SEARCH WIDENS
DETECTIVES investigating the murder of Cooktown mother Donna Steele are believed to be considering fresh searches in the small community.
A senior police source told the Cairns Post further searches could be conducted in the coming days as they cast the net wider in their hunt for her killer.
The 42-year-old vanished on August 2 after shopping at the local IGA supermarket.
Her body was then found four days later in a creek at Leggett’s Crossing about 20km out of town.
Initially crime scenes were established at the creek, her house on Poison Creek Rd and two properties belonging to her friends.
The search of the creek area involved the police dive squad, other officers and SES volunteers.
It is unknown whether the next round of searches will involve new sites or a return to the initial scenes.
The next step in the investigation comes with concerns rising in the Cooktown community following an unrelated spate of property crime which swept through the town earlier this week.
Homes were broken into as residents slept and many items were stolen in the early hours of Monday morning.
Police believe the culprit was likely not a local and is de- scribed as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander appearance, about 180cm tall and wearing a white long-sleeved hoodie and long pants.
Homes in Helen, Furneaux and Hope streets were targeted with one man having his car stolen. The spree came despite an additional 20 detectives currently in town for the murder investigation.
A resident, who did not wish to be named, said people were growing worried.
“It’s not something we usually worry about in Cooktown. A lot of people leave doors unlocked and windows open,” she said.
“But I think people are being a lot more careful since Donna’s death, knowing there’s a murderer living in our midst and now apparently a bunch of criminals. It’s not a nice feeling.”
Police believe a stolen credit card used at a Cooktown service station and two cars stolen in Hope Vale are linked to the other incidents.