A retired detective is re-examining the tragic case of a young woman who left her home to buy a bottle of wine, only to be found dead in bushland seven days later.
Sarah Brown, 23, was wearing a full face of make-up, a summer dress and thongs while on her way to the shops when she went missing on June 7, 2021.
Her body was found a week later in bushland near her home in the Gympie suburb of Victory Heights, north of Brisbane.
Her death was found not to be suspicious by police who ruled it was a suicide by hanging.
Ms Brown’s devastated family were left with dozens of unanswered questions.
Her mother Janet Gardner, has long refused to believe her daughter ended her own life.
She insists her daughter was excited about the future and they had been due to view a rental property together on the day she went missing.
Ms Gardner has enlisted the help of retired detective turned private investigator, Graeme Crowley, who agreed that case had left ‘more questions than answers’.
Sarah Brown (pictured), 23, was wearing a full face of make-up, a summer dress and thongs while on her way to the shops when she went missing on June 7, 2021
Sarah’s body was found a week later in bushland near her home in the Gympie suburb of Victory Heights, north of Brisbane. Pictured is the last photo Janet Gardener took of her daughter
‘This wasn’t a suicide,’ Mr Crowley told the Courier Mail.
‘What (the death was) was, I don’t know.
‘It could have been a drug overdose with third party interference, it could have been murder.’
Mr Crowley has recorded four episodes of a podcast series entitled Who Killed Sarah Brown?, with a fifth to to be released in the coming days.
‘I want to dig further,’ Mr Crowley said.
‘I want to find out what others know about Sarah’s death — apparently many people had a lot to say.’
As part of his investigations, Mr Crowley combed through CCTV footage that appears to show Ms Brown’s last movements near where her body was found.
The private eye also found that police initially questioned the relative lack of composition of Ms Brown’s body, claiming it didn’t appear to match that of a person who had been dead for a week.
Janet Gardner and her daughter Sarah Brown (pictured together) had a close relationship and talked about ‘everything’
Her family has long refused to believe that Sarah (pictured) would end her life
Sarah Brown appeared to be in positive spirits several hours before she disappeared. Pictured is her last Facebook post
Ms Brown’s phone was found with a smashed screen and without the SIM card.
The CCTV appeared to show Brown walking down a road with a phone flashlight toward the area where her body was found, stopping at several locations.
But Ms Gardner said that it was impossible to confirm the figure in the CCTV was in fact her daughter and claimed the timing did not line up with what she believed were Brown’s last movements.
‘I honestly don’t know (what happened to Sarah),’ she said.
‘I’m confident that something’s not right.’
Ms Gardener previously said she does not believe her daughter walked into the bush by herself because she was ‘terrified of spiders and moths and bugs’.
She also said she wasn’t physically able to take her life in the way police say she did because she had a hand injury.
Police ruled Sarah’s death as non-suspicious
Sarah Brown (pictured) loved animals and had a ‘heart of gold’, according to her mum
The 23-year-old also posted on Facebook several hours before she disappeared at about 5pm on June 7 to say she was ‘feeling positive’.
She had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction in the past but her family are adamant she wouldn’t have taken her own life.
‘Sarah had a really bad hand because of her drug use, so I don’t believe she could have done it herself,’ Ms Gardner previously told Daily Mail Australia.
‘We also had plans to meet the next day – she found a place to move into in Brisbane where she had enrolled in a beauty course and I was going to meet her in Gympie to help her move. She hated Gympie and couldn’t wait to get out.’
However, in September last year the state coroner found no evidence that any third party was involved in Ms Brown’s death.
As a result, there was no coronial inquest ordered.
If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14, Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467.
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