Search for answers after Sarah Gatt’s gruesome death in Kensington
SARAH Gatt’s body lay decomposing in a bathtub at a Kensington house for eight months before police made the gruesome discovery. Now the family of the mother-of-four is appealing to the public to help solve her grisly death.
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THE family of a mother-of-four whose decomposing body was found in Kensington in January is appealing to the public to help solve her grisly death.
Police made the gruesome discovery after attending a public housing property at Lambeth St on 3 January on an unrelated matter.
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Sarah Gatt, 40, was found in a bathtub and forensic testing revealed she died sometime between 20 — 24 April last year.
Homicide detectives believe a violent assault took place at the home prior to her death and conscious steps were taken to conceal her body and imply she was still alive several months after her death.
Homicide Detective Inspector Tim Day urged anyone who was told or given information to suggest Ms Gatt was still alive after April 24 to come forward.
“It’s disturbing and concerning to investigators that it appears someone has deliberately attempted to make it look as though Sarah was still alive,” he said.
“There’s evidence from the scene and post offence conduct that would indicate that deliberate steps were made to conceal her death.”
Ms Gatt’s family said they lost contact 18 months ago and described her as someone with ambition who took the wrong path in life.
Her father, Victor Gatt, said he tried to steer his daughter in the right direction but she started taking drugs in her mid-teens.
“Whatever I said to her she didn’t want to do, I tried plenty of times to help her,” he said.
“I’m not feeling any good. I lost my daughter and I should’ve pushed myself to go see her, but Sarah was the type if she didn’t want to see you she wouldn’t.”
Ms Gatt’s stepmother, Cheryl Gatt, said they used to visit prior to losing contact.
“We didn’t have much detail on her life,” she said.
“We used to visit for a few hours and talked about just things not specifics because it created a bad vibe.”
The family is appealing to anyone with information to contact police.
“No one deserves to die like that,” Cheryl Gatt said.
“It doesn’t matter what happened or what her life was like, she doesn’t deserve this.”
“We would really like those people with information to come forward because sometimes it’s just a little bit of information that fits in with the puzzle.”
Three men and two women were all questioned by police in April however no one has been charged and all five were released pending further inquiries.
They remain persons of interest in this investigation.
None of Sarah’s four children were living with her at the property at the time of her death.
Detectives are particularly interested in speaking to anyone who received information to suggest that Sarah was still alive after her death in April.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
