Police have announced a $500,000 reward for information over the death of a vivacious singer found floating naked in an isolated dam more than 200 kilometres away from her home in the Newcastle region of NSW.
It comes as a NSW Coroner delivered an open finding as to the cause of 41-year-old Cecilia Devine’s death on Tuesday, finding it “regrettable” that police had not made efforts to secure CCTV footage that may have provided vital clues before it was wiped.
Police have offered a $500,000 reward for information about the 2018 death of Cecilia Devine.
Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan agreed with police there was merit to the theory that Devine was murdered by an unknown person at the Upper Cascade Creek dam, which is flanked by dense bushland on the outskirts of Katoomba.
But she ultimately found there was not enough evidence to make any finding as to whether Devine’s death was the result of foul play or misadventure.
“As to the possibility of misadventure, a significant mystery remains,” Ryan said. “How was it that Cecilia came to be in the area of the Upper Cascade Dam at that time, assuming that she had gone there voluntarily?
“There is no evidence that she was familiar with this place, or that it had any particular significance for her.”
Devine, also known as Kristen Pearson, left her Newcastle home in the midst of a mental health episode on September 5, 2018.
She was captured on CCTV footage the following day walking down Katoomba’s main street, where she withdrew $700 in cash, bought warm gloves and a scarf, and more than a kilogram of bananas from a Coles supermarket.
She was upset because she could not find a safe place to stay, witnesses said.
In March 2019 staff at a drinking water treatment facility spotted her naked body floating in the dam.
Due to the degree of decomposition, a post-mortem could not shed any light on the cause of death.
The Cascade dam at Katoomba where Cecilia Devine’s body was found. Credit: Wolter Peeters
The dam is three kilometres from where Devine was last seen in an area inaccessible to the public.
Ryan said it was not unfeasible that the singer could have become lost, but noted her friends and family insisted she would have been looking for a safe place to stay, like a hospital.
“It is difficult to see how this isolated location could have presented itself to her as an appealing or safe place to be,” Ryan said.
“It is for these reasons that Cecilia’s family and friends hold strong concerns that her presence in the Cascade Dams area was not voluntary, and that she may have been the victim of foul play”.
Ryan was able to establish that Devine died within a week of when she was last seen, due to satellite imagery showing her body within the dam.
On Tuesday police announced a $500,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person responsible for Devine’s suspicious death.
“Today’s coronial findings have handed the investigation back to police and we are committed to find the answers the NSW community and Cecilia’s family deserve,” Blue Mountains area commander Superintendent John Nelson said.
“We are urging anyone who saw Cecilia at the time she was reported missing, or who has any information about her whereabouts at the time, to contact police.”
Cecilia’s mother Kathy Pearson welcomed the reward and said she hoped it would shed light on the terrible circumstances that saw her much-loved daughter taken from her.
Cecilia Devine’s mother Kathy Pearson hugs friends of her daughter at the Coroners Court in March.Credit: Nick Moir
“She was a talented singer and songwriter, with a sparkling smile, infectious laugh, and a big heart,” Pearson said.
During the inquest, the lawyer representing Devine’s family, Bernard Lloyd, was scathing of police’s failure to secure CCTV footage for six months, by which time it had been erased.
He also told the court it appeared police’s failure to reassign the case when the officer in charge went on paternity leave meant it lay dormant for months.
Lloyd asked the coroner to recommend police update their protocols for missing person investigations to ensure such failures did not occur again.
Ryan made inquiries and was satisfied significant improvements had been made to procedures that set appropriate time frames for the collection of CCTV footage and other evidence.
Investigations into Devine’s death under Strike Force Eking continue.
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