Autopsy on battered body of Nicole Cartwright inconclusive
Forensic tests are being carried out on the battered body of Nicole Cartwright, who was found dead in a park in Hunters Hill this month, after an autopsy proved inconclusive.
NSW
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Forensic tests are being carried out on the body of a woman found dead in a park in Hunters Hill this month, after an autopsy proved inconclusive.
Homicide detectives, who are continuing to hunt for killer, are keenly waiting the results of the forensic tests to help them determined the woman’s cause of death.
The body of Nicole Cartwright, 32, was found bound and beaten at Buffalo Creek Reserve in Hunters Hill on October 3.
“We are still waiting on some significant forensic material and analysis that will inform our steps in that investigation,” homicide squad Commander Scott Cook told reporters in Sydney on Friday.
“We don’t know the cause of death yet — that’s the issue we need to resolve in the first instance.”
Detective Superintendent Cook said forensic results often take time — sometimes months — depending on their complexity.
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He insisted the investigation was “proceeding quite well”.
“It’s troubling but it’s not the end of the world,” he said.
“We’ll get through this, we’ve done it before, it doesn’t matter how long it takes.
“We’ll continue to investigate this and other murders to the fullest extent possible.”
Ms Cartwright’s family on Thursday said the 32-year-old had been a much loved and cherished member of the family.
Nicole brightened their lives with a radiance that “made you happy just being near her”, the family said in the statement.
She was “kind and sweet but also bold and fun” with an infectious smile and contagious laughter.
Ms Cartwright was farewelled at a funeral at Gledswood, in Sydney’s southwest, on Wednesday.
Police previously released CCTV footage of the last time she was seen alive at Museum Railway Station at 9.30pm on September 30 — three days before her body was found in the same clothes.
Detectives have spoken with a large number of people and are able to account for Ms Cartwright’s whereabouts for most of the long weekend of September 28 to 30.
However, they still need information on what happened to Ms Cartwright after September 30.