Gayle Woodford: SA Police find body of abducted nurse in APY Lands in South Australia
UPDATED: POLICE have found the body of a remote nurse abducted from her home in the Far North of South Australia in a stolen bush ambulance.
SA News
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POLICE have found the body of a remote nurse abducted from her home in the Far North of South Australia in a stolen bush ambulance.
The grim discovery follows a huge search for Gayle Woodford, 56, who went missing from Fregon, in the APY Lands, just after midnight on Thursday.
Ms Woodford’s body was found on Saturday about 1.5km east of Fregon.
Forensic experts will fly to the APY Lands on Sunday to examine the crime scene, which is under police guard.
Detectives used GPS tracking data from the stolen ambulance to track its movements as they searched for Ms Woodford, who was reported missing on Friday morning.
Their search began at Marla before focussing on Fregon, where she was last seen on Thursday night before being abducted and driven away in the ambulance, usually driven by Ms Woodford.
A 36-year-old man, also from the remote Aboriginal community, was arrested in connection with Thursday’s abduction when the ambulance was intercepted at Coober Pedy.
The man was arrested at 10.30am on Thursday morning while driving the ambulance with two other Aboriginal people. They were questioned and released.
Police used the vehicle’s GPS tracker to establish its movements from Fregon to Coober Pedy over a 10-hour period.
Major Crime Detective Superintendent Des Bray said searchers made the grim discovery in scrubland about 1km east of Fregon.
“Around 2 o’clock people searching on foot along GPS lines located what they believed to be a shallow grave,” he said.
“Some further investigation located another crime scene about 500m away, I can’t disclose what happened at those scenes but certainly there are two distinct areas that we are looking at.”
The first crime scene was about 70m from the roadside, while Ms Woodford’s body was found in a shallow grave 500m further into the scrub.
Supt Bray said GPS coordinates taken from the stolen ambulance were vital to the discovery.
“Just look around the countryside, without that data ... it’s unlikely that she would have been found searching from the air,” Supt Bray said.
He said the local community had pulled together to help in the search, including local residents who used dirt bikes to search tracks off the main road into Fregon.
“Everybody liked her and everybody was hoping she would be found safe somewhere, unfortunately that wasn’t to be.
“The efforts of everybody in the community has been commendable, people have given up their Easters and left their own families to come out and try and find Gayle.
Supt Bray said an initial report that Ms Woodford was seen inside the ambulance at Marla was quickly discounted.
“We had some concerns about that at the time but those concerns weren’t strong enough to discount it completely,” he said.
“So while we had the searchers (in Marla) the search was still continuing here, it just meant extra resources, but it didn’t delay or hamper the investigation.
Supt Bray said the mood in Fregon was one of grief and despair.
“There is just an overwhelming feeling of sadness as you go around it’s not a good feeling.
Supt Bray said the 36-year-old Fregon man in custody for stealing the ambulance was the only suspect.
“We are fortunate because he has been arrested for stealing the ambulance and he has been remanded in custody, so there is no risk to the public.,” he said.
“That gives our investigation the opportunity to get a lot of work done, so when we go back to talk to him we are armed with all the information we need.
“There is no rush for us to charge him but we will interview him and make a decision whether to charge him before Tuesday, there are no other suspects at this stage.
Supt Bray said the suspect was living in Fregon but was originally from another remote APY Lands community.
A police forensic response team will fly to Adelaide this morning to carry out a full investigation of the scene.
Major Crime detectives alerted Mrs Woodford’s family to the devastating news shortly after the discovery
Supt Bray said that while the GPS co-ordinates were a key to the search, there was still much to be done to establish what had happened.
“We can’t be certain but it’s more likely than not that Gayle was not with the vehicle at Marla.
“Despite that we’ve finished the search in and around Marla and that hasn’t revealed anything to help,” he said.
Det Supt Bray said the search would shift to Fregon, where Mrs Woodford lived with her husband, Keith.
“The focus is now shifting back and radiating out from where she lived to do all of the buildings, out areas and places (near) Fregon,” he said.
“It’s reasonable to assume that if something bad has happened it’s started outside her home and continued away from the home, exactly where, we have a lot of work to do to establish that yet.”
Mrs Woodford’s last medical consultation was at 8.47pm on Wednesday at Fregon and she returned home where she went to bed with her husband.
Mr Woodford noticed his wife was gone in the morning but was not concerned as she was often called out at short notice.
But Mrs Woodford was reported missing about 10.35am on Thursday after she failed to arrive for work at the Fregon medical clinic and the ambulance was noticed missing.
Supt Bray said police believed Mrs Woodford was taken from outside her home.
“We believe that the most likely scenario is that for some reason she left the safety of her own house and something happened to her outside, and that she has gone from Fregon,” he said.
“Witnesses identified the security gate (at her house) being opened around midnight.
“We do know from the GPS tracker in the ambulance, the movements of the ambulance, where it went and when it went.”
Det Supt Bray said the ambulance left Fregon shortly after midnight, then travelled through Mimili, where it remained for about three hours.
The ambulance then travelled through Indulkana to Marla, where it arrived about daybreak and stayed in the area for about an hour.
“We know while it was in Marla, it drove around the streets and also ended up in the outskirts of Marla, and it’s very important to us to find out exactly who was in the ambulance and what the ambulance was doing at that time,” Supt Bray said.
“She didn’t get up and take off from the house and leave her husband for no reason at all, so something has enticed her from her house and then it’s reasonable to assume that something bad has happened.”
Supt Bray said the ambulance left Marla about 8.30am and went through Cadney Park Homestead, where the driver bought fuel and collected an Aboriginal couple before heading south to Coober Pedy.
“At Coober Pedy the vehicle was intercepted … and the three people were subsequently interviewed,” he said.
“The driver of the vehicle (was) arrested and charged with the theft of the vehicle and at this stage there is nothing to suggest any criminal conduct by the other passengers.”
Major Crime detectives arrive in Coober Pedy to investigate the disappearance of nurse Gayle Woodford @theTiser pic.twitter.com/Em5BHDilEQ
— Andrew Dowdell (@Andrew_Dowdell) March 25, 2016
Supt Bray said the arrested man had “provided a version of events that we are not happy with”.
He will remain in custody at Coober Pedy police station until he faces court on Tuesday.
Family members of Mrs Woodford travelled to the region on Friday as the shock of her disappearance hit her home town of Stansbury.
Among the family’s friends are former Adelaide Football Club and current Melbourne star Bernie Vinc.e
Vince was raised in Stansbury, where his parents still live, and told The Advertiser his family held serious concerns for their long-time friend.
But they have not given up hope the much-loved mother-of-three will be found alive.
His family remain close friends with the Woodfords and Vince, 30, often catches up with them upon returning to his beloved home town on the Yorke Peninsula.
Mrs Woodford was originally from Cleve, on the Eyre Peninsula, but has lived in Stansbury for decades with her husband Keith and children Gary and Alison.
The tight-knit community was in shock as news filtered though of her disappearance.
Stansbury locals said they were anxiously awaiting news about Mrs Woodford, who is well known and liked in the small town.
It is understood Keith is a groundsman at a school in the APY Lands.
Peter Gates, who has worked at Dalrymple Motors on the main street for 38 years, said he and the Stansbury community were “shocked” by Mrs Woolford’s disappearance.
“She is a lovely woman, very caring and from a great family,” he said.
Mr Gates said the family has lived in the area for decades.
“They are a strong family. They are all very well known and very well liked,” he said.
“Everyone knows them, they had been here for a very long time.”
Hans Stobbe, who has lived in town for about five years, said the small community was very tight knit and everybody knew Mrs Woodford and her family.
“We all know each other and something like this will hit pretty hard,” he said.
Mrs Woodford became a nurse and worked at Yorketown Hospital for many years before taking up the role in the APY Lands.
Neighbours said they believe Alison has also become a nurse and has followed her mother’s footsteps by working at the Yorketown Hospital.
Anyone with information should call police on 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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