A female water polo coach at a prestigious Sydney school has been murdered with her body found in a campus bathroom with horrific head injuries.
Lilie James, 22, was found in the gymnasium bathroom after emergency crews were called to St Andrew’s Cathedral School on the corner of Kent and Bathurst streets in the CBD just before midnight on Wednesday.
It’s understood a ‘concern for welfare’ report had earlier been made by a family member.
A crime scene has been established and is under forensic examination as of Thursday morning.
A cause of death will be determined via a post-mortem examination, though police have already deemed it a homicide due to the nature of the woman’s injuries.
Police are searching for a male colleague, also understood to be in his 20s, who went missing near Diamond Bay Reserve in Vaucluse, about 8km east of the CBD on the coast.
Police were seen scouring the area around the high cliffs and putting items into brown evidence bags, including what appeared to be a set of Airpods.
A silver Lexus sedan was towed away from the reserve about 10am.
Lilie James, 22, was a water polo coach at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD
The body of a female staff member has been found on the grounds of a Sydney CBD school
Police have established a crime scene which is under forensic examination
A second crime scene has been established at Diamond Bay Reserve at Vaucluse where police are searching for a male colleague of Ms James
Police were seen putting Airpods found at the reserve into brown evidence bags
A message was sent out to parents early on Thursday morning (left) and a follow up message was then sent saying an area of the school ‘not accessible to students is a crime zone’
Detectives were in the school foyer consulting with school officials while forensic officers waited outside early on Thursday morning.
School staff are believed to have called police to the scene.
Parents received messages from 3am from teachers at the school, with principal Dr Julie McGonigle later emailing them later to say the school was closed until next week and an area ‘not accessible to students is a crime zone’.
In one message, the school said no students were involved in the incident.
Superintendent Martin Fileman said the victim had sustained serious head injuries.
He told a press conference at Day Street Police Station that Police Air Wing and officers on the ground were scouring the Coastline off South Head and the reserve for evidence.
He would not say whether police believe the male they are seeking is alive or dead.
‘We are looking for a male in his early 20s. He is employed by the school.
‘The female is an employee of the school. (She had) serious head injuries.
‘The scene was quite confronting.’
The community is in shock and the school will remain closed for the rest of the week
Two crime scenes have been established at the school where the female staff member was found and at The Gap at Vaucluse where her male colleague went missing
Officers scour the coastline on Thursday morning at the scene which is understood to be connected to the CBD crime scene
A silver Lexus sedan was seen being towed from Diamond Bay Reserve about 10am
Refusing to confirm if either the male or female was a teacher, he said police had responded to a welfare check call around midnight.
Supt Fileman said it was ‘a very sad time for family, school staff and students’.
He said the crime scene at the school gym was previously described as ‘not accessible’ to students ‘because of the hour’ at which the body was found.
He appealed to ‘anyone who may have knowledge of this homicide’ to contact police or Crimestoppers.
He said there was no reason to believe anyone else was involved.
At the second crime scene located at Vaucluse on the coast, teams of police are searching the coastline near Diamond Bay Reserve.
A police helicopter has been reportedly circling the area between the reserve and The Gap at Watsons Bay to the north since before sunrise.
A male colleague of the woman, understood to be a teacher at the school, went missing in the area with officers finding some of his belongings at the reserve along with ‘an item linked to the homicide’.
Shortly after 9am a police rescue helicopter arrived for a possible body retrieval while marine area command continues patrolling the coastline.
A police source told Daily Mail Australia they had been surveying the area from the early hours of Thursday morning.
A rubbish bin, believed to be significant to the investigation, has also been secured behind police tape and covered from the weather under a canopy.
A rubbish bin at Diamond Bay Reserve at Vaucluse has been taped off as part of a crime scene
Specialist Police Rescue teams are involved in the operation at The Gap
A 2003 silver Lexus sedan could be seen being towed from Chris Bang cresent overlooking Diamond Bay reserve just after 10am.
More than 25 uniformed officers canvassed the area – looking through gutters and bushes in a bid to retrieve evidence.
Plane-clothed detectives could be seen speaking to a nearby resident.
Detectives, uniformed officers along with specialist police rescue team members are scouring the high cliffs – which were also cordoned off with police tape.
Forensic examinations will continue this morning.
A male teacher at the school is understood to have gone missing from the area
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
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