Queensland police investigate suspected murder of schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer

TIA Palmer was found at a riverbank so badly decomposed it took a day to identify her. How did she end up there? And what did she do her on her final day?

murder victim Tiahleigh Palmer from social media

FISHERMEN found her. The body of 12-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer was badly decomposed, but it was the awful confirmation that Tiahleigh Palmer was not simply a runaway, but a murder case.

Until the grim discovery of the little girl’s body on the banks of a Gold Coast river, police wondered if she had just run away from home. After all, Tiahleigh had done it before. But this time her family knew something was very wrong.

Her mother had scoured the streets, a Facebook page was setup calling for sightings and her grandmother called police and told them: “Do you want another Daniel Morcombe?”

With no word from Tia and no clue as to where she could be, the family hoped she could be hiding out somewhere, that she would be found and it would all be over.

But the discovery of her body last Thursday, on a remote stretch of the Pimpama River in northern Gold Coast ended that hope, and now a team of 50 detectives is working on what is being treated as a homicide inquiry.

Her school uniform and purple Mambo backpack were not found with her, and now form a crucial part of the investigation. Her body was so badly decomposed it took a day to identify her.

Police are checking where known sexual predators were in the area as they draw up a list of suspects, reported the Courier-Mail. Their findings will form part of the investigation into Tia’s death.

An initial post-mortem examination has failed to say how she died or even an exact time. Those answers might not be known for weeks.

It’s possible she could have been there as long as a week. Police believe she was probably left where she was found, but haven’t ruled out the possibility she floated downstream.

Tiahleigh Palmer loved the colour purple.

Until then all police can do is try and piece together the young girl’s movements. What is known is that she was dropped off by her foster carer just down the road from Marsden State High School at 8.10am on October 30.

A schoolfriend, Kaitlyn, told News Corp she saw Tia being dropped off.

“She walked past and said ‘hey’ and just kept walking,” Kaitlyn said. “I was going to stop her but I didn’t know where she was going. I thought she was just getting food.”

From that time on there are sightings of Tia around Logan — but so far they are all unconfirmed, with police hoping students who may have made plans with her that day will come forward.

One possibility is she planned to meet up with someone that day and never intended going to school, where her school showcase was due to be held. Mysteriously, her Facebook page was deactivated that same day.

Detective Superintendent Dave Hutchinson of the South Eastern Police Region said officers were trying to corroborate all the reported sightings. He has also called for anyone with dash-cam footage and who was in the area on October 30 to come forward.

He is hopeful if Tia did plan to go somewhere else that day she would have spoken to someone about it.

Tiahleigh Palmer, 12, was last seen when she was dropped off near Marsden State High School on October 30.

Tiahleigh Palmer’s body took a day to be identified.

Tia’s family is angry about the time it took for police to alert the media to her disappearance and have started a Facebook page calling for information.

Her foster sister told the Gold Coast Bulletin she believed police disregarded the importance of the 12-year-old’s disappearance because she had run off before.

“We feel that had this been made more public more quickly, someone may have seen her and prevented this from happening,” she said.

“We found that on all the posts about her being missing that people disregarded the importance because she ran off before. So we want parents and carers to be able to publicly share that their child has gone missing, even if it is only for an hour ... every second is crucial.”

Sue Palmer, Tia’s grandmother, also called police a day before the body was found and tried to convince them she wasn’t “a wild runaway.”, The Bulletin reported.

A backpack similar to the one used by Tiahleigh Palmer, 12.

Police and SES search for clues near Pimpama where 12-year-old Tiahleigh Palmer's body was found.

Candle light vigil for murdered schoolgirl victim Tiahleigh Palmer at Marsden held on Sunday night.

“Then I really went to town on police. I said, ‘do you want another Daniel Morcombe?’”

But Detective Supt Hutchinson said police had started making inquiries from the moment they got the missing persons report.

It emerged last week her mother Cyndi Palmer, 30, had hoped to get custody of her after spending years in and out of jail. Detective Supt Hutchinson told reporters he was aware of Tia’s complicated family situation but didn’t believe her siblings were involved, or that it was relevant.

In the meantime, the school has sent an email warning students to be aware of potential dangers. A candlelight vigil was also held last night to pay tribute to the girl who dreamt of becoming a dancer.

Hundreds of family and friends wore Tiahleigh’s favourite colour purple, carried balloons, and lit candles and shared memories

One note described her as a “guardian angel” — a sentiment repeated on Facebook tribute sites along with many who couldn’t understand why it had happened.

“Why would anyone want to hurt such a Beautiful soul and such a precious girl your such a caring human and I can’t believe that anyone would hurt you ... I’m so sad that this happened to u why I ask but you’ll bee okay your up in heaven fly high (sic),” wrote Sky Frost.

+ Anyone with information on the case is urged to contact CrimeStoppers on 1800 333 00.

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Originally published as Queensland police investigate suspected murder of schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer