Public plea for help to piece together final hours of woman found dead on beach
Police are appealing for the public’s help in four key areas as their investigation continues into the death of 24-year-old Cairns woman Toyah Cordingley, whose body was found on a remote stretch of Wangetti Beach on Monday.
Ms Cordingley was reported missing on Sunday evening after driving with her dog to the beach for a walk just after 2pm and failing to return home.
Her body was found on Monday, approximately 800 metres from where she had parked her car, while her dog was found unharmed nearby.
Detectives want to speak with anyone who interacted with Ms Cordingley at Rusty’s Markets in Cairns on Sunday afternoon. Ms Cordingley was at the markets between midday and 1pm, before driving to Wangetti Beach.
Police are also asking for anyone with dashcam footage recorded on Sunday between 12 noon and 7pm on on the Captain Cook Highway between Smithfield and Port Douglas, to hand it in to a local police station.
They are also interested in talking to anyone who regularly uses Wangetti Beach, especially anyone who has footage of the northern or southern car parks at Wangetti Beach.
“The southern carpark is approximately four kilometres south of The Wrecks lookout and the northern carpark is approximately 600 metres south of The Wrecks,” Detective Inspector Sonia Smith said.
Det Insp Smith also appealed to any friends or colleagues who had not yet spoken to police to come forward with any information they may have about Ms Cordingley’s movements in the week before her death.
“We have had a number of members of the community [come forward] and we thank them for coming forward,” she said.
“At the moment, we have in excess of 23 Crime Stoppers files of people who have come forward.”
A forensic search of the southern area of Wangetti Beach is likely to continue into Wednesday, with SES teams called in along with police divers from Brisbane, who are searching for any personal items belonging to the victim.
While the official cause of death is not yet known, police said they were open to “all lines of inquiry,” with “nothing ruled in or out.”
On Monday police said they were treating her death as a potentially sexually-related murder.
“If we’re dealing with a potentially sexually related murder, which commonsensically we may be, we may well be dealing with a male,” Detective Senior Sergeant Ed Kinbacher said.
“It may well be the case this young woman has run into a stranger or potentially a person known to her, and circumstances have unfolded that have led to her death.
“So it’s critical that anyone who was there come forward and let us know because I think that, at the end of the day, will provide us with the leads we potentially need to solve this matter.”
Anyone with information relating to Ms Cordingley’s death should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via the online reporting page.