first gives such information.

Anyone with information about Angie Fuller’s disappearance is urged to contact police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and quote #10228143 If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, phone 1800 RESPECT or the Crisis Care Helpline on 1800 199 008.