Mother of Toyah Cordingley pleads for help finding killer

The devastated mother of murdered pharmacy assistant Toyah Cordingley has made an emotional appeal for the public’s help.

Toyah Cordingley's mum and stepdad made an emotional plea for help in solving the murder of their daughter.

The devastated mother of murdered pharmacy assistant Toyah Cordingley has made an emotional appeal for the public’s help to solve the crime, declaring: “Life for us will never be the same.”

In a 12-minute video released by Queensland police, Vanessa Gardiner told of her family’s frantic search by torchlight for her 24-year-old daughter and the horrific moment her body was discovered on Wangetti Beach, south of Port Douglas, four weeks ago.

“It’s an emotional roller coaster of grief, hate, anger and nothingness, feeling hollow, guilt, not knowing how to feel,” Ms Gardiner said.

Ms Gardiner’s first public comments were made with her husband and “soulmate”, known as Snake, by her side. They had met when Toyah was a young girl, she said.

“Twenty-three years ago I was a lost soul and a single mum to a beautiful one-year-old girl, our Toyah,” she said.

“I had nobody but Toyah. She was my life and I was determined to give her the best life possible.”

They were extremely proud of “the beautiful young woman that our Toyah became”.

Then came the family’s “nightmare” when Ms Cordingley was reported missing by her boyfriend — who has been ruled out as a suspect — on Sunday, October 21.

Ms Gardiner “started calling people to get information”.

With her husband away, Ms Gardiner headed out with her son, Jack, and Ms Cordingley’s father, Troy Cordingley, to search Wangetti Beach.

Detective Inspector Sonia Smith on Wangetti Beach where Toyah Cordingley was murdered Picture: Anna Rogers

They searched “in pure darkness with our little torches” until light at 5.30am, eventually finding Ms Cordingley’s dog, Indie. Ms Cordingley had been walking Indie on the beach.

Police and the SES arrived at the beach but it was Ms Cordingley’s father who found her body.

“Despite being exhausted, Jack started carrying Troy back to the car park before the SES helped him back,” she said.

“Jack needed a short break on the beach. It was a truly heartbreaking moment

“The disbelief of everything started and we spent the rest of our day with police at two stations in a state of shock.”

She added: “If there is anyone who is holding back or knows something about this, no matter how small the information may be, we plead with you to come forward to bring us closer to finding who and why anyone would do this to our Toyah.

“You can help our broken family by bringing hope and justice for Toyah’s senseless death.

“Life for us will never, ever be the same.”

Cairns woman Toyah Cordingley, 24, was murdered at Wangetti Beach on October 21, 2018.

The appeal came as detectives said they wanted to hear from women who have been approached by aggressive men at beaches or secluded areas near Cairns.

Detectives are now also urging anyone who may have seen anything suspicious or out of the ordinary in the Lake Placid area on October 21 to contact them.

Police and the SES searched areas surrounding Lake Placid and Carivonica on the weekend after detectives identified areas of interest to the investigation, with a police sniper on crocodile watch yesterday standing guard over divers searching a creek for evidence.

“To maintain the integrity of the investigation police are unable to provide any further comment in relation to the areas of interest or the results of the search,” police said in a statement.

With the killer still at large, Detective Inspector Sonia Smith said she wanted to “reassure the residents of Cairns and Wangetti Beach that their safety remains paramount to police”.

“To date, public appeals by police have resulted in over 800 calls to crime stoppers, and motorists and businesses providing CCTV and dashcam footage to investigators,” Insp Smith said.

“We remain committed to finding answers for Toyah and her family.

“I’d like to thank my officers for their tireless work and dedication. Our team comprises not only local officers but police from as far as Brisbane and Thursday Island. We all want to get to the truth of what happened to Toyah and we won’t rest until we do.”