Teens’ horror find after woman slain
A WOMAN who was violently murdered in Bluewater was discovered by a group of teens quad biking in the area.
A Townsville woman, who cannot be identified as police are still informing her family, has been identified as the victim. She was the mother to four children aged between 14 and 24. Her children do not live in Townsville.
Detective Inspector Jason Shepherd said the woman, 44, was found in the late afternoon on Saturday by a group of teens.
“About 4.40pm ... some young teenagers were driving
quad bikes on a sandy path off Jaloonda Rd, at that time they found the body of a woman laying on the track,” Detective Inspector Shepherd said.
The teens provided police with statements on Saturday night after one of the teens contacted his father, who then alerted police.
“Obviously, they were quite shaken up by it,” Detective Inspector Shepherd said.
A crime scene was declared on Jaloonda Rd on Sunday afternoon. It was down a stretch of dusty, gravel road a few hundred metres from rural houses.
A forensic assessment of the body and the crime scene
was continuing on Sunday, but police have already established that a weapon was involved in the killing, however it has not been found.
“At this stage, we believe the body had been (left) on the track at some point in the previous 24 hours,” Detective Inspector Shepherd said.
“We believe that she has died at that location.
“To allay any public fears, we are keeping an open mind, but the early indications suggest that she knew her attacker.”
Detective Inspector Shepherd said police did not currently have a suspect and were trying to ascertain the 44-year-old’s movements over the previous week.
“It is a small fishing village there, it is quite isolated, but there are vehicles that move up and down that road, so it’s possible there are witnesses,” Detective Inspector Shepherd said.
He added that police were not sure if they were looking for a single perpetrator or multiple.
“It’s difficult to say at the moment, certainly from looking at the scene, there doesn’t appear to be any attempt made to conceal the body, it would have been easy for anyone going along that track to see her,” Detective Inspector Shepherd said. “I can’t detail a cause of death, but we do have an idea of how it may have occurred, an autopsy will be carried out early in the week.”
Detective Inspector Shepherd said police had been in touch with the woman’s children.
“I didn’t speak to them personally, but you can imagine they’d be pretty traumatised,” he said.
As part of the investigation, police have set up Operation Uniform Umbara.
Detective Inspector Shepherd said police did not believe the matter involved domestic or family violence.