The family of a talented Indigenous teenager who died unexpectedly still don't know what their painful decision to exhume his body has achieved.
Lewis "Buddy" Kelly had just bought a car and was set to travel overseas to play tennis when found dead on railway tracks outside Kempsey in northern NSW in December 1983.
No autopsy, no blood-alcohol readings and few witness statements were taken before his death was marked down as accidental self-harm related to drunkenness.
After campaigning by aggrieved relatives, the 16-year-old's grave was exhumed in 2020.
But the family say they have been left in the dark about what the autopsy showed.
"It’s been four years since our family made the impossible decision to have our Buddy exhumed and more than 41 years since he was taken from us and denied his life," younger sister Monica Kelly said.
"We need answers and we need them urgently."
In a meeting with a court on Thursday, the family was told the Crown Solicitor's Office was reviewing material gathered during the coroner's investigation.
That included fresh evidence recently handed to police and the coroner - which the family believes can kickstart more than just a fresh inquest.
"We want an arrest," Ms Kelly told AAP.
"And with the information that has been received, that can happen.
"Even though it's 41 years, we still suffer. For them to not call or send us updates in recent years is unprofessional for a government department."
Her brother was a very active sportsman who was going to travel to play tennis in America in January 1984.
Buddy had just got his L-plates, bought himself a car and scored an apprenticeship as a glazier.
It makes the original finding that he drunkenly wandered onto train tracks and laid down in the path of a train on New Year's Eve impossible for loved ones to believe.
"He had a family that loved him ... he had everything going for him," Ms Kelly said.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge and state MP Sue Higginson recently wrote to the coroner highlighting concerns about communication with the family.
They urged the information that came to light in recently weeks be "urgently investigated".
"Buddy’s death is shrouded in suspicion and state failure, there should be protocols in place for dealing with this now and providing the family with the support they need and deserve, as is the case for deaths in custody," Ms Higginson said on Thursday.
The NSW Coroners Court said it had not decided whether to reopen the case but could not comment further on the investigation.
"The court’s Aboriginal Coronial Information and Support Program and the court registry have been available to the Kelly family," a spokesperson said.
