There was a statement made about re-opening old cases as one of the goals of the inquiry if there was a reset. Perhaps this is where it went wrong, people might have thought that this would happen. It is not a judiciary body and simply does not have this power. You might well wonder on what basis they would reopen cases, certainly not on anecdotal evidence, as the justice system needs more then a story with no supporting evidence. with respect to the missing women, it's hard to come up with an answer for this. People go missing all the time, and most don't want to be found. The government could provide resources to look for them , but in fairness they need to look for non-aboriginals as well. When the inquiry was first talked about and later when it was announced it never clearly articulated what the purpose or goals were. If this had been spelled out, it is unlikely it would be in the mess it is today.