Toyah Cordingley

On the morning of 22 October 2018, family and friends of missing 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley would scour the area around Wangetti Beach, a quiet and secluded stretch of sand not too far away from Toyah's hometown of Cairns. There - partially buried in sand dunes - Toyah's body would be found…

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In July of 2018, Australian actress and comedian Eurydice Dixon was raped and murdered. She had been walking home from a performance at Melbourne's Highlander Bar on the evening of June 13th and was attacked at Princes Park that evening by 19-year-old Jaymes Todd, who was believed to have followed her to the isolated location.

Dixon's body was found in the park the next day, starting a high-profile investigation into who had killed the up-and-coming comedic star. The culprit, Todd, would turn himself in to police after CCTV footage of his likeness was released to the press, and he would plead guilty to the vile crime months later, that November. He was later sentenced to life in prison and is expected to serve at least 35 years before being eligible for parole.

While the crime itself was solved rather quickly, it attracted a lot of attention; not only from the Australian press, but reporters from overseas, who were horrified that someone like Eurydice Dixon - a rising star that was just 22 years old at the time of her death, and was already making a mark on the world - could be killed so casually and cruelly by someone that didn't even know her.

One day after the murder - June 14th, 2018 - Australian human rights advocate Kon Karapanagiotidis would publish a post on social media that read:

"I can only imagine the rage and fear women feel to see women die doing mundane things like walking home, like they do to, only to then be told it's their fault and they need to be more careful."

Then, spaced-out, as if to drive the point home, Kon wrote:

"Stop Blaming Women... Make Men The Issue."

This post would be shared by thousands of people throughout the world, including a young woman living in Queensland, who shared the post on her Facebook page on June 17th. Within a few months, that young woman would be dead... having become another victim of random violence perpetrated against women.

This is the story of Toyah Cordingley.

Toyah Jade Cordingley grew up in Cairns, Queensland, along Australia's northeastern coast. This region, Far North Queensland, is an area known for its agricultural output, its vast natural resources, and its scenery, with it being home to dozens of national parks and picturesque beaches that attract tourists year-round. Toyah lived in the suburb of Woree, in Cairns, which is the fifth most populous city in all of Queensland and the fourteenth most populated city in Australia.

Toyah's parents - Troy and Vanessa - would separate when she was young, but both would remarry. Her father, Troy Cordingley, married a woman named Mary; and her mother, Vanessa, took on the surname of her husband, Darren Gardiner, and would have two additional children, Jack and Leynah. While many struggle to overcome a separation in their family, Toyah reportedly enjoyed having two sets of parents, as it gave her more family to love.

Family friend Dave Trimble would later recall to the Brisbane Times:

"(Toyah) was slightly different to the normal, everyday Cairns girl - the way she dressed, the colour of her hair... She was into fairies; she had fairy gardens at the house. She absolutely loved paws and claws as in cats and dogs... She loved her car, loved the freedom it gave her to take her dogs out. The day she got her license was a big turning point in her life... it meant a lot to her... She would also dress beautifully for the beach and she would always have a dog with her."

Toyah was described by everyone that knew her as a loving and carefree spirit, who was always ready for whatever new adventures life threw at her. She enjoyed changing her hair color - at times, going to flashy colors like purple or red - but as of October of 2018, had gone bright blonde. At that time, Toyah had been dating a young man named Marco Heindenreich for more than two years, who - like Toyah - was an avid animal lover that had several dogs and snakes. While Toyah worked at a pharmacy in Cairns, her real passion in life was animals.

Before working at the pharmacy, Toyah had worked at the Paws and Claws Refuge and Boarding Centre in Port Douglas, where she had found her calling as a kennel attendant. Councillor Michael Kerr, Toyah's employer at the boarding centre, described her as "the most beautiful, loving soul," and later told reporters with the Cairns Post:

"I knew her and her housemate when she was working for me... She was an absolutely loyal employee of Paws and Claws. She was one of the most beautiful souls... She adored animals, she was on a different level with animals, than humans. She had something special with animals. Even the troubled dogs would calm down in her presence."

Expanding upon this to Australia's ABC, Kerr described:

"An aggressive dog would come in, and within 20 minutes she was rolling around on the floor and playing with it."

Even after leaving Paws and Claws, Toyah would continue to volunteer with animals... when she wasn't spending time with her own. Between her boyfriend and her, she took care of a couple of dogs and constantly took them everywhere - especially the beach. Toyah's social media pages were littered with pictures of her and her dogs walking or relaxing on the beach. Animals would remain a dominant presence in Toyah's life, with her last post from social media (October 20th, 2018) including an image that read:

"No matter how talented, rich or intelligent you are, how you treat animals tells me all I need to know about you."

On the morning of Sunday, October 21st, 2018, Toyah Cordingley worked at the Barr Street WholeLife Pharmacy and Healthfoods in Earlville, a suburb of Cairns, and was photographed handing out camel's milk samples to interested customers. Afterward, she would visit Rusty's Markets, closer to the waterfront, between noon and 1:00 PM. CCTV cameras would capture her walking into the markets with a colorful, striped basket, and wearing a light-colored crocheted singlet top.

After visiting the markets after work, Toyah is believed to have returned home, before announcing her intention to visit Wangetti Beach, about 38 kilometers north of Cairns, roughly halfway between it and Port Douglas. She planned on taking one of the dogs for a walk along the beach that afternoon and is believed to have left with her boyfriend's dog a short time later, at around 2:30 PM.

Hours would begin to pass, and Toyah failed to return home. This would cause her boyfriend, Marco, to begin raising the alarm - reaching out to Toyah's friends and family to track down where she was. As the sun began to set, Toyah's family would begin attempting to locate her, sharing photographs of her on social media and pleading for info from anyone that had seen her that day.

At around 10:50 PM, Toyah's family would report her missing to local authorities and would plan to set out in the early morning hours to find her.

Early the following morning, Toyah's family and close friends broke up into search parties, splitting up areas in the region for them to check out to locate the still-missing 24-year-old. A group of her loved ones would arrive at Wangetti Beach that morning, the location she had been planning to visit the prior afternoon, using flashlights and cell phone lights to illuminate their way.

It was here, at Wangetti Beach, that a couple of foreboding discoveries would be made. First came the discovery of Toyah's vehicle, a blue 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer, which was found parked near the southern entrance to the beach. This confirmed that she had made it to the beach, at least, but confirmed that her loved ones had to carefully comb the entire surrounding area to figure out where she was.

A short while later, the dog that Toyah had been walking was found by Toyah's mother, Vanessa. This dog, Indie, was tied up to a tree near the southern part of the beach and was reportedly "tied up so tight it couldn't sit down" - meaning it had likely been stuck in an uncomfortable position for several hours. Thankfully, though, the dog was unharmed but presented a poor omen as loved ones narrowed in a search along this section of the beach.

Toyah's mother, Vanessa, would end up returning to her vehicle because her phone died, but Toyah's father, Troy, would continue leading the search efforts, desperately attempting to track down his only child.

At around 7:45 AM, about 800 meters away from where her car had been parked near the southern entrance of the park - and not too far away from where the dog had been tied to a tree - the body of Toyah Cordingley would be discovered by her father. Police would later note that the body would have been easily-noticed on the quiet stretch of beach where she was left, which was not highly-frequented by tourists or visitors. This was an area of beach between the foreshore and the start of bushland, with the body found partially buried in sand dunes.

While investigators have never released specific details about the cause-of-death, they would state that Toyah - whose body was found without any of her clothing or belongings - had sustained "visible, violent injuries" before her death.

It was later reported that Troy Cordingley, Toyah's father, had to be carried away from the crime scene by other members of the search party, as they waited for police to arrive. Months later, breaking his silence about the tragedy, Troy would write on Facebook:

"Toyah is my only child. Finding her body has burnt an indelible image in my mind. It is something a father should never have to suffer."

The tragic loss of Toyah Cordingley's life would begin to send shockwaves throughout the region. While police would remain hesitant to release any details about their ongoing investigation, friends and family members were quick to share details about Toyah's life... reminding those in the region that this was not just a tragic loss for them, personally. This was a tragic loss for the world-at-large, who were now deprived of an incredibly heartfelt and true person.

Megan Amour, Toyah's best friend, would have a hard time grieving with this loss, having just asked Toyah to be her maid-of-honor in her upcoming wedding. Now, she struggled to imagine holding a wedding without her best friend, who she regarded as more than that... as a sister. In a post online, Megan would write:

"I can't believe this, I refuse to believe this... I drove to find you, I thought we were going to find you being the environment lover you are, I was so sure of it... I'm so angry, I'm so frustrated and I've been walking around the house grieving and then thinking: 'It's not real, it's not my Toyah, it's someone else.' I wanted to be like you, I wanted to be the gypsy soul you were... I want to be flawless and not just the beauty you had on the outside but the beauty you had on the inside... You were different to everyone, you followed what you believed in, you had nobody hating you, you lived life to the fullest and you respected everyone else's decisions. You had such a big heart and beautiful loving family you adored."

Another friend of Toyah's, Hayden Chalkin, would write:

"No words could describe how amazing of a person you were... I can't believe you're gone. I can't believe I'm never going to see your smile again. I can't believe I'm never going to hear your voice again. I can't believe I'm writing this post... I don't know what to think, I don't know what to say. I'm going to miss you so much... You didn't deserve this and you will never be forgotten."

Hundreds of people from the region attended Toyah's funeral in Cairns the following week, with more than 400 people packing themselves into a 300-seat chapel, which had been decorated with balloons and sunflowers (Toyah's favorite). In attendance was Toyah's boyfriend Marco, who brought along the same dog that Toyah had taken to Wangetti Beach, Indie, and had a written message read out, expressing his eternal love for Toyah. Family members and other loved ones spoke out about her life, which had been prematurely ended but still resonated with all of them, who would continue to remember Toyah for the rest of their own lives. This was expressed most poignantly by her uncle, who told the audience in attendance:

"Today is not a day to be angry. Today is not a day to hate. Her life was cut short, but was full of love."

The investigation into Toyah's murder would be led by Queensland Police, who were aided by the State Emergency Services early on as they began a thorough examination of the area surrounding the crime scene, shutting down Wangetti Beach for several days. More than 100 people would contribute to the official search, which carefully combed through every inch of the beachhead near Toyah's body, and used both boats to check the water for any of her belongings as well as drones to search from above.

Authorities would use specialist forensic dogs to try and track down various scents leading to and from the crime scene and would call in the assistance of divers from Brisbane to scour the water for Toyah's possessions, including her phone, wallet, keys, and items of clothing, which were all missing. While a police spokesperson would later admit that "bits and pieces" had been found, it was unknown what all was still missing and what had been recovered.

Police would even conduct a door-to-door canvas of the area, taking DNA swabs from residents on a volunteer basis so that they could eliminate potential suspects through forensic testing... indicating that the killer had left behind physical evidence that could prove their identity.

Early on, police officials announced that they were treating the murder of Toyah Cordingley as a sexually-related murder, indicating that the culprit - likely a male - had committed the crime under the pretext of sexual gratification.

However, one question that investigators struggled to answer was how the dog that Toyah had with her at the time - a "larger than average dog" that was a German shepherd, great dane, and mastiff mix - had been unharmed and tied to a tree a short distance away from the body. These are all breeds that can become aggressive when they perceive a threat towards their owners, but friends say that it wasn't unusual for this dog to remain calm, having been remarkably well-trained to be around strangers. Dave Trimble, a family friend that later led search parties along the beach and become an advocate for the family, later told reporters:

"The dog was big and used to being around a lot of people... It's not savage. [Whoever killed her] could have just walked that dog up to that tree and tied the dog up just like that."

It was unknown if the dog had been tied up before the attack, or maybe just didn't view the killer as a threat, but that was something that investigators would have to grapple with.

Police would begin tracing Toyah's last known whereabouts, in the hopes of maybe finding out where she had encountered her killer. They would discover that Toyah had visited Rusty's Markets along Sheridan Street in Cairns between noon and 1:00 PM, before heading to the beach (about 40 kilometers away) an hour or so later. Officials would later release video footage of Toyah at the market, in the hopes of finding anyone that had seen her or interacted with her early that afternoon; however, they would caution that she might have changed clothes between visiting the markets and heading to the beach.

Eventually, police officials would put out a request for any dashcam footage from along the Captain Cook Highway, which stretches between Smithfield and Port Douglas. In particular, they were looking for any footage that was recorded between noon and 7:00 PM on the day of the murder (October 21st, 2018). They would also ask locals familiar with Wangetti Beach to reach out, including those that had been at the beach that Sunday; especially those that had been at or near the northern and southern car parks, driving to and from one to the other (a distance of approximately 4 kilometers).

After obtaining footage from several dashcams, authorities would then ask for any additional footage people had recorded from this area, which they hoped would provide additional clarity. They also asked for anyone to come forward if they had seen Toyah that afternoon, or knew of any males in the area that had been harassing women or making them uncomfortable in the past.

Detective Inspector Sonia Smith would tell reporters during a press conference:

"We're particularly interested in the time between 2pm and 3pm on Sunday, October 21st. Any footage between Ellis Beach and the turn-off to Port Douglas both north and south... We'd like to remind people to look around in their community and think about anyone in their community since last Sunday that has any injuries that can't be accounted for, movements that can't be accounted for between 12pm and 7pm and anyone with damaged or unaccounted for clothing."

Police officials would carry on with the investigation they had dubbed "Operation Quebec Clarify," hoping that their efforts would eventually narrow in on Toyah's killer. They would begin urging witnesses to come forward with knowledge of the following:

- Anyone who had witnessed suspicious behavior in or around the Lake Placid or Caravonica areas (both of which were separate suburbs of Cairns) between 4:00 and 5:00 PM on the afternoon of Toyah's murder.

- Anyone with dashcam footage from vehicles traveling north on the Cook Highway, between Clifton and Wangetti Beaches, between 4:30 and 5:30 PM.

- And any woman that had been approached or harassed along a beach, spanning an area between the northern beaches and the city of Cardwell, about 200 kilometers south of where Toyah's body was found. This included not only women that had been harassed or made to feel uncomfortable recently, but spanning back a couple of years.

It's unknown why these locations were singled out, in particular, but it's believed that items of interest (perhaps some of Toyah's belongings) were found near Lake Placid and Caravonica, so the killer may have fled there after committing the crime to dispose of Toyah's clothing or personal items.

Multiple witnesses from the region would come forward with reports of "odd-bods," vagrants that had committed acts of sexual indecency along the beach. This was limited to not only nudity and aggressive sexual harassment, but other deviant behavior that included drug use. However, it's unknown if any of these reports were relevant to the case.

To this day, Queensland police continue to search for a family that had been near the southern carpark of Wangetti Beach on the afternoon of Toyah's murder, reportedly seen having a picnic on the beach at around 1:20 PM (shortly before Toyah was set to arrive). Police noted that this family - a mother and father along with two daughters - had a funny encounter with another family, as the other family's pet Dachsund had attempted to jump into their vehicle. Senior Constable Russell Parker would remark:

"... that was a pretty funny incident, which they should remember or they may have told someone else about..."

It's unknown if this family had witnessed either Toyah or her killer arriving at the beach's southern carpark, but police would refute reports months later that they had identified and spoken to this family. At this point - months after Toyah's murder - police were still looking for this family, and if any of this sounds familiar to you listeners/readers, please reach out to officials with the Queensland Police Service.

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In the days and weeks after Toyah's murder, Queensland police officials would state that they had received hundreds of tips from people in the region, many of whom had called into local Crime Stoppers numbers with descriptions of men they had seen in the area around Wangetti Beach. One such witness described seeing two men leaving the beach the same afternoon that Toyah was murdered, who both appeared to be panicked and attempting to flee.

This witness had attended a get-together with approximately fifteen friends at the northern end of the beach and was driving down the Cook highway when he was flagged down by two men along the side of the road near the southern carpark (where Toyah had parked her own vehicle). This witness said that the two men were "in a highly agitated state," which didn't make much sense, given their current situation: they just had a flat tire and needed help changing it, having either lost or misplaced their own tire-jack. Speaking to the Courier-Mail, this witness would recall:

"They were really freaking out... It was strange behavior - they were in a huge panic. It was just a flat tyre but they were really stressing out."

This witness would describe the two men on the side of the road as "scruffy," and says that after helping them change their tire, they drove off in their white utility vehicle.

Investigators have remained very tight-lipped about potential suspects or persons-of-interest in this case, but a spokesperson representing the Queensland Police would later tell reporters:

"Detectives have spoken with the two men and they have been accounted for."

Towards the end of November 2018, police would release a video of approximately 70 vehicles that had been driving on the Cook Highway between 5:02 and 5:07 PM on the day of the murder, which had yet to be identified by police. While almost all of these vehicles are presumed have been ID'd in the years since this public release remains an interesting point of evidence because it seems to fit a pattern.

With the pleas that police officials had made to the public, it seems like they were attempting to fill in specific gaps that were missing from their evidence; for example, attempting to figure out if anyone had seen suspicious behavior in areas outside of Wangetti Beach hours after the crime had supposedly taken place (between 4:00 and 5:30 PM). Now, police were looking to identify vehicles from a five-minute period, which is a very specific duration of time that would point to a specific series-of-events that police were investigating.

Well, just a couple of weeks after police made this plea to the public, it would come to light that they were narrowing in on a suspect... who had been in Cairns on the day of Toyah's murder and seems to have fled Australia a day later.

Rajwinder Singh was an Indian national, who had moved to Queensland with his family years before Toyah Cordingley's murder. Singh, who spoke multiple languages (Hindi and Punjabi, in addition to English), was a respected husband and father of three, who had worked as a geriatric nurse at a hospital in Innisfail (about 90 kilometers south of Cairns) for several years.

It was reported by numerous outlets in December of 2018 that Rajwinder Singh had started to exhibit strange behaviors before the murder, with him growing withdrawn and depressed in the lead-up to Toyah's murder; even taking off time at work for long durations of time for no discernible reason.

According to articles from the Courier-Mail, the Cairns Post, and the Australian, police were able to triangulate security and dashcam footage with the location that Toyah's cell phone had been at the time. This location matched up with where Singh's vehicle had been traveling; which, by the look of things, was being driven erratically on the afternoon of Toyah's murder. Witnesses would reportedly come forward and describe Singh acting suspiciously in the hours after Toyah's murder, and according to a report in the Australian, he was seen covered with mysterious "scratches and bite-marks" that evening.

Family members of Rajwinder Singh, who lived in Innisfail, reported that he had left town on October 21st, 2018 (the date of Toyah's murder). Earlier that day, he had visited Cairns, before frantically returning and purchasing a plane ticket. He flew to Sydney that evening (October 21st), spending the next several hours with his sister there, before getting on a flight headed towards his home province of Amritsar, India (October 22nd). He left behind his wife, children (one of which was a newborn), and other family members while fleeing the country, and has not contacted them in the years since. Similarly, he has not used any of his debit or credit cards.

According to some reports, this circumstantial evidence - which was pretty damning to begin with, if you ask me - was only compounded by "potential forensic evidence," which was even more definitive (and would explain attempts by police to detail out a very specific timeline).

This information about Rajwinder Singh was leaked to the Australian press in December of 2018 by anonymous tipsters, who clearly had some knowledge of the investigation itself. Police would urge those in the region to remain cautious, and attempted to refute the allegations that Rajwinder Singh was being singled out as a suspect. Detectives insisted that there were "several persons of interest" being actively investigated and that they had not narrowed in on any one individual. However, because this information had been leaked in such a detailed way, authorities had to admit that Singh was one of their persons-of-interest, who - at the time - was only being wanted for questioning.

[On a site-note: police would announce that a separate investigation was going to look into who had leaked this information to the press, which only seemed to confirm that this information had come directly from someone close to the investigation. To date, there's been no word on who leaked this or why.]

In November of 2019, just past the first anniversary of Toyah's murder, Indian authorities would tell reporters that they had not received an extradition request for Rajwinder Singh, who was rumored to have flown back to his home country of India to hide from consequences. A formal extradition request would allow Indian authorities to begin searching for Singh in India, who was believed to have returned to the area his family came from, a region near the Pakistani border (about 450 kilometers north of New Delhi), where he was believed to have taken shelter in a Sikh temple. Until such a formal extradition request was made, there wasn't much that they (Indian authorities) could do.

That same month, it was reported by Australia's 9News that Queensland police had finalized a comprehensive brief of evidence, recommending Singh's arrest, months prior. This brief had spent months worming its way through the Australian justice system, slowly working its way across the desks of state prosecutors and the federal Attorney General. Months later, it would be reported that the family of Toyah Cordingley was beginning to grow frustrated with investigators for the glacial pace of their investigation, which had now stretched past two years without any kind of results.

It wasn't until February of this year (2021), roughly two-and-a-half-years after Toyah's murder, that an extradition request was being finalized. Australia's Attorney-General Christian Porter was reportedly working with Queensland Police to finalize a brief of evidence before filing the long-overdue extradition order with Indian authorities.

Speaking to the press about this recent development, Federal MP Warren Entsch would tell reporters:

"It's been two years so I understand the local community's frustrations... The process is complex, so they have to get the details accurate and specific to ensure authorities have the best chance of getting a successful outcome... They can't give a timeframe of when the extradition order will be finalised but it is very close, from my understanding... Once the Attorney General's office is satisfied with the submission, the extradition order will be lodged to Indian authorities."

This recent development - which came just days, if not weeks ago (depending on when you're listening to this episode) - seems to be pointing towards a resolution being close-at-hand for those that knew and loved Toyah Cordingley. While this would bring them closure for her murder, however, it would do nothing to eliminate the loss they've felt since Toyah was ripped from their lives back in 2018.

There's one guarantee in this world: that we'll all die at some point. I know that's a bit morbid of a point to make, but I think you can tell a lot about a person by either how fiercely their loss is mourned by those around them, or how many people continue to mourn them months and years later. When it comes to Toyah Cordingley, it seems like both are true: while she hasn't just been mourned intensely by those that knew her well, she has been mourned by those that barely knew her: acquaintances from primary school, customers from her workplace, and people she only knew in passing. Ever since Toyah lost her life, the entire region around Cairns has been calling for justice and refuses to let this story die.

On the first anniversary of Toyah's death, this community banded together to construct a concrete, artistic memorial along Wangetti Beach, where she took her final walk. This memorial is expected to stand for the next century and bears the expression that Toyah lived her life by:

"Be the change you want the world to be"

Unfortunately, it seems like Toyah's loved ones are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the extradition request for the only named suspect TBD... hopefully, to be completed and carried out any day now. But over the past two-and-a-half years, these loved ones have refused to speak out or make any waves for fear of jeopardizing the investigation. If you'd like to help them, you can reach out to Australian authorities - particularly, if you live in Queensland - and keep the pressure on them to close this case. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it's what the loved ones of Toyah deserve after years of uncertainty.

Until such a time, the story of Toyah Cordingley will remain unresolved.

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Episode Information

Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Published on on February 14th, 2021

Producers: Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Gabriella Bromley, Steven Wilson, Quil Carter, Travis Scsepko, Laura Hannan, Bryan Hall, Damion Moore, Scott Meesey, Amy Hampton, Scott Patzold, Marie Vanglund, Astrid Kneier, Aimee McGregor, Jo Wong, Sara Moscaritolo, Sydney Scotton, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Patrick Laakso, Rebecca O'Sullivan, Meadow Landry, Tatum Bautista, Sally Ranford, Kevin McCracken, Ruth Durbin, Michele Watson, Jared Midwood, Teunia Elzinga, Ryan Green, Jacinda C., Stephanie Joyner, and Cherish Brady