Drug and DV history examined after woman, 19, found dead in Bondi unit; man, 32, is questioned by police

A major investigation is underway after a 19-year-old woman was found dead in a North Bondi apartment. A 32-year-old man has been arrested.

A young woman found dead in a North Bondi unit had been on a drug bender with her boyfriend the night before, with police now investigating if an overdose led to what they are considering a “suspicious” death.

The 19-year-old and her 32-year-old partner were known to police, with an apprehended domestic violence order (ADVO) between them, which included standard conditions preventing them from associating.

Paramedics are believed to have been called to the unit on Hardy St by the teenager’s partner about 9.20am on Tuesday, after he claimed to have found her not breathing.

She was pronounced dead at the scene and when police arrived a short time they arrested her partner, who was wanted on an outstanding warrant for drug offences, before he was taken to Waverley Police Station for questioning. No charges have been laid over her death.

Police sources said the young woman had a black eye which her partner claimed she had suffered in a bathroom fall.

A 19-year-old woman has been found dead in a North Bondi unit block and a 32-year-old man is assisting police with their investigation. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nikki Short

It is understood that multiple lines of inquiry into the woman’s cause of death remain open, with specialist forensic officers remaining in the unit until late on Tuesday as they continued investigations into her injuries.

The unit where the woman’s body was found is part of a notorious public housing apartment block in the otherwise largely affluent and always beachy suburb.

The woman’s body is removed from a unit on Hardy Street in North Bondi late on Tuesday. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Locals were surprised to find the street taped off with blue and white police tape on Tuesday, with local social media pages littered with people wondering why the street was cordoned off.

Children on their way home from Rose Bay Secondary College, which is located a few hundred metres away, paused to gawk at the large media and police presence around their neighbourhood as they walked up the street and disembarked from school buses at nearby stops.

Nearby resident Bracha Kadouri said news of the death was “shocking”.

“It’s very worrying and right across the road from my house,” Ms Kadouri said.

Swarms of police at the Hardy St unit where the woman’s body was found. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Another resident of the unit block said they knew the “young couple” who lived in the apartment where the body was located, but said they had never heard anything coming from their residence.

In a statement, NSW Police said the woman’s 32-year-old partner was in custody and co-operating with officers at Waverley Police Station and confirmed the woman’s family have been notified of her death.

“About 9.20am today emergency services were called to a unit on Hardy Street, North Bond, following reports a woman was found unresponsive,” the statement read.

“Officers attached to Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command attended, alongside NSW Ambulance paramedics, and located the body of a woman – who is yet to be formally identified, however is believed to be 19 years of age.

“A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident has commenced.

“A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the woman’s cause of death.”

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