BIG SIGN OF LOVE
Community’s vow to find justice for Toyah in full view
THE mother of murder victim Toyah Cordingley burst into tears when two super-sized roadside signs near the Yorkeys Knob roundabout were revealed.
Installed on the walls of a farm shed halfway between the Yorkeys Knob roundabout and Cairns Kart Hire centre, the signs display the Crime Stoppers phone number and what has become known as the late Ms Cordingley’s own symbol: a sunflower.
Ms Cordingley’s mother Vanessa Gardiner sobbed when she saw her daughter’s face on the side of the shed.
“To see her face up there it breaks my heart,” she said.
“I have been in tears since I got here and I can’t thank everyone for what they have done. It has been overwhelming.”
The signs are designed to jog the memory of passing motorists. It is hoped new information provided to police will aid in the capture of the 24year-old’s killer.
“It is not going to bring her back but it will get justice,” she said.
At the unveiling of the signs the grandmother of Ms Cordingley’s stepfather, 90-yearold Mavis Gardiner, displayed her own tribute to the memory of the young woman.
The new ink on Ms Gardiner’s forearm will be a permanent reminder of the October 21 tragedy.
The man spearheading the sign campaign, Wayne “Prong” Trimble, was overwhelmed by the public support of the awareness campaign.
“It has gone from a little sticker to this and like the sticker says we are never going to give up,” he said.
“Everyone is angry, not at the coppers or anyone else, but the situation she got herself in and what happened after that.”