The violent slaying of a "free-spirited" young Cairns woman has weighed on the minds of many Queenslanders as the hunt for her killer continues.

Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size As the sun set and darkness blanketed Wangetti Beach, about 40 kilometres north of Cairns, Toyah Cordingley had still not come home. It has now been one year since the 24-year-old disappeared on a far north Queensland beach when she went for a Sunday afternoon stroll with her dog and never returned. She parked her blue Mitsubishi Lancer at Wangetti Beach after spending an hour at her local Cairns market. The only child and her beloved dog, "Indie", left a line of foot and paw prints as they walked along the pristine sand and breathed in the fresh salty air - a routine pastime for many locals. Toyah Cordingley was found dead on Wangetti Beach in north Queensland the day after she was reported missing one year ago today. These would be among her last breaths before she fell victim to an incomprehensible killing that would rock a tight-knit community and turn much of the state's attention to this picturesque stretch of coastline. “I think Toyah’s story shocked people here, absolutely shocked them because we all go walking our dogs on a beach somewhere - everyone does," family friend Wayne "Prong" Trimble told Brisbane Times.


“These beaches up here are absolutely beautiful and you can go to one of these beaches and there is no one on ‘em. "That is why you go there, to let the dog off the lead - a bit of freedom. She used to go out there heaps." Her family reported her missing about 11pm on October 21, 2018, and a search party was sent out to scour the beach the next morning. Rex Lookout and Wangetti Beach, on the Captain Cook Highway between Cairns and Port Douglas in the state's far north. Credit:Alamy It was Toyah's biological father, Troy, who found his daughter's lifeless body on the beach. "Toyah is my only child. Finding her body has burnt an indelible image in my mind. It is something a father should never have to suffer," Mr Cordingley wrote on Facebook in the months after her death. "Toyah and I shared a love that only a father and daughter can understand. I feel lost and empty inside but will always have the wonderful memories of those 24 years - 24 years, she should have had so many more."


Her mother, Vanessa Gardiner, found Indie the dog tied up on the beach. A massive police investigation was launched immediately, with police divers flown in from Brisbane to scour the ocean for clues and a hoard of investigators sent to doorknock the area and collect DNA samples. People around Australia have paid tribute to Toyah Cordingley by planting sunflower seeds. Credit:Facebook - Daniel Stocker From the outset, police believed her killing was sexually motivated. More than 530 tips have been called into police since Toyah's death, though nobody has been charged. The Queensland Police Service was forced to launch an internal investigation after key details from the case were leaked to the media late last year. A News Corp report from December said police had been liaising with Interpol and Indian authorities in the investigation of an Innisfail nurse, who packed up and left shortly after Toyah's body was found.


Police said the man was one of several people of interest and the investigation was far from over. Mr Trimble said it had been "a very hard" year without Toyah and hoped someone would eventually be brought to justice. “I think that person in India, that person of interest, is someone they really need to speak to - that is all I would like to say about that," he said. The family friend helped construct a monument for Toyah, which was unveiled during a memorial service at the weekend to mark a year since her death. Toyah's memorial was unveiled on Saturday. “It was a very emotional day. There were a lot of people there,” Mr Trimble said. “Yeah there were a lot of tears. It was very hard standing up on the platform looking down on everyone crying.


“That was when it really hit home, I think everyone just broke down to be honest with you.” Mr Trimble read a statement from Toyah's mother, Vanessa, at the service on Saturday. "I would like to say thank you to all you beautiful people that have come here today to pay their respects to our daughter, Toyah," the statement read. "The last year has been like living in hell. Without the continuous love and support within our community and the rest of the world, it would be extremely hard. "I would like to explain why I chose the quote for Toyah's plaque. "People say 'be the change you want to see.' Toyah already saw that so she chose to be the change she wanted to be. [She was] so caring and loving to all mankind and creatures no matter what. "A truly beautiful spirit she was".

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