The body of 48-year-old Kirsten Moriarty was discovered in the back of a Toyota Yaris outside Lake Illawarra Police Station, north of Wollongong, at about 4:30pm on Friday. CCTV footage showed she had entered the station to speak with officers three days earlier before returning to her vehicle.
Her father, Ron Wyber, said he believes she approached police to report being stalked. 'She believed she was being stalked, and she went to the police station for help,' he told the ABC. Officers found her body after noticing the car had been parked there for some time and broke a window to investigate. Paramedics determined she was in an advanced state of decomposition due to high heat.
Wyber refuted initial police claims that Moriarty was homeless and living in the car. He said she had moved to her family's property in Kiama in early 2024 and kept belongings in the vehicle due to ongoing injuries from a 2010 skydiving accident. During that jump with Brisbane Skydiving Centre, she struck high-voltage power lines, suffering severe burns and remaining trapped for nearly two hours.
Moriarty, a former journalist and author, wrote a book titled 'From Dark Days To Blue Skies' about her recovery. She later served as a councillor for Somerset Regional Council and ran for mayor in 2016, losing to incumbent Graeme Lehmann. Her online presence went silent after March 2020.
Investigations into her death are ongoing and will be part of a report for the coroner. NSW Police could not comment on Wyber's remarks due to the investigation.
