Australia, Victim, 24, left to die in forest

OFF THE WIRE
Source: sunshinecoastdaily.com.au
Australia - A WITNESS at a fatal crash inquest is the victim of a suspected murder in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Jye Burns, 24, of Buddina was left to die on a gravel road in the dense Beerburrum State Forest after he was allegedly shot in the face near Landsborough on Thursday night.

A passing motorist discovered Mr Burns, who was believed to have still been alive, at the intersection of Hapgood Road and Old Caloundra Road about 10.10pm.

Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics responded to what was reported as a hit and run accident.

Mr Burns, who police say, suffered multiple injuries, died at the scene.

"There are a number of injuries of which we are concerned," North Coast Police Regional Crime Co-ordinator Maurice Carless said.

"We're not sure exactly how the person came to be at the location and that's obviously a part of our inquiries," he said.

Police said there were no suspects last night but they were investigating whether the death of Mr Burns might be linked to an outlaw motorcycle gang.

The 24-year-old victim was a witness in a Sunshine Coast inquest earlier this year into the crash that killed Scott Livermore in 2008.

Mr Burns who spoke to The Daily at the time of the crash, was asleep at his Alfriston Drive address when the silver hatchback in which Mr Livermore was a passenger, crashed through his windows.

The driver of the vehicle, Mr Livermore's girlfriend, had suffered a seizure and lost control of the car.

The Beerburrum State Forest remained a crime scene last night, 24 hours after the shocking death that occurred just six kilometres from the small hinterland township of Landsborough.

The remote bushland crime scene centred around the open, yet quiet gravel road at the intersection of Hapgood Road and Old Caloundra Road.

It is surrounded by hundreds of metres of dense trees and scrub.

A steady convoy of police vehicles streamed along Steve Irwin Way to the crime scene yesterday.

Officers on the scene included forensic and ballistic police as well as local Sunshine Coast detectives and uniformed police.

State Emergency Service volunteers joined the investigation by mid morning, conducting a ground search of the rugged bushland in a 100-metre radius of where the young man's body was found.

Volunteers were looking for any unusual items.

Family members of Mr Burns were in Brisbane yesterday to make the formal identification.

Shocked Landsborough residents said fears it was one of their own had eased by afternoon.

"We've all done the ringing around to check that it wasn't each other," one local woman said.

"Earlier this morning it was quite frightening when we didn't know who it was."

Investigations will continue over the weekend as the search intensifies to find Mr Burns' suspected killers.


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