Weeks before her death, Cairns woman encouraged friends to be thankful for life

Toby Crockford

Published: April 8 2017 - 10:01AM

Just weeks before workmates discovered the body of China Crawford in her unit, the Cairns 32-year-old had shared a message on social media encouraging friends to be grateful for life.

A 26-year-old man from Yorkeys Knob was expected to front court on Saturday morning charged with murder, after Ms Crawford was found dead in her Bentley Park unit on Wednesday.

Friends and co-workers shocked by news of her death have described Ms Crawford as having a "beautiful soul" and the "biggest smile" in tributes on social media.

On February 3, she had shared a message on her Facebook account that read: "No matter how good or bad your life is, wake up each morning and be thankful that you still have one."

Ms Crawford was a traffic controller in Cairns, with close friend Matt Bond writing on social media that she loved her job and was over the moon when she received her qualifications.

"It was the end of our all-nighters watching horror movies because she didn't want to be exhausted and miss work," he said.

The victim was last seen leaving work about 3pm on Monday and her body was found about 3.40pm on Wednesday by colleagues after she had been a no-show at work for two days.

The charges of murder, interfering with a corpse and stealing were laid a day after police launched a public appeal for information to assist the investigation into the suspicious death.

A police spokesman said the accused was known to Ms Crawford and the exact cause of death had not yet been identified, but said she was assaulted.

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This story was found at: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/detectives-charge-man-with-murder-after-workmates-find-womans-body-20170407-gvgm1w.html