Rene Latimore found dead on property owned by Origin great Martin Bella
A homicide investigation has been launched into the death of a woman on a Queensland property bought by Martin Bella.
A woman missing for three weeks has been found dead in suspicious circumstances on a rural property recently purchased by rugby league footballer Martin Bella.
The body of Rene Latimore, 31, was found at Ilbilbie, south of Mackay, on a property where she had been staying with family.
Former Origin star and now-Mackay councillor Bella bought the property to run cattle, but former owners the Latimores continued to reside there.
In an unrelated incident, Bella was allegedly run down by a neighbour in an altercation at the same 270ha property last month.
A police statement at the time said two men, aged 54 and 57 and known to each other, “became involved in a verbal altercation” on a road outside the property around 4.30pm Thursday, July 15.
“It is further alleged that following the altercation, the 54-year-old man got in his ute and drove it directly at the 57-year-old man, who had returned to his quad bike,” police said.
“The ute then crashed into the quad bike and forced it down into a drain, causing the 57-year-old man to be thrown from the vehicle.
“The 54-year-old man then allegedly exited his vehicle, approached the man and sprayed him in the eyes with the unknown substance before further assaulting him.”
The 54-year-old man has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and assault occasioning bodily harm.
Detective Inspector Tom Armitt said a woman’s body was found at the property at 2.30pm Sunday and had not yet been formally identified.
“However, we strongly believe the person we‘ve located to be Rene Latimore,” he said.
“Due to circumstances, we are conducting a homicide investigation. I can’t reveal the reasons at this particular point in time but indications are her death is going to be treated as suspicious.”
Inspector Armitt said the property sale was so recent that the former owners remained there.
There is no suggestion Bella is connected to Ms Latimore’s death, nor do police have anything to suggest a link between the death and prior alleged assault on Bella.
Bella purchased the property for $1.24m in June, with settlement listed as July 14, the day before he was allegedly assaulted.
Specialist land search police and State Emergency Services volunteers were searching for Ms Latimore and discovered the body.
Ms Latimore had been staying at the property for a matter of months after previously living with her mother in Mackay. She was recorded on CCTV at a Sarina Beach Rd supermarket around 8.30am on Saturday, August 7.
The last confirmed sighting of her was at a home on Schirmer Rd in Ilbilbie around 9am the following day, before her father, stepmother and 14-year-old son left to visit family in Mackay.
She was reported missing on August 18. Police had issued a public appeal for information about her disappearance, saying there were concerns for her welfare as she had a medical condition.
Anyone who had contact with Ms Latimore in the lead-up to her disappearance has been urged to contact police.
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