Sister of transgender woman Bridget Flack shares her desperate pleas to police before tragic death

The heartbroken sister of a transgender woman who took her own life has told a coronial investigation she was “astounded” at the lack of police response to dire pleas for help to find Bridget Flack.

The sister of a transgender woman who took her own life said she was “astounded” by the lack of response by police, who snubbed desperate requests to try locate her sister.

The death of Bridget Flack is one of five suicides of young trans and gender-diverse people being investigated by the Coroner’s Court to prevent future tragedies.

Her sister Angela Pucci Love told the court on Monday Ms Flack, 28, had spent more than a fortnight unsuccessfully calling private inpatient clinics for mental health treatment when she vanished on November 30, 2020.

Eleven days later – after hours of searching by hundreds of members of the LGBTQIA+ community – Ms Flack’s body was found by a billabong in Kew.

Tragically, a day after she disappeared, a mental health bed became available for Ms Flack.

Bridget Flack was last seen on November 30 2020, in Smith St, Collingwood.

Ms Pucci Love told the court police did not assist with the ground searches, repeatedly denied requests for her sister’s phone to be triangulated and even told her she should make a false smoke report to the fire brigade to check if Ms Flack was inside her apartment because they wouldn’t.

At the time she feared her sister could have been murdered but said police did not take her concerns seriously and by day three of Ms Flack’s disappearance, she was told there was nothing more police could do.

“I was astounded that initially it wasn’t taken seriously,” Ms Pucci Love said.

“I was sold a story (from police) that she might be off the grid, sleeping rough along the river, maybe had an episode and was having time out and I kept saying this is not characteristic, this is not normal. I had weeks of texts from her – it was not right.”

The disappearance of Ms Flack was taken over by Melbourne Criminal Investigation Unit Detective Senior Constable Dan Garside on December 4, who received paperwork deeming Ms Flack at “medium” risk of threat or harm.

Ms Pucci Love said the police response vastly improved by this point but it was now too late for police to triangulate her sister’s phone as it had died.

Sen-Constable Garside told the court the initial police response was inadequate.

Heather Pierard is one of five people whose death is being investigated by the Coroner.

“There was plenty more that could be done. You don’t ever reach a point where nothing can be done,” he said.

Asked about referrals made by police for Ms Pucci Love to contact the fire brigade to search her sister’s home, Sen-Constable Garside said: “We should be doing better than that … they could have gotten through the door however they needed to.”

The four-day inquest will examine a cluster of suicide deaths of transgender and gender diverse people in Melbourne during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

They include Heather Pierard, Matt Byrne, Natalie Wilson and a transgender woman known as AS.

All five people were in the process of affirming their gender as female, had ill mental health and some were known to each other.

Ms Pierard took her life three days after AS and two months after Ms Byrne, whom she both knew.

The inquest, before Coroner Ingrid Giles, continues.