Childcare worker Breanna Maree finds man dead in car at Redlynch Central Shopping Centre

The Cairns childcare worker who tragically found a man dead in his car at Redlynch Central has relived the confronting moment she made the grim discovery. WARNING: Distressing content.

Breanna Maree shares the moment she spotted a parked car with deceased man in Redlynch Shopping Centre.

The Cairns childcare worker who tragically found a man dead in his car at Redlynch Central Shopping Centre has relived the confronting moment she made the grim discovery.

Breanna Maree said she first noticed the single cab ute on Wednesday around 2pm parked near Dominoes at the shopping centre.

“It was packed, there were barely any spots, a lot of people were backing in and parking,” she said.

“I was there getting nappies for work at the childcare centre and had parked directly next to that car and the man looked like he was asleep that day.

“He was slumped over his wheel in the front seat, and I could see some movement so I thought he must have just been asleep.”

She texted her partner and mentioned it to her colleagues once she was back at work and considered checking again that night but didn’t.

“There was nothing suspicious apart from his car not running and it was a hot day on Wednesday — I was a little bit concerned that he was asleep in a hot car but I didn’t think much of it,” she said.

The next morning at 7.15am, she was back at the shopping centre when she immediately recognised the vehicle.

Breanna Maree, a childcare worker at First Grammar Early Education Centre Freshwater, was the first one to notify emergency services about a parked car at Redlynch Central Shopping Centre with a deceased man. Picture: Sandhya Ram

“It wasn’t until the next day when I went to get my morning coffee I noticed he was still there — that’s when I called emergency services.”

Ms Maree said the windscreen was fogged up, and she couldn’t see clearly through but could see the body leaning over to the passenger side.

The incident has left her traumatised and she couldn’t believe no one noticed him, she said.

“What I don’t understand is if he had been there a few days, it just did not add up to me that nobody saw him not even any workers,” she said.

“If he had been there even for a night you’d think mall security would have checked if someone was in there.”

A man has been found dead in the Redlynch Central car park.

Police confirmed the discovery of a man’s body inside a vehicle at a Cairns shopping centre car park on Friday.

The 47-year-old man was understood to have been dead for a number of days before he was located.

Police said the man from the Cairns area suffered a medical episode and later died.

The death is not being treated as suspicions, according to police.

Shane Trimby from the Redlynch Cairns Property Office headquarters works meters from where the man’s body was found.

He said the finding of the body was a sad outcome.

“He parked where the Domino pizza shop is, in a tradie ute,” he said.

Family members are understood to have since picked up the vehicle from the carpark, in what Mr Trimby said would have been a heartbreaking ordeal.

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Originally published as Childcare worker Breanna Maree finds man dead in car at Redlynch Central Shopping Centre