The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE grim death of a 27-year-old mother who was discovered tied to a tree Saturday morning left stunned family and friends seeking answers over the weekend.

Police have not yet classified the death of Jade Saunders, whose body was found in the affluent Skyline Drive area early Saturday morning.

She was found with a nylon stocking around her neck while kneeling with her head resting against a small tree trunk. She was partially clothed, wearing only a bra and pants.

It is believed she was there no longer than nine hours, as police said rigor mortis had not set in by the time officers arrived on the scene. A group of people walking in the area found the woman’s body shortly after 6am, police said.

According to Chief Superintendent Paul Rolle, after the woman’s death was reported to police, a man and a young child turned up to the nearby Cable Beach police station to report a woman missing.

Mr Rolle said the description the man gave of the woman matched the person found on Skyline Drive.

Friends and relatives of Ms Saunders took to social media over the weekend to express grief and lament the fact that “tasteless” pictures of their loved one at the crime scene were spreading online.

“To pick up my phone and see a tasteless, disgusting picture of my little cousin’s lifeless body is sickening,” one woman who identified herself as a relative of the deceased wrote on Facebook. “Don’t you guys have daughters, sisters and female cousins? How can seeing a young life lost be so amusing the first thing you do is pull out a cell phone?”

“RIP Jade, (I) still can’t believe it,” said another woman.

While police did not say yesterday if they are treating Ms Saunders’ death as a suicide or a homicide, they pushed back against social media reports that they were searching for a marine in connection with the murder.

“Police want to assure members of the public that rumours circulating on social media that a Royal Defense Force marine seaman is being sought in connection with the death of a woman found dead on Saturday, May 2, are false and that there is no identifiable basis for such rumours,” the RBPF said in a statement. “Police would like to remind citizens that social media has become a tool for some to spread baseless rumours among large groups of people and therefore wish to caution individuals from participating in the spreading false information.”