A $500,000 reward is being offered to anyone who can help catch the killer of a 41-year-old woman whose body was found in a remote Blue Mountains dam five years ago.
Cecilia Devine, who was also known as Kristen Pearson, was last seen shopping at Coles and withdrawing money from an ATM in Katoomba on September 6, 2018.
The day before, she had been reported missing from her hometown of Newcastle, after family and friends became concerned when they were unable to reach her.
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Police launched a search effort to find her, but it wasn’t until six months later that staff at a Katoomba water treatment facility found her naked body in the remote Upper Cascade Creek Dam on March 18, 2019.
The following month, the remains were formally identified as hers and the State’s Homicide Squad opened a murder investigation alongside local police.
An inquest held earlier this year found that Devine died between September 6 and 13, but could not determine how the singer had died.
The $500,000 reward has been announced today by the NSW Government and the NSW Police.
Devine lived in Newcastle but travelled 230 kilometres to Katoomba in the lead up to her disappearance.
Her mother, Kathy Pearson, welcomed the announcement of the reward to find out what happened to “a much-loved daughter, sister, and friend who was taken from us too soon in terrible circumstances”.
“She was a talented singer and songwriter, with a sparkling smile, infectious laugh, and a big heart.”
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Blue Mountains PAC Commander, Superintendent John Nelson, said he hoped the half-a-million-dollar reward would encourage anyone to come forward who may have seen
Devine.
“Prior to her disappearance, Cecilia travelled from Newcastle to Katoomba yet we still don’t have firm evidence of how she got here, why she made the journey, or how she died,” Nelson said.
“We are urging anyone who saw Cecilia at the time she was reported missing, or who has any information about her whereabouts at the time, to contact police.
“This information could very well be the missing puzzle piece for this investigation.”
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