United States woman, 45, identified in Palm Cove, Cairns sudden death

Police have identified the woman who tragically died after jumping into the ocean at a Cairns beach.

A woman’s body has been found at Buchan Point beach near Palm Cove, after she jumped from Palm Cove jetty in the early hours of Friday morning. Picture: Brendan Radke

Police have identified the woman who tragically died after jumping into the ocean at a Cairns beach.

A QPS spokeswoman said police were preparing a report for the coroner following the sudden death of a 45-year-old United States woman.

The death is being treated as non-suspicious

A fisherman who watched the woman jump from Palm Cove jetty in the early hours of Friday morning said he warned her of the dangers before she leapt into the murky water below, leaving behind only a pair of pink thongs and a white hotel towel.

The woman’s body was recovered Friday morning at Buchan Point, just north of Palm Cove on the Cairns northern beaches.

Cairns resident David Vin, who had been visiting Palm Cove with a friend, was loading their car when they were approached by the woman.

“We were just doing our own thing, loading our gear into the car when she jumped straight at us and started having a conversation,” Mr Vin said.

Emergency services have made a tragic discovery in the search for a missing woman who entered Palm Cove waters early Friday morning. Photo: Catherine Duffy.

“We didn’t know what to think and then she said she wanted to go for a swim.”

Mr Vin and his friend warned the woman, whom they had never met before, against swimming so late at night.

“We tried to talk to her but she was just in her own world, just a bit out of it,” he said.

“We told her it was dangerous. There are sharks and everything in the water and so late at night, you can’t see anything, but she still went,” he said.

When the pair saw her walk toward the end of the jetty, they knew something was off.

“We didn’t realise how far she had gone until she jumped off the edge of the jetty,” he said.

“We thought she would jump from the middle, because that’s where everybody goes if they want to go for a swim.

Mr Vin called the police once they realised she was going to jump in anyway.

“She just kept walking and kept going and wouldn’t come back,” he said.

Emergency services have made a tragic discovery in the search for a missing woman who entered Palm Cove waters early Friday morning. Photo: Catherine Duffy.

“She jumped off the end of the jetty and kept drifting further away from us. We thought to go in and jump for her, but by then she was too far out.”

Mr Vin said he had thought of jumping in after her, but was concerned for his own safety.

“We thought about jumping in but the water is too murky. And if we did, she was not in a space to want help so we would have been fighting for two (lives),” he said.

“If you’re going in for a swim at that time of night, you’re not asking to be saved.”

Mr Vin said he was sad to learn the woman had died.

“It’s very sad to hear,” he said.

It comes after emergency services made a tragic discovery in the search for the missing woman.

Emergency services were called to the Palm Cove jetty about 2.25am on reports the caucasian woman in her 40s had jumped from the end of the jetty into the ocean, failing to resurface. Photo: Catherine Duffy.

Surf life saving volunteers found the woman’s body in waters off Buchans Point beach, near Palm Cove, about 7.15am Friday.

Emergency services were called to the Palm Cove jetty about 2.25am on reports the caucasian woman in her 40s had jumped from the end of the jetty into the ocean, failing to resurface.

Some items were left behind include pink thongs and a white hotel towel.

Water police, surf life saving volunteers and local police launched a search operation in the area.

Originally published as United States woman, 45, identified in Palm Cove, Cairns sudden death