A 31-year-old mother was found dead in sand dunes near Mackay Harbour in Queensland, Australia, four days after she was last seen at a hair salon.
Payge Leembruggen’s body was discovered shortly after 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, near the Mackay Harbour North Wall. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death and have appealed to the public for information about her movements.
Payge Leembruggen Was Last Seen on Sept. 11
Queensland Police said Leembruggen was last seen at a hair salon on Celeber Drive in Andergrove at about 8:55 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11.
The salon was about 3.9 miles west of the location where her body was later found.
At the time she was last seen, Leembruggen was wearing a white top, bright red trousers and a red bow in her brown hair. Police described her as Caucasian and about 5 feet 8 inches tall.
Police said she had not been reported missing before her body was discovered.
Dog Walker Found Her Body in the Sand Dunes
Leembruggen’s body was located about 0.6 miles north of the North Wall car park by a man who was walking his dogs.
Detective Inspector Emma Novosel said the area was dense and difficult to navigate, with several paths running through it.
The man who found Leembruggen had used the particular path before but had not been in the area for some time, Novosel said.
Queensland Police and the State Emergency Service searched the surrounding area after the discovery.
Police Treat the Death as Suspicious Until Proven Otherwise
Police have not announced how Leembruggen died.
An autopsy was scheduled, but Novosel said investigators could not comment on the cause of death while the examination and investigation were ongoing.
“We always treat an unexplained death as suspicious until proven otherwise,” Novosel said during a media conference on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
Police have not announced that anyone has been charged in connection with the death.
Leembruggen Was a Mother of a 5-Year-Old Son
Leembruggen had a 5-year-old son and lived with extended family in Mount Jukes, about 25 miles northwest of where her body was discovered.
Her son is now being cared for by other family members.
Novosel said Leembruggen did not have a partner living with her.
Police also said it was not unusual for Leembruggen to travel from her home to Mackay city.
Her family has been left “really upset” by the loss, Novosel said, as investigators work to establish what happened in the days between her last known sighting and the discovery of her body.
Police Appeal for Information
Investigators are asking anyone who may have seen Leembruggen between Sept. 11 and Sept. 15 to contact Queensland Police.
Police are also seeking anyone who may have information about her movements or anything that could help establish how she came to be in the sand dunes near Mackay Harbour.
The investigation remains ongoing, and the cause and circumstances of Leembruggen’s death have not yet been publicly established.
