Police identify body found at Gold Coast river as Tiahleigh Palmer, 12
UPDATE: The investigation into the death of Tiahleigh Palmer, whose body was found floating in the Pimpama River, has turned to missing items she was last seen with - including the school uniform she was wearing.
QLD News
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POLICE have reissued a public appeal for information over the shock death of Marsden schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer, as their investigation turns to missing items of the teenager.
The 12-year-old’s body was found on a Pimpama riverbank late Thursday.
But it is what was not found that has become the focus of police investigations.
Tiahleigh was last seen wearing her Marsden State High School uniform and carrying a colourful Mambo backpack.
However, neither her uniform or the backpack have been found.
Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson of South East Police Region would not say whether Tiahleigh’s body was naked when she was found by three fishermen.
He repeated the call for anyone with information to contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 000 333.
He also called for any motorists equipped with dashboard cameras who were driving along Chambers Flat Road on October 30 to contact police if they could retrieve video files.
EARLIER: Police turn to school in search for clues
DETECTIVES and other police officers have descended on Marsden State High School as investigations continue into the tragic death of Tiahleigh Palmer.
Officers have spent the day in and around the Marsden secondary school questioning locals.
It comes as SES volunteers have joined the search for clues at the southeast Queensland river where the 12-year-old’s body was found floating in the water.
It’s believed her body had been in the Pimpama River for at least a week before it was spotted on Thursday by three fishermen.
Tiahleigh had been missing from Logan, south of Brisbane, for a week and was last seen at a school in Marsden on October 30. SES volunteers joined detectives at the crime scene in Pimpama on Saturday morning.
Police are treating the schoolgirl’s death as a suspected homicide and will speak to the media about the case on Saturday afternoon.
Tributes on social media pages have begun pouring in for Tiahleigh.
One page, named RIP Tiahleigh Palmer, has more than 600 likes.
Police are appealing for anyone who has visited the area around Kerkin Road North in Pimpama in the past seven days to come forward to help detectives establish a timeline.
OVERNIGHT: Body identified as missing 12-year-old girl
THE last time anyone saw 12-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer, she was dressed in her uniform, carrying her purple backpack as she made her way to just another day at school.
A post-mortem last night tragically identified her as the young Logan City girl found dead by three fishermen on the bank of a Gold Coast river.
Tiahleigh, who is understood to have been in foster care, was listed as missing just over a week ago, last seen at McDonalds on her way to class at Marsden State High School.
It is understood the body found on the bank of the Pimpama River was no longer in the uniform, but still had distinctive jewellery.
Police are treating the death as suspicious.
They were unable to identify the body straight away because of the condition it was in.
Tiahleigh went missing on the morning of October 30 but police did not appeal for help to locate her until Thursday.
Distraught family and friends of the foster child turned to social media in a public appeal for answers to her disappearance.
One person said while Tiahleigh had run off before, it had only ever been for a few hours.
Regional crime co-ordinator Superintendent Dave Hutchinson was speaking with the family of Tiahleigh last night, and advised anyone who had been on the Pimpama River over the past week to come forward.
“We are really interested in speaking with anybody who was at that (Kerkin Rd North) bridge or that part of the river any time over the last seven days,” he said.
“Even if they think that they can’t help us, even if they think they saw nothing, it’s really important to us that they come forward and tell us that they saw nothing so we can make a timeline.”
An investigation centre has been established at the Logan Police Complex as detectives continue to investigate the matter.
Call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000
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