Gold Coast singer Fairlie Arrow vanished from her home on December 15, 1991, sparking a major police investigation and media frenzy. When authorities arrived at her residence, they found her car in the driveway with the keys still in the ignition and the front door wide open. Nearby, they discovered a handbag and a single earring. Arrow, who had performed in various nightclubs, had previously reported break-ins at her home, leading police to suspect a possible abduction by a "deranged fan."

In the days following her disappearance, it was revealed that Arrow was not missing at all. Instead, she was hiding in a motel room, watching the media coverage of her own case unfold. This unexpected twist has kept the story alive for over three decades.

Before her disappearance, Arrow's husband, George Harvey, was often away on tour with his band, The Four Kinsmen. During these times, Arrow began to suspect someone was breaking into her home. Detective Senior Constable Brad Morgan of Queensland Police noted, "Someone came in, feeding the dog, putting her clothes on the bed. It's a strange one, because they've cleaned up a house, they've done the dishes, but there were never any threats or anything. Is this really a stalker?"

When Arrow failed to show up for a dinner date with friends, they alerted the police. Detective Morgan described the scene: "The car was still running, keys in the ignition, the front door was open. It was taken very seriously." The investigation quickly escalated, with homicide squad members joining the effort and extensive resources dedicated to finding a suspect.

Robert 'Bob' Deering, a well-known figure on the Gold Coast and a friend of Arrow, played a pivotal role in the events leading up to her disappearance. He described Arrow as living in fear of a stalker and suggested they stage her kidnapping to prompt a more serious police investigation. "I thought it was a great idea. Fakes her kidnapping, comes back, tells the truth, the police then do an investigation and really follow up on it," Deering explained.

With a plan in place, Arrow and Deering set the scene on her driveway before heading to a motel. Deering recounted, "She's come over and jumped in my car, and I drove down to the Town and Country [Motel]. They always had a sign up for vacancies, so I assumed that not many people would stay there." He left Arrow at the motel and departed, setting off a chain of events that would captivate the nation.

As the investigation unfolded, Channel Nine News reporter Deborah Fitzgerald was called to cover the story. She expressed her shock upon learning Arrow was the suspected kidnapping victim. "I was really upset. I knew Fairlie from high school. We weren't close, we weren't best friends, but the fact that she could be hurt or possibly worse … I just thought, 'This is terrible.'" Fitzgerald recognized the potential for a significant news story, noting, "All the footage of her singing was just perfect for television. I think we realized very early on that it was going to be a big story."

The case of Fairlie Arrow remains a topic of intrigue, with many questions still unanswered more than three decades later.