'Harmless soul': Touching tributes as community remembers Tina Kontozi following brutal bashing death

The Bundeena community held a touching memorial overnight to remember a beloved member of their community, Tina Kontozi, who was allegedly bashed to death with a cricket bat.

The tribute was held at nearby Jibbon Beach where friends and family gathered to mourn the death of the mother but also celebrate her life.

Ms Kontozis’s nephew, Adam Kontozis, called his aunt a “harmless soul” when posting an image from the memorial onto social media.

Adam wrote in another post, "I've had people very close to me pass away before. It's heartbreaking."

"However, when someone is forcibly taken from us, it's another feeling all together. I've never felt this much rage and anger in my life. You've caused my family and I so much grief today, you've literally ended the life of a harmless soul."

Family friend Sonia Chase told The Daily Telegraph that the whole town was mourning the loss of a “saint” who had helped nearly every local family by caring for their kids at the childcare centre.

Friends and neighbours donned white to raise awareness for victims of domestic violence.

The moving tribute was held merely hours after news broke that Stephen Boyd had been arrested following a 24-hour manhunt after his wife was beaten to death south of Sydney.

Police had spent Sunday night and Monday searching for Stephen Boyd in Sydney's Royal National Park after he was suspected of bashing former partner to death.

PolAir combed the Royal National Park throughout the night before Mr Boyd was spotted 300 kilometres south of Sydney.

Boyd’s silver commodore was spotted by highway patrol officers and a pursuit began down the Kings Highway at Braidwood.

Officers caught up with him on lower Wallace Street in Braidwood after he took a wrong turn.

The 51-year-old was arrested just before 5pm on Monday evening after and taken into police custody.

Sutherland Police Detective Chief Inspector Terry O'Neil said they met a number of Boyd's acquaintances in an attempt to try and establish where he is before the arrest while forensic teams gathered bags of evidence from the family home.

Mr Boyd's ex-wife Tina Kontozi was found dead in her home in Bundeena on Sunday afternoon after she was allegedly bludgeoned to death.

Her 17-year-old son also suffered serious arm injuries in the attack.

He was taken to St George Hospital for treatment where it's understood he remains in a stable condition but reportedly is devastated about losing his mother.

Apprehended violence orders were in place to protect both Kontozi and her teenage son before the attack.

Police were called to Ms Kontozi's home at Beachcomber Avenue after 3pm Sunday on reports of yelling and screaming from the home's top storey.

A major manhunt concentrated in the areas of Maianbar was carried out for a full night and day as police locked down the area.

The 51-year-old's body was discovered by emergency services who arrived at the scene at around 3.30pm Sunday.

Neighbours told 7 News one man attacked the man and woman in a domestic incident in the isolated town in the Royal National Park, across the water from Cronulla.

“Tina was a wonderful neighbour, she was a beautiful person, she had a beautiful spirit, she was gentle, kind,” a former neighbour told 7 News.

“She was the loveliest person. She was quite well known, she had lived here for a long time,” another friend told The Daily Telegraph.

“She was very nurturing. She was an inspiration to all in Bundeena.”

She also said the childcare worker would be missed terribly within the close knit community.

A heavy police presences remained in Bundeena as officers searched for Ms Kontozi's former partner, who was thought to have left the premises in a silver Holden Commodore sedan after the alleged murder.

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Morning news break - April 25