A one kilometre stretch of road may hold the secret to solving a mother-of-two’s alleged murder, but police remain at an impasse despite reviewing more than 1000 hours of CCTV.
Authorities are renewing their appeal for information after 49-year-old Crystal Beale was found dead in the Brisbane River on February 22, as they release new CCTV footage showing her final hours.
She had left a family dinner at Sunnybank about 8.30pm the night before and was travelling with her son and former partner in a car to an Annerley address before continuing with the partner to Ryan Street in West End in Brisbane’s inner south.
The last known footage of Ms Beale, dressed in a white dress and beige sandals, shows her at the Sunnybank restaurant.
Ms Beale’s last confirmed sighting was by her former partner when she left the car at 9.30pm on Ryan Street.
Subsequent police investigations located one of Ms Beale’s sandals in shrubbery on Ryan Street and several personal items at Orleigh Park near the Brisbane River
But the short distance between where she was last seen to where her items were found has left investigators scratching their heads.
Detectives have scoured through more than 1000 hours of CCTV footage and interviewed her former partner, family and friends, Detective Acting Inspector Rod Watts.
‘The piece of the puzzle we are trying to understand is how Crystal got from Ryan Street into the Brisbane River,’ Det Insp Watts said.
Crystal Beale’s belonging were found a kilometre from where she was last seen by her former partner
Police are appealing for witnesses or CCTV footage of Crystal Beale walking from her last location
‘If Crystal had taken this route on foot, part of her journey should have been captured on CCTV, but we are yet to receive any eyewitness accounts or CCTV footage to confirm this.
‘We don’t know what’s happened to her from that moment onwards.’
The detective inspector said there had been other people near the boat ramp and the Orleigh Park dog area, and it would have been unusual if no one had sighted her.
He stressed that those people were not suspects and encouraged them to come forward with any information.
‘It may be that piece that we really need to pull this case together,’ he said.
Police initially thought Ms Beale’s death was not suspicious after her body was discovered by a rower in the early hours of February 22.
Detective Acting Inspector Rod Watts (pictured). Despite exhaustive inquiries, police remain in the dark about the final moments of Crystal Beale’s life
But a homicide investigation was launched following further investigations and a post-mortem.
Ms Beale is believed to have been in the water for about six hours.
Ms Beale was wearing a long, slim-fitting white dress with a brown leather shoulder satchel across her body before she went missing.
She is described as Caucasian in appearance, slim build, about 165cm tall, with long brown hair.
Her two children, aged 22 and 15, were struggling with their mother’s traumatic death, and police have been combing through evidence for two months to solve the case and give her family closure.
‘She was a well-loved mother in the Sunshine Coast community,’ Det Insp Watt said.
‘There is no reason why she has been a victim of an attack if, in fact, it is an attack.’
