Body discovered at Hunter’s Hill reserve
DRAG marks, a purple collar on the victim, a taped-off toilet block, possible CCTV footage — police are piecing together evidence where a woman’s body was found in a suburban Sydney park in what they term “definitely suspicious” circumstances.
NSW
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FORENSICS crews are examining the body of a woman found wearing a purple collar in a North Shore playground popular for children’s birthday parties.
The woman’s identity has baffled forensics crews and homicide detectives, who are also studying 30 metres of what appear to be drag marks between a bin and the body.
A council worker discovered the body as he was mowing Buffalo Creek Reserve on Pittwater Rd, Hunters Hill, at 7.30am today.
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The woman was clad in dark clothes with white polka dots, with a purple collar around her neck.
Ryde police and homicide have taken photos of the body, searched the nearby bin and carried out a line search through adjacent bushland for evidence.
Local father Narian Singh said he had raised two children playing in the park, which would have been full today were it not surrounded by police tape.
“My children came here all the time … There are always children’s birthdays here. It would have been packed today,” Mr Singh said.
“That’s amazing, just absolutely shocking.”
Police said a post-mortem would be done on the woman’s body in coming days to establish a cause of death.
“A body found in a park next to a main road and we don’t have a cause of death so at this stage definitely suspicious,” detective superintendent Dave Waddell said.
One man in the park on Wednesday, en route to visit relatives, said the secluded reserve had long needed better lighting and security cameras.
He said his parents had once encountered a “terrified” girl walking alone late at night and had given her a lift to nearby shops.
“It is dangerous,” he said.
The female section of a public toilet block just metres from where the body was discovered was cordoned off with crime scene tape.
The male toilets had no tape.
The cordoned-off female toilets sit about 80m from the body’s location.
Resident Phil Dunne, 50, said the park was regularly used by families and the bicycle lane was used by children learning to ride.
“It’s always full of kids; I come here at 6am and there will be fathers sitting at tables reserving them for parties that start later in the morning on the weekend,” Mr Dunne said.
“During the day, it’s jam-packed.”
Mr Dunne’s wife, Rachel, 53, said the park was popular with families.
“It’s used for dog walking and sport – it’s a very popular park,” she said.
Mrs Dunne said she would not walk in the park alone after hearing of the woman’s death.
“Even though we’ve had no incidents in all the years we’ve lived here, I won’t walk here at night on my own because it is so exposed.
“But you never really think anything like that is actually going to happen. It will shock the community, there’s no doubt.”
A council worker who came to collect the ride-on mower said his colleague who discovered the body was shaken but would be okay.
“He’s fine, he went home for the day. Look, he used to be a nurse and he’s quite used to a few things,” he said.
“I don’t know how much he saw, but he seems okay to me. He went home to speak with his wife.”
Mel Hutson, whose house is opposite the park, said she was woken by the roar of a police helicopter above the leafy enclave.
The 36-year-old was shocked to learn the body was found with women’s clothing, saying her neighbours often spent time in surrounding parklands of the exclusive suburb.
“Good God … the whole area here — lots of local people do the weeding in the park, lots of people walk their dogs and go for runs,” she said.
“I am a bit shocked — this is a really safe, friendly area. Wow, that’s just awful.”
Another resident, who did not want to be identified, said: “It’s really just a horrible thing.”
Detectives are canvassing the area for CCTV and searching for witnesses who drove or walked through the area between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000