'Devoted' mum identified as woman found dead in charity bin
A woman who was found dead in a Gold Coast charity bin has been identified as a 43-year-old mum of three.
Mikki O’Shea, also known as Charmaine, was found dead by a member of the public trapped in a charity bin near a shopping centre in Burleigh Heads on Monday about 7am.
A Queensland Police spokeswoman told Yahoo News Australia it appeared the bin lid had come down on the woman.
Firefighters had to cut her body free.
Her car was found nearby suggesting she had driven to the charity bin and the Gold Coast Bulletin understands she had a history of scavenging through them.
Photos published by News Corp show her car filled with items, potentially ones she had collected or she was looking to donate herself.
Woman who died in charity bin remembered as 'joyful'
Loved ones of Ms O’Shea have paid tribute to her via a GoFundMe page.
“Mikki was a vibrant, creative, and just all round amazing person who was a devoted single mother to her three kids,” the page reads.
“She was the most generous person someone could ever meet.
“She was such a joyful woman.
"The family of Mikki is going through a very difficult time as this was a horrible accident that no one could've expected.
"The family has still not been told the whole story."
Ms O'Shea's death is not being treated as suspicious by police.
Another friend wrote she was “heartbroken” over Ms O’Shea’s death.
Police's charity bin warning after past deaths
Superintendent Rhys Wildman told the Bulletin it appeared the woman had tried to remove items from the bin before she died.
“These bins are designed for a one-way mechanism, they are designed for people to place items in,” he said.
“They are not play items those bins, obviously there is a risk as unfortunately we found out.”
In 2015, a Sydney man was found dead with his legs sticking out of a bin in Rosebery in NSW.
Two Canadians were found dead in charity bins in the space of two weeks in 2019.
Jeremy Hunka, of Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver, told The Canadian Press at the time the problem was “unthinkable”.
“People have died, and they have inadvertently become death traps… it boggles my mind that they’re still in operation,” he said.
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