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Coroner rules on disappearance

Coroner delivers findings after inquest into disappearance of teacher Tracy Margaret Marshall. Picture: Supplied.

The mystery disappearance of a school teacher who went missing the day before a cyclone swept across the Pilbara has finally been laid to rest, after a coroner ruled she committed suicide

Tracy Margaret Marshall vanished in February 2011, after discharging herself from Nickol Bay hospital in Karratha where she was being treated for mental health issues.

Her car was found abandoned the day she went missing, just before Cyclone Carlos hit Western Australia, dumping massive amounts of water on the area and hampering the ground search for Ms Marshall, 35.

Despite land and air searches, Ms Marshall remained missing, with a 2013 inquest concluding she had died but giving no cause.

Then last year, two Rio Tinto employees discovered Ms Marshall’s skeletal remains beneath a powerline tower, just 900m from where her car had been found almost four years previously.

A second inquest heard in January how a rope, which had been in Ms Marshall’s car, was observed slung over the pylon under which the remains were found.

Ms Marshall’s mobile phone was located in the pocket of the shorts, along with keys, and her left ring finger still held a wedding and engagement ring, which were later identified by her husband.

In her findings handed down today, coroner Evelyn Vicker ruled the death of Ms Marshall a suicide.

She concluded having previously attempted self harms Marshall became stranded in the remote spot after leaving hospital when her car’s radiator was damaged.

“The deceased attempted to determine what was wrong with the vehicle by use of the user’s manual but at some time, and probably in frustration, decided everything was too much for her and decided to complete her attempts of the previous week,” Ms Vicker wrote.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.