Cops expand murder hunt
GRACE MASON AND PETER MICHAEL POLICE investigating the murder of Cooktown mum Donna Steele are switching their focus from inside the small town to external links.
Detectives have exclusively revealed to the Cairns Post they are now looking for anyone who lives outside town but may have ties to the community.
“We believe people outside Cooktown may hold the key,” Det Insp Geoff Marsh said.
He would not detail what type of links they were considering, but locals continue to speak with police about the considerable drug scene in the community.
Det Insp Marsh said police were also calling for anyone who was driving along Endeavour Valley Rd on the afternoon the 42-year-old mother-of-two vanished.
She was last seen at the IGA supermarket on Helen St about 12.15pm on August 2.
Her Toyota HiLux was spotted on CCTV heading out of town five minutes later.
Det Insp Marsh said police were particularly interested in hearing from anyone who saw suspicious activity around the Leggett’s Crossing area that day between 12pm and 5pm.
Ms Steele’s body was found there five days later.
Det Insp Marsh confirmed specialist drug squad officers were sent to Cooktown this week, but said they considered it “no different to any rural or coastal town in the Far North or anywhere else in Queensland” in regards to illicit substances.
He said an autopsy report had found the cause of death was “indeterminate”.
“That’s not to say there were no visible injuries,” he said.
The 42-year-old’s body was found wrapped and dumped in Isabella Creek, 15km from her rural home, on August 6.
Her grief-stricken family, husband Tony Brown and two little boys held a private funeral service in Atherton on Thursday.
Police have not revealed how she was killed and are yet to uncover a motive.
The two-week-old murder probe, dubbed Operation Papa Thorium, has run out 305 lines of inquiry in Cooktown.
“Someone in Cooktown knows what happened,’’ Det Insp Marsh said.
“They will be feeling the pressure. We’ve got 20 detectives up there and will be rotating more through from Townsville and Brisbane.”