{"id":485403,"date":"2026-02-17T08:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/485403\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:55:10","slug":"barry-breen-family-desperate-for-answers-over-disappearance-of-afl-legends-younger-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/485403\/","title":{"rendered":"Barry Breen family desperate for answers over disappearance of AFL legend\u2019s younger brother"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">The family of <a class=\"css-1lg16vp-StyledTextLink ezegcyi0\" data-link-type=\"article-inline\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/afl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">AFL<\/a> legend Barry Breen has issued a desperate plea for answers over the disappearance of Breen\u2019s younger brother, who vanished without a trace 14 years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Brendan Breen, a 55-year-old father of two, disappeared in 2012, and police believe someone knows what happened to him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Breen family pleads for answers in cold case disappearance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-178igh4-StyledParagraph e1s06mna1\">Know the news with the 7NEWS app: <a class=\"css-h2mhmv-StyledContextualLink e1s06mna0\" href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/app?utm_source=7NEWS&amp;utm_medium=contextual-link-app&amp;utm_campaign=7news-app\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cIt\u2019s gut-wrenching. Absolutely gut-wrenching,\u201d said his sister Fiona Dwyer, describing the heartbreaking 14 years without any answers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Detectives have now re-opened the case, believing Brendan may have been met with foul play.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cWe\u2019ll go back and have a look at it with fresh eyes,\u201d inspector detective Dave Dunstan said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Brendan is the younger brother of St Kilda legend Barry Breen.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/84c506f199ac8996a159f7c1282174b7f7aa9582.jpg\" alt=\"Barry Breen\u2019s brother, Brendan Breen (left), vanished without a trace 14 years ago.\" class=\"css-16r7l45-StyledImage en5ut4d0\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>Barry Breen\u2019s brother, Brendan Breen (left), vanished without a trace 14 years ago. Credit: Supplied\/Getty<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Barry is considered AFL royalty after kicking the winning point to secure St Kilda\u2019s one and only premiership in 1966.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Brendan had served jail time for fraud and may have been caught up in the wrong crowd.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">He went by several aliases, including Brendan Green, Brian Greer and Brendan Lacombe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">His disappearance wasn\u2019t reported until May 2012, a month after he was last seen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Brendan\u2019s girlfriend was the last person to see him at the Hilton Hotel in South Wharf on April 12 that year, but that\u2019s where the trail goes cold.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">Initially, family members were unsure if Brendan had disappeared of his own accord.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">However, when he failed to appear at his daughter\u2019s funeral in October 2018, they became increasingly concerned.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-1n6q21n-StyledParagraph e4e0a020\">\u201cIf anyone is out there that knows what\u2019s happened to Brendan, it would be the kindest of things to do to come forward,\u201d Dwyer said.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"css-6fiqrm-StyledLinkWrapper e1y7kr221\" href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/afl\/kane-cornes-says-sorry-to-collingood-fans-among-seven-bold-calls-for-2026-c-21662676\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>Kane Cornes says sorry to one club\u2019s fans among seven bold calls for 2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-xp0jgm-StyledTimeToRead e1y7kr223\">2 min read<\/p>\n<p><\/a><a class=\"css-6fiqrm-StyledLinkWrapper e1y7kr221\" href=\"https:\/\/7news.com.au\/sport\/afl\/coach-jack-ginnivan-already-eyeing-off-future-career-switch-after-taste-of-life-in-the-coaches-box-c-21665749\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>\u2018Coach Ginnivan\u2019 already eyeing off future career switch<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-xp0jgm-StyledTimeToRead e1y7kr223\">2 min read<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of AFL legend Barry Breen has issued a desperate plea for answers over the disappearance of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,1625,44,3863,588,85,26889,7481],"class_list":["post-485403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda-saints","tag-vic-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}