Family mourns Danielle Easey’s death as police track last movements
She made headlines the moment she was born — delivered on the lawn outside a Newcastle hospital on the day the city was struck by an earthquake in 1989. Now, Danielle Easey, known as “Quaker’’, is in the headlines over her brutal and callous killing.
Newcastle
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From her first breath she was known as “Quaker”, the wonder baby born on a lawn outside a Newcastle hospital as the city was being struck by a massive earthquake.
It was 1989, and Danielle Easey’s story was to feature prominently in articles and interviews for decades as a touching testament to the miracle of life.
But almost 30 years later, her grief-stricken family must deal with the horrific news that life has been stolen from their “earthquake baby”— now a young woman who has been found brutally murdered and dumped in a muddy creek, where she may have lain for three weeks.
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Homicide detectives are scrambling to pinpoint Ms Easey’s last movements, made more difficult because the mother-of-two’s fall into the drug scene.
Although she was based at her mother’s home at Booragul, Ms Easey was known to “couch surf” at the homes of friends and associates as her illicit habit dragged her away from those who loved her.
Her family last saw Ms Easey several weeks ago and her lifestyle meant she was never reported as a missing person before her body, wrapped tightly in plastic, was discovered floating in Cockle Creek at Killingworth near Newcastle by a passing motorist on Saturday morning.
It was less than 8km from the home of her loving mother, Jennifer Collier.
“My heart is terribly, terribly broken,” Ms Easey’s brother Brendan Easey posted on social media.
“Right now I’m not OK. I’ll hold up. Spend your thoughts on a memory of ‘Dell’, my little sister.’’
Homicide squad Detective Chief Inspector Grant Taylor said Ms Easey had “died a gruesome death”.
She had suffered significant injuries, with detectives suspecting her killers spent some time meticulously wrapping her up before inexplicably picking Cockle Creek, next to a busy road, to try to hide her body.
There she lay for up to three weeks before a motorist saw the plastic and rang authorities.
“We know that Danielle was staying at different locations over the last three weeks and we are keen to establish where those locations were and speak to who she stayed with during that time,’’ Detective Chief Inspector Taylor said.
“Of particular interest to us is any sightings or contact with Danielle since early to mid-August, and we are appealing for those people to contact us as soon as possible.
“Our investigations have revealed Danielle had been associating with people involved in drug-related activities over the last few weeks.”
In fact, Ms Easey had been battling her addiction for much longer.
Her current boyfriend, known on social media as Benny Todd, is currently in jail after being arrested on serious charges last month. The Daily Telegraph does not suggest he had anything to do with Ms Easey’s death.
However, his incarceration prompted Ms Easey to continue to “couch surf” across an unknown number of homes, mainly near where her body was found.
She was known to police across Lake Macquarie, Newcastle and Maitland and was due to appear in Newcastle Local Court last week for breaching community corrections orders on a range of offences including break and enter, goods in custody and custody of a knife in a public place.
Three days after that scheduled court date, her body was discovered.
Strike Force Furzer has been set up to hunt down the killers, with detectives still attempting to determine when Ms Easey died.
“Our primary focus at present is to try and establish when Danielle was killed and where,” Chief Inspector Taylor said. “This is where we would be very interested to hear from members of the public if they know anything regarding where Danielle was when she met her fate.”
Some of her family gathered at her mother’s house yesterday while her father, who lives on the Central Coast, was being cared for by friends. Her two children live with their fathers.
Other friends were reminiscing about her time in the spotlight after she was born on the lawn of the Western Suburbs Maternity Hospital on December 28, 1989.
Mrs Collier had been in the labour ward with contractions just a few minutes apart when quake struck and the hospital was evacuated. Ms Easey was born seven minutes after the shock. In 1990 her mother recalled: “I was scared and confused but when Danielle was born I felt nothing but relief that my baby was all right.”