By Jessica McSweeney
Detectives are investigating the mysterious death of a grandmother whose remains were found half-buried at a NSW beach more than three months after and 800 kilometres away from where she was last seen.
Wendy Hansen, 63, was reported missing from her Queensland home on February 29 after she failed to return home from a normal day of running errands, police said.
Hansen, who police described as a local businesswoman and grandmother to at least four grandchildren, was last seen on CCTV withdrawing cash from an ATM in Monto, 170 kilometres west of Bundaberg. Police were alerted when she didn’t return home and couldn’t be contacted.
Hansen was captured on CCTV again driving on the Bruce Highway near Wild Horse Mountain on the Sunshine Coast about 2.30pm that day. She was driving a silver 2007 two-door Mitsubishi Pajero.
The trail then went cold, with no trace of Hansen for the next three months.
A volunteer doing bushland regeneration work at Jetty Beach on June 18 made the discovery of half-buried skeletal human remains near Jordan Esplanade at Coffs Harbour.
Wendy Hansen’s death is being treated as suspicious.Credit: NSW Police
Personal items including a backpack, silver earrings, hair clips and a copy of Anne-Marie Conway’s novel Butterfly Summer were found nearby, although the identity of the person was not immediately clear.
Police initially thought the remains were historical, but further forensic analysis led detectives to believe the remains might have been at the beach for up to four years.
The remains have since been identified as belonging to Wendy Hansen.
Police are investigating the possibility that Hansen was killed not long after she went missing. Her disappearance was out of character, and she had no history that would indicate why she would leave her family, police said.
Police haven’t found the car Hansen was driving. Credit: NSW Police
Her death is being treated as suspicious, and homicide detectives are appealing for anyone with information, specifically about the location of her car which is yet to be found, to come forward to police.
“We’re treating it as a suspicious death and at this stage the highly unusual disappearance of a loving grandmother who has been found 800 kilometres from home and no one knows why. It’s a mystery, and we would like to solve that mystery and provide those answers to the family,” Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said.
Hansen’s cause of death also remains a mystery. Doherty said Hansen had no links to Coffs Harbour.
Hansen’s son, Donald Hagan, thanked the community and police for their efforts in the search for his mother.
“Unfortunately this is not the result we hoped for. The NSW Police are still looking for mum’s car so if you have any info please pass it on to the relevant authorities,” he said in a social media post.
Friends have remembered Hansen as a “kind and caring soul” and an “amazing woman”.
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