NEED TO KNOW
Payge Leembruggen, 31, was found dead in sand dunes near Mackay Harbour North Wall, Mackay, Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday, Sept. 15, four days after she was last seen
Leembruggen, who had a 5-year-old son, lived with extended family and was last seen at a hair salon around 3.9 miles west of where her body was found on Friday, Sept. 11
Police are investigating her death and seeking information from the public about her movements
A mother has been found dead in sand dunes, four days after she was last seen, prompting Australian police to launch an investigation into her death.
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, just after 8 a.m. local time, emergency services were called to a location near Mackay Harbour North Wall in Mackay, eastern Queensland, after a member of the public found a deceased woman, according to a Queensland Police press release.
Authorities named her as 31-year-old Payge Leembruggen.
Leembruggen was last seen at a hair salon on Celeber Drive in Andergrove at around 8:55 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 11 — around 3.9 miles west of where her body was found.
Payge Leembruggen
Credit: Queensland Police
Police described her as Caucasian, about 5 feet 8 inches tall, with brown hair. Leembruggen was last seen wearing a white top, bright red trousers, a red bow in her hair.
Officers are continuing to investigate the circumstances and cause of her death.
Leembruggen had not been reported missing to authorities before her body was found, Mackay Whitsunday District Detective Inspector Emma Novosel noted in a media conference on Wednesday, Sept. 16, which was reviewed by PEOPLE.
Novosel said Leembruggen had a 5-year-old son and lived with extended family in Mount Jukes — around 25 miles northwest of where she was found.
The young boy is now being looked after by other members of his family. Leembruggen did not have a partner who lived with her.
“We always treat an unexplained death as suspicious until proven otherwise,” Novosel said at the conference.
Lamberts Beach in Mackay, near Mackay Harbour
Credit: Alamy
The detective inspector said Leembruggen’s family were all “really upset at the loss of their loved family member.”
“Our thoughts are really with [her] family,” she added.
Novosel added that an autopsy had been scheduled and that police could not comment on a cause of death.
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Leembruggen’s body was located in sand dunes around 0.6 miles north of the North Wall car park by a man who was walking with his dogs, Novosel said in the conference.
“The area where Payge’s body was located, I understand, is quite dense and difficult to navigate and there’s various paths through that area, so the gentleman that located her had been using that path, hadn’t been there for some time prior,” Novosel said.
She added that Queensland Police and the State Emergency Service (SES) were searching the area where Leembruggen was found.
Novosel said it was not unusual for Leembruggen to travel from her address to Mackay city.
Police are appealing for information from anyone who may have seen Leembruggen between Sept. 11 and Sept. 15, or who may have information that could help their investigation.
Read the original article on People