A Brazilian mining executive whose fully-clothed body was found floating face down in a Sydney river parked her car at a local train station before she disappeared.
Police said Cecilia Haddad’s red-coloured Fiat 500 was found at Ryde train station on Sunday afternoon, more than 24 hours after she called friends and was never heard from again.
Ms Haddad’s ex-husband, who now lives in Western Australia, flew to Sydney on Monday to help police piece together the dead woman’s life.
He also had the harrowing task of accompanying homicide squad detectives to Glebe Morgue to identify his former wife’s body.
Mystery surrounds the suspected murder of popular Brazilian mining executive Cecilia Haddad (pictured) whose body was found floating in a Sydney river
Ms Haddad’s ex-husband (left) flew from Perth to Sydney to help police with their investigation and identify the 38-year-old’s body
Police said Cecilia Haddad’s red-coloured Fiat 500 was found at Ryde train station on Sunday afternoon (pictured)
Kayakers found Ms Haddad’s body floating in the Lane Cove River at Woolwich, about 10.15am on Sunday.
Distressed residents first thought a young child’s body had been found, until police arrived and confirmed it was an adult.
Detective Inspector Ritchie Sim said Ms Haddad’s car had been found at West Ryde Railway Station in the hours after her body was discovered.
Ms Haddad, who enjoyed an active social life and had a large circle of friends based in Sydney, had spent Friday night at a backyard barbeque.
The Brazilian national last spoke to friends on Saturday morning but never arrived at a series of various appointments she had booked for that day.
Det Insp Sim said police were seeking the assistance of public and her friends, and had interviewed her former husband who is based in Perth.
‘It’s important that we identify what Cecilia’s movements were, there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered,’ Det Insp Sim said.
‘We need to speak to anyone who has spoken to Cecilia or seen her, to put together her movements as well as we can.
A body, suspected to be that of Cecilia Haddad, was discovered in the Lane Cove River on Sunday morning, the same day the Brazilian national was reported missing
NSW Police Detective Inspector Ritchie Sim said Ms Haddad’s car was found just hours after her body was discovered in a river
Ms Haddad (left, pictured with a friend) was reported missing just hours after police pulled a woman’s body from the Lane Cove River
Police officers were still searching Ms Haddad’s home in Ryde (pictured) on Tuesday morning
Ms Haddad, who arrived in Australia in 2007, moved from Western Australia to Sydney in 2016
‘Her ex-husband has spoken with us and is assisting us with out enquiries. He’s very, very traumatised but has been of great help to us.’
Police confirmed they had seen Ms Haddad on CCTV footage taken in the Ryde area, but appealed for any security or dashcam footage that may help their investigation.
The businesswoman was reported missing just hours after police pulled a woman’s body from the Lane Cove River.
It wasn’t until Monday when officers connected Ms Haddad’s disappearance with the body found in the river. NSW police are treating the death as suspicious.
Ms Haddad, who speaks English, Portuguese and Spanish, was working as managing director of CHC Consulting – of which she was the founder – when she went missing.
Previously, she worked as an executive at a mining company in WA before moving to New South Wales in 2016.
Ms Haddad (pictured), 38, attended a barbeque with friends on Friday night and spoke to them again on Saturday morning. Less than 24 hours later she was found dead in Lane Cove River
The businesswoman was reported missing just hours after police pulled a woman’s body from the river (police pictured at the scene)
Friends grew worried for Ms Haddad’s welfare when she failed to turn up to various appointments on Saturday (pictured is the scene)
She moved to Australia in 2007 to work for BHP after graduating with a degree in industrial engineering in Rio de Janeiro.
Detectives from the Homicide Squad, together with officers from the Ryde Police Area Command, have established Strike Force Bronwyn to investigate circumstances surrounding her suspected death.
Homicide Squad detectives have appealed for public assistance with their investigation.
Detectives asked for people to help piece together Ms Haddad’s movements in the days before her disappearance.
‘We’ve been told her vehicle was seen outside her home on Saturday afternoon, so we are very keen to speak with anyone who may have seen her or her vehicle after that time,’ NSW Police said.
Ms Haddad owned a red 2013 model Fiat 500 sedan with black roof and registration DJV50H.
It wasn’t until Monday, officers connected Ms Haddad’s disappearance with the body found in the river (pictured is the scene)
Homicide Squad detectives have appealed for public assistance with their investigation (pictured is the scene)
Police said they were specifically seeking CCTV or dash-cam footage of Cecilia or her car in the Hunters Hill region, Ryde, Top Ryde, West Ryde and Woolwich areas at the weekend.
The police said they were awaiting results of a post mortem examination, but expected the results to come back on Wednesday.
NSW Police urged anyone that might be able to assist with the investigation to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or Ryde Police Area Command on 02 9858 9299.