Revealed: How the young mum found dead on a beach had previously escaped the clutches of an alleged kidnapper – as her former lover tells the Daily Mail: ‘I didn’t kill her’
Payge Leembruggen, 31, was found dead in sand dunes near North Wall beach in Mackay, Queensland, on Tuesday morning. Police are treating the death as suspicious and have ordered an autopsy, while her former partner and the father of her son, Cris Wilesmith, has strongly denied involvement.
Leembruggen was last seen when her grandfather dropped her at a hairdresser on 11 September. Wilesmith said she had previously survived an alleged four-day kidnapping and serious assault in 2024, a separate case now before the courts, and said he had not seen her for years because of a restraining order; her son, who is autistic and non-verbal, is now being cared for by relatives.
- Woman found dead in Queensland beach dunes.
- Police are treating the death as suspicious.
- Former partner denies involvement and cites an earlier alleged kidnapping.