Sarah Brown’s mother asks for coronial inquest into her death

The disappearance and grim discovery of a young woman’s body in bushland near Gympie were ruled unsuspicious by police, but a mother’s persistence and new evidence flushed out by a podcast on the case could lead to a coronial inquest.

The devastated mother of a young woman found dead in bushland near Gympie three years ago wants a coronial inquest opened into her daughter’s strange disappearance and death, listing multiple questions about conflicting statements given to police at the time, her movements before she went missing and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body.

Multiple ‘points of dispute’ and allegations of an inadequate police investigation headline a mother’s plea to the office of the Queensland Coroner to open a full inquest into the disappearance of 23-year-old Sarah Elise Brown, whose body was found in bushland a week after she went missing from her Gympie home in 2021.

Sarah’s mother Janet Gardner’s desperate attempts to find her daughter after she went missing on June 7, 2021, were heart wrenching.

Ms Gardner arrived in Gympie the day Sarah disappeared from the home she shared at Victory Heights, not far from the location of her body in bushland off Barton Rd.

Her death was ruled a suicide after a police investigation.

The devastated mother of a young woman found dead in bushland near Gympie three years ago wants a coronial inquest opened into her daughter’s disappearance and death, listing multiple questions about conflicting statements given to police at the time, her movements before she went missing and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body.

Sarah Brown’s death in a timeline

Earlier this year, retired detective Graeme Crowley launched a podcast into Sarah’s case, which reportedly flushed out new information regarding Sarah’s disappearance and death, “implicating several people known to Sarah in serious crimes”.

Ms Gardner has written an official letter of request to the Queensland Coroner, asking for a full Coronial Inquest and claiming that her daughter died at the hands of somebody else who was still out in the community.

A redacted version of her plea says, “A coroner may (also) hold an inquest if it’s in the public interest to do so. They may decide there is significant doubt about the cause and circumstances of death or believe an inquest may prevent future deaths or uncover systemic issues that affect public health and safety”.

The devastated mother of a young woman found dead in bushland near Gympie three years ago wants a coronial inquest opened into her daughter’s disappearance and death, listing multiple questions about conflicting statements given to police at the time, her movements before she went missing and the circumstances surrounding the discovery of her body.

“I believe the circumstances surrounding Sarah’s death ticks all those boxes,” Ms Gardner wrote to the Coroner.

“It is clearly in the public’s interest to be safe from predators when they can be identified, and as the public are now becoming aware of the inadequate investigation into Sarah’s death the police investigation is being scrutinised on several social media platforms...

Ms Gardner said witnesses had claimed Sarah had been held in a room at a local hotel for three days while she was missing, and that her body had been dressed and make-up applied after she had died.

She has told the coroner there was one person Sarah was afraid of because he had tried to have sex with her previously after giving her drugs, and that witnesses told her that on June 7, 2021, Sarah had overdosed on a drug called Frank at somebody’s house.

June 7 is the day Sarah disappeared, purportedly to go to the shop.

Sarah Brown went missing from Gympie on June 7, 2021, and her body was found at Victory Trails off Barton Rd in Gympie one week later.

They also claimed Sarah was in someone’s car “asleep” the day before her body was found, and that a woman had been approached by somebody seeking advice on how to dispose of Sarah’s body.

The letter contains many more queries on the case, including that there was no investigation into where Sarah had been for that week before her body was found.

“Due to her extreme phobia of bugs, Sarah would not willingly situate herself in a bush location under any circumstances,” Ms Gardner said.

“Since Sarah’s death I have not been satisfied with the way police have handled her case, leading me to communicate directly with your office.

“My own inquiries have resulted in statements and recordings of witnesses that are startling and directly contradict the QPS version of events.

Retired detective and private investigator Graeme Crowley has a different view on the cause of death of 23-year-old Gympie woman Sarah Brown in 2021, which was originally ruled a suicide.

“As Sarah’s mother and having had contact with my daughter very regularly on the days before her disappearance, I do not believe that Sarah was suicidal.

“Sarah had saved money for a bond deposit to secure new accommodation. Sarah had family and friends who adored her, and a dog who would not leave her side. She also had plans for her future.

“I am disappointed that a thorough investigation into her death was not conducted and believe that the investigating officers deemed her manner of death a suicide very soon after her body was discovered, which in turn led to an inadequate investigation.

“I am asking for an inquest into my daughter’s death, not only for myself and Sarah’s loved ones, but for the sake of the public and to keep our communities safe from predators who do not value life.”

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Originally published as Sarah Brown’s mother asks for coronial inquest into her death