The family of a Gold Coast woman who was found dead inside a wooden chest last week in what police suspect is a murder-suicide are pleading for help to bring her body back to Melbourne.
Lourdi “Lordy” Ramadan’s body was found at the apartment in Labrador she shared with her partner, Craig Bouma, who was also found dead there.
Police were called to the apartment on Friday after concerned family members raised the alarm.
Officers arrived at the unit and found the body of Bouma, 53, with a note.
They found the body of Ramadan, 48, concealed in the chest, and believe it may have been there for more than a week.
Bouma was reportedly Ramadan’s partner and carer, who helped manage her chronic illness.
Her brother, Alex Ramadan, has set up a GoFundMe page to help bring his sister’s body home to Melbourne, writing that the money would help get her the “farewell she deserves”.
“Unfortunately my beautiful sister Lordy had her life cut short,” he wrote. “Trying to raise some money to help my elderly parents cover the costs of bringing her body home to VIC and giving her the farewell she deserves.”
Lourdi Ramadan and Bouma had reportedly been in a relationship for the past decade, and had moved from Victoria to Queensland several years ago.
Gold Coast district detective inspector Chris Ahearn said on the weekend that the couple was not known to police.
“There is no domestic violence orders in place and there is a suggestion that the male person was also a carer for the female person, so one of the lines of investigation is into the medical condition of the female person, prior to her tragic death,” he said.
“We are treating the deaths of these people as suspicious and there is some early indications of the male person being responsible for the death of the female person.
“That is the focus of our investigation.”
Ramadan’s family has been informed about the contents of the note Bouma wrote before his death.
Alex Ramadan told the Courier Mail he was furious at what he had been told Bouma had written.
“In the letter apparently it said he wanted to get rid of her pain and suffering and that’s what he’s done,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been told. I’m still waiting to see the letter but it’s fucking stupid. It doesn’t give him the right to do that.”
He told the ABC his family became worried after not hearing from his sister for several days.
“It’s a big loss, big loss in our lives and life won’t be the same again – no chance,” he said.
