Lesley Trotter’s body dumped in wheelie bin, collected by a rubbish truck police say

Police are mounting a complex search to find the remains of a missing woman not seen in weeks, as the gruesome way she was hidden is revealed.

A teacher who has been missing for two weeks is believed to have been dumped in a wheelie bin, as police are set to scour two Brisbane rubbish dump sites to find her remains.

Police on Tuesday confirmed Ms Trotter’s body was collected from a wheelie bin and compacted in a rubbish pit.

Police say there is “strong evidence” Ms Trotter’s body was in a rubbish bin near her home on Maryvale St, Toowong, when it was collected on Tuesday, March 28 as part of a weekly collection.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham said police did not have any suspects, but “could not rule out foul play”.

“Ongoing investigations can reveal that on the morning of Tuesday, the 28th of March this year, the body of a female we believe was Lesley Trotter was located in a general waste wheelie bin,” he said.

“It was evident she was deceased. Due to the positioning of the body, we can’t rule out foul play.

“Later that morning that bin was collected by a rubbish truck.”

Her family last spoke to the 78-year-old on March 27.

Police investigating the disappearance and suspected death of Lesley Trotter have not ruled out whether her habit of sorting recycling trash from her neighbourhood’s general waste bins could be linked to her death. Picture: Supplied / Queensland Police.

Superintendent Massingham said the rubbish truck had gone to the Nudgee transfer station, where the rubbish was dropped into a pit.

“An additional 22 trucks visited that site on that Tuesday,” he said.

“The loads from those were compressed, and then taken away from that facility in six semi-trailers, which made their way to dump sites in both Rochedale and Swanbank, with Rochedale taking one truck and Swandale taking five trucks.

“The location of that rubbish at each site has now been quarantined, and we’re currently planning an extensive search of both sites to try and recover the remains of the person we believe to be Lesley.

“The search will be a complex and difficult operation.”

Superintendent Massingham said he couldn’t rule out that Ms Trotter’s rubbish sorting habits had something to do with her death.

On Saturday, he said that “Ms Trotter would often go to wheelie bins out the front of her residence or the neighbouring properties and remove recycling trash from general waste bins and transfer those into the correct bins”.

Lesley Trotter, 78, last spoke to her family on March 27, but was not at her Toowong home when police conducted checks on her a day later. Picture: Supplied

Superintendent Massingham said Ms Trotter’s habit was “well-known” by other tenants, with police investigating whether this had caused any “angst”.

Police have spoken to neighbours as part of their investigations.

Bins were also seized by investigators on Friday.

Superintendent Massingham told media that police are urging anyone who knew of Ms Trotter’s recycling habits, or her movements in the Maryvale St area between midnight March 27 and midday March 28, to come forward.

Originally published as Lesley Trotter’s body dumped in wheelie bin, collected by a rubbish truck police say