Gaida Coote: Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden death remains a mystery
Four years after she went missing, the skeletal remains of an 84-year-old woman were found in the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden. How she met her end is still puzzling investigators.
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The death of an elderly nature lover whose remains were found in bushland on Sydney’s north shore remains a mystery after a second inquest was carried out by the NSW Coroner.
Magistrate Harriet Grahame handed down her findings in the state’s Coroner’s court last week after probing the circumstances surrounding the death of 84-year-old Gaida Coote.
Ms Coote was reported missing by her family in December 2014 after she attended a volunteer bushcare regeneration project in the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden.
After a four year search, two walkers came across her skeletal remains about 150 metres off a path in the gardens.
Detectives also found clothing, a backpack and other items belonging to Ms Coote including a set of car keys and gardening tools.
An original inquest into her disappearance, held in 2016, heard the retired laboratory manager was adventurous, physically fit and “passionate about nature”.
In findings released on Thursday, Ms Grahame said she was “unable to determine the exact cause of her death.”
“I remain unable to establish a medical cause of death. However, there is no evidence of suicide or foul play,” she said.
“At the (original) inquest I could not be satisfied that Ms Coote had perished in the Wildflower Garden as in the absence of her body, it appeared possible that she could have walked beyond the park into surrounding adjacent bushland.
“I am now satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that she died in the garden on or in the days shortly after December 3, 2014.
“I once again express my sincere condolences to Ms Coote’s family (and) thank those involved in this investigation.”
The inquest heard Ms Coote was a regular volunteer at the gardens and her disappearance was “completely out of character.”
The extensive search to locate her had involved multiple police officers scouring dense bushland, an aerial search by the NSW Police helicopter and volunteers from the State Emergency Service.