‘There are no words to describe how painful this is’

On a Friday night almost three weeks ago, Crystal Beale went to dinner with her family on Brisbane’s southside.

Hours later, the 49-year-old’s body was found in the Brisbane River, leaving questions about her final moments.

Her daughter has now spoken of her family’s heartbreak, as police launched a homicide investigation.

Crystal Beale with daughter Charlie-Rose Wagner.

“There are no words to describe how painful this is,” Charlie-Rose Wagner says.

“Myself and my family just want answers.

“My mum was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. She was my everything.”

Detectives are now working around the clock to find out what happened to Beale, and how her body ended up in the water near the Brisbane Corso in Yeronga in the early hours of February 21.

Her body was found with “no obvious injuries”, leading officers to initially rule her death as non-suspicious.

But on Wednesday, police made a public appeal for information about Beale, who was being remembered by friends and family as a loving and caring mother.

“A kind, loving and caring mother to me and my brother. We miss her terribly already,” Wagner said.

Crystal Beale was remembered as a kind, caring and loving mother by her daughter, Charlie-Rose Wagner.

A friend, who asked not to be named, said she could not believe Beale was gone.

“Crystal and I met as school mums, and she was a beautiful lady, inside and out,” she said. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”

Another friend, who said he last spoke to Beale in November, described the police update as very sad.

“She was a caring person, she had an amazing, big smile. She was very kind to people,” he said, adding Beale was always willing to help others in tough times.

The police investigation has so far centred on the fact that detectives believe Beale was near the Brisbane River at Orleigh Park in West End late on February 21.

“Her death in these circumstances is horrific, and we’re committed to seeking justice for her and her family,” Detective Acting Inspector Rod Watts said.

She had been dropped off in Ryan Street, West End, after having been at the Sunnybank Hotel earlier.

CCTV footage released by police showed Beale on the night wearing a long white dress, and carrying a brown leather satchel.

Beale can be seen walking behind two people, understood to be her former partner and her son, and pausing to put on one of her shoes as she leaves the Sunnybank Hotel.

“She was visiting family, and we believe where she’s left, she left a man known to her, and that’s where she’s gone missing, and that’s what we’re trying to piece together, her movements after that,” Watts said.

That man was her former partner. Police have not charged him, and no one has been taken into custody.

When asked by reporters if anything in Beale’s past could provide insights into what might have happened, Watts replied, “it’s probably out of the blue”.

Detectives are working to determine what happened to Crystal Beale. Credit: Facebook

“She’s a mother, she’s going about her business having dinner with her family, dropped off in an area around West End ... and we’re still trying to piece together what’s happened since then.

“Is it a random attack? We actually don’t know.”

Police said there was no suggestion a weapon had been used.

Watts said based on tidal assessments, Beale may have been in the water for about six hours, but this was yet to be confirmed.

Police were investigating several lines of inquiry and had been collecting CCTV footage in the West End area from the night before Beale’s body was found.

Police urged anyone who might have been in the Orleigh Park area between 9.30pm that night and 1am the following morning, or who might have seen Beale or any suspicious behaviour, to come forward.

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