An abandoned luxury car and set of AirPods have been found as a manhunt continues for a sports coach after a female colleague was found dead at a school.
Water polo coach Lilie James, 21, was found dead at the St Andrew’s Cathedral School gym in the CBD at around midnight early Thursday morning after her family raised the alarm that she had failed to return home.
Police are searching for a colleague of Ms James, understood to be Netherlands-born Paul Thijssen, near the clifftop at Diamond Bay Reserve in Vaucluse.
Daily Mail Australia witnessed police towing away a silver Lexus LS430 at about 10am, investigating a bin and packing items into brown evidence bags – including what appeared to be a set of Apple AirPods.
Police found the clues as a massive search for a male colleague of Ms James – understood to be Netherlands-born Paul Thijssen, aged in his early 20s continues.
Thijssen is wanted for questioning by detectives.
A second crime scene has also been established at the school in Kent Street, which has been closed to students, except for Year 12 pupils doing exams, with forensic officers scouring the grounds.
Several mourners have placed flowers outside the school.
Lilie James, 21, was a water polo coach at St Andrew’s Cathedral School in Sydney’s CBD
A silver Lexus sedan was seen being towed from Diamond Bay Reserve at Vaucluse on Thursday morning
Police were seen putting a pair of Apple AirPods found at Diamond Bay Reserve, Vaucluse into brown evidence bags at the crime scene on Thursday
Ms James’s cause of death will be determined via a post-mortem examination, though police have already deemed it a homicide due to the nature of her horrific injuries.
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.’
Police are searching for Paul Thijssen, a Netherlands-born former student at the school, who has served as the hockey coach
The body of water polo coach Lilie James has been found on the grounds of a Sydney CBD school
Police have established a crime scene which is under forensic examination
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
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’
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 second crime scene has been established at Diamond Bay Reserve at Vaucluse where police are searching for a male colleague of Ms James
Officers scour the coastline on Thursday morning at the scene which is understood to be connected to the CBD crime scene
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
Police carefully search the area around the cliffs for evidence
More than 25 police officers were searching the cliffs, parklands and surrounding streets
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