Dying Rose | What Charlene Warrior’s family uncovered in their own investigations

That Charlene Warrior’s body was found 100m from where she was last seen still haunts her family. Then their own investigations revealed something even more baffling.

Charlene Warrior was 100m from where she was last seen, and in view of a small South Australian town, when she was found dead in a tree.

That two weeks had passed and not one of Bute’s 400 residents noticed her there would have been hard enough for her adoring family to comprehend.

But their own investigations revealed something even more troubling.

On a trip to Bute, two hours north of Adelaide, they were told Charlene may not have spent the 15 days since her disappearance in the tree.

Her sister Theresa Newchurch said was told by one woman who volunteered as part of the search effort that she had personally searched the area the day before Charlene’s body was found, but she had not seen her.

The woman’s account was baffling when held up to the findings of the state coroner, who said Charlene died by suicide on or about September 20, 2021.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this story contains images and voices of people who have died.

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Charlene’s family – Theresa, her mum Alma Warrior, dad Kent Newchurch and four other siblings – could not make sense of it.

The tree where she was found was at the edge of a paddock just off Martin St in the Yorke Peninsula town, where Charlene had travelled to pick up her one-year-old daughter from the home of her ex-partner.

It was about 200m and within eyeline of the CFS station where a search for her, launched October 1, had been based.

So how had no one found Charlene earlier?

The Advertiser is examining Charlene’s death as part of Dying Rose, a podcast investigation into the deaths of six Aboriginal women.

Alma Warrior with pictures of her daughter Charlene. Picture: Emma Brasier

Family feared foul play

Despite the search, which involved police and SES volunteers, it was a local man out walking his dog who found Charlene’s body about 6pm on October 3.

Charlene’s family immediately feared foul play. They hoped the tragic discovery would trigger a comprehensive investigation into the circumstances leading up to Charlene’s death and how her body came to be in the tree.

But by the next morning, police had issued a statement saying the death “appears to be non-suspicious”.

With the family, they used a different word: suicide.

Charlene’s sister Theresa said she, her parents and her siblings were stunned.

“I ripped up the grieving pamphlets that they came there with, I ripped them up, I threw them on the ground and I said get out of my yard, I said, because that is no way to walk into my mother’s yard and tell us that,” she said.

The family said police had decided within those first 24 hours that Charlene had taken her own life and – despite saying that investigations would continue – never strayed from that position.

“(They) made their conclusions straight away, just like that,” her brother Clifford said.

In an update provided to the Advertiser a year after Charlene’s disappearance, SAPOL said the investigation was still active and a report had not yet been handed to the coroner.

But the family said it was never made clear to them what that subsequent investigation entailed.

Charlene Warrior in the photo issued as a missing person by SA Police.

Charlene Warrior and her daughter A'methyst. Picture: Supplied by the Warrior family

Charlene’s last days

Desperate for answers, they travelled to Bute to find out more about Charlene’s last days.

Theresa said seeing the scene for herself only perpetuated her doubt that Charlene had spent two weeks in the tree.

“There’s no way that she could be missed. How could they miss someone that’s in a white jumper,” she said.

As the months and years passed, they said they were not kept up to date with where the case was at.

Clifford said contact had been minimal.

“I think we only had one meeting with the police … and that was it,” he said.

In a statement, a police spokeswoman said SAPOL had listened to the Warrior family and appreciated and understood their concerns about the circumstances surrounding Ms Warrior’s tragic death.

“Senior SAPOL representatives have met previously with Ms Warrior’s family on a number of occasions and provided updates on the status of the very thorough coronial investigation,” she said.

“In circumstances such as this, investigators are always alert to any possibility of foul play.”

She said investigators supported by SAPOL’s Major Crime Investigation branch were confident that Ms Warrior’s death was not suspicious and had prepared a comprehensive report into the cause and circumstances for the state coroner.

A subsequent statement from Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said the coroner was satisfied with the evidence presented and has found Charlene’s death was as a result of suicide. The coroner has advised no inquest will be held.

“Unfortunately, due to the nature of suicide, families are often left with unanswerable questions which make the reality of these circumstances difficult to understand or accept,” Mr Stevens said.

The Coroner’s Court declined to release files on Charlene’s death on the basis that the matter was not heard at inquest.

The Bute home where the body of missing mother Charlene Warrior was found on October 3, 2021.

Two years on in Bute

In the nearly two years since the death of Charlene, not much has changed in Bute. Locals are still hesitant to talk about the time their town was thrust into the media spotlight after the mysterious disappearance of a young Aboriginal woman.

But just across from the paddock where her body was found, a towering old silo has been transformed into a piece of colourful art.

It depicts an idyllic scene – pink sky and birds fluttering, a sheep and the local sporting mascot, a rooster – surrounding a young woman pushing a vintage bike, with native flowers and books in its basket.

A celebration of regional women – but a different world to the one of Charlene Warrior.