Identified! Australia - Sydney, Female body in tree, Jan'12 - Melissa Dietzel

[Joe Friday]

Interesting case and interesting theory of how she got up in the tree. My first thought was pushed from a plane too.

Wouldn't tox reports indicate if she were high and possibly climbed into the tree? And if it were an animal attack, wouldn't there be some kind of marks on her?


ETA: After looking at the article, (should have done that first ) with the fencing and lower limbs on the tree it looks as if it was easily possible to climb into the tree. My best guess is she climbed up and perhaps got caught in a way which compressed her chest causing her to suffocate. I agree with the speculation in the article she was possibly a homeless person. Maybe someone with untreated mental health issues.

Whoever she is, I hope she is id'd soon.

BBM

Did you ever think she might of hung herself? Maybe she tied a rope around her neck and jump off a branch.

Trees used to be used for hangings back in the day. More so for criminals, not suicide.

JMO

 

[cocomod]

I wonder what method she did use if this really was suicide as they seem to indicate. One of the articles I read said that they have now cut down the tree as the "decaying body" contaminated the tree.

How horrible for her family to read that she died all alone and in this manner. :cry:

 

[Cubby]

BBM

Did you ever think she might of hung herself? Maybe she tied a rope around her neck and jump off a branch.

Trees used to be used for hangings back in the day. More so for criminals, not suicide.

JMO

No, because there was nothing I read in MSM indicating there was a rope in the tree or that this was a suicide case.

When it was first reported she was homeless and living in the tree, I thought perhaps she was suffering from untreated mental illness.

Accidents also happen in trees, a tree trimmer falling, a kid climbing and falling, so, no, I don't necessarily limit my thinking to public hangings or suicides. At least with the information initially available.

 

[Cubby]

I wonder what method she did use if this really was suicide as they seem to indicate. One of the articles I read said that they have now cut down the tree as the "decaying body" contaminated the tree.

How horrible for her family to read that she died all alone and in this manner. :cry:

That might be indicative of a suicide, as they have not said so publicly.

I can see a local municipality cutting down a tree as to not remind those living in the immediate area of the tragedy.

Not long ago, I saw a property, well now vacant land, where the homeowner had committed suicide in a tree. The property has been torn down, but the rope and some kind of belt/harness still remains in the tree. I'm sure it is not a pleasant reminder for those living within view of the tree. I can't imagine why whomever (the city or whomever currently owns the property) did not have the evidence removed from the tree when the property was demolished. It's not a pretty sight to see.

 

[Joe Friday]

No, because there was nothing I read in MSM indicating there was a rope in the tree or that this was a suicide case.

When it was first reported she was homeless and living in the tree, I thought perhaps she was suffering from untreated mental illness.

Accidents also happen in trees, a tree trimmer falling, a kid climbing and falling, so, no, I don't necessarily limit my thinking to public hangings or suicides. At least with the information initially available.

Not knowing how close the tree is to other residence's I would think if someone got stuck she would have screamed for help if able.

When I was a kid my friends and I would build tree forts but it would be pretty hard to live in a tree without some kind of platform. It was always a trick just getting the first boards nailed into the tree without falling. Not sure how you would sleep without falling out if you didn't have some kind of secure area to lay down on.

Like you said most likely some mental issues going on with her. People have been known to do crazier things than live in trees I guess.

JMO

 

[cocomod]

Again quoting from this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ney-missing-US-tourist.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

The tree and the fence underneath it have since been removed after they became contaminated by Ms Dietzel's decaying body. Her death is not being treated as suspicious but instead as a suicide.

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16169507

Another article that states the same information

Police confirmed Ms Dietzel was neither living in the tree nor was she homeless.

This article explains a bit about her family and about her. This makes more sense now. So VERY SAD! :cry:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-demons-that-drove-mima-to-a-terrible-end-20120214-1t3vu.html

 

[Cubby]

Again quoting from this article:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ney-missing-US-tourist.html?ito=feeds-newsxml



http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16169507

Another article that states the same information



This article explains a bit about her family and about her. This makes more sense now. So VERY SAD! :cry:

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/the-demons-that-drove-mima-to-a-terrible-end-20120214-1t3vu.html

That last link you provided brought me to tears. How incredibly sad despite family history, this disease crept up on Melissa so quickly.

No more pain, no more voices, Melissa. Fly high and free, peacefully. :rose:

I still have tears in my eyes.

 

[Cubby]

Joe Friday - One of the earlier links showed how close the tree was to the homes garage. IIRC it looked like garage access was from an alley and the tree could have been accessed easily by a fence around the yard which ended next to the garage. Maybe even climbing the fence to the garage roof and then to the tree. They were all very close together.

 

[Joe Friday]

All I can say is WOW this family has gone through a lot. Melissa's mother had two sisters and both of her parents commit suicide as well as now her son and daughter.

New details emerge on BYU graduate's death in Australia


According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Dietzel was found Jan. 12 hanging 30 feet up an oak tree in Randwick. Officials said she had been dead at least two weeks before her body was discovered in among the branches. She was identified this week through dental records supplied by family.

(Snipped)


The Herald reported that Jared had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and had tried to commit suicide twice previously. Melissa and Jared's mother, Vickie Gunther, had two sisters and both parents take their lives.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...erge-on-BYU-graduates-death-in-Australia.html

ETA: I read in another article that they delayed telling the family because one of Melissa's sister was getting married and they didn't want to break the news of Melissa's possible death. Can you imagine?

 

[Joe Friday]

Link about sister getting married: http://www.sgvtribune.com/crime/ci_19954344?source=rss

"Last Wednesday, the police came and said we had to send Melissa's dental records to the police in Australia for identification, but on Thursday, another one of our daughters, Amber, was getting married, so we pretended everything was OK at the wedding," Gunther said.

 

[reasypeasy]

I can see a local municipality cutting down a tree as to not remind those living in the immediate area of the tragedy.

That, and it would be really expensive to decontaminate the tree. The tree was full of ivy, and just getting that removed from a tall tree is expensive at the best of times. Australia has excellent wages and workplace safety laws compared to many parts of the world, and we don't have large numbers of undocumented workers that end up working for subcontracting firms doing dirty tasks for very little money... so if you want a huge, dangerous, messy job done you are going to pay and pay.

Also, she'd been up there a while, maybe they are still missing some easily detatched bits of her, a hand maybe or other evidence they think should be there . It is more dignified to just take the whole lot away on a flatbed truck, search the area then search the bits of tree and ivy in private somewhere. Australian law enforcement tends to hate turning death and dying into a public spectacle, they don't like the spotlight and they are of the opinion that some things are nobody's business but their's and the victim's family.

 

[anAmericanGirl]

Hello, kind people--

This is a site I had come across the other day while I was looking to see what information might be available out there regarding our daughter, Melissa.

You seemed to be so decent and genuinely interested that I actually registered to let you know that she had been identified, etc. But I guess it takes a couple of days after registration before you can actually post, so I ended up not doing it.

I was looking today again at articles that are out there. It seems just crazy to us that this with our daughter would be worldwide news. We've taken the opportunity here and there to reply to a comment on an article, usually to correct a misperception or a misunderstanding about how things happened. I came across this site again and seeing your many comments, thought you might be interested in more actual details of what went on.

I'll put a link here to a site where we wrote quite a bit of additional information in the comments. Hopefully it will answer some of the questions you've mentioned here.

These are links to just the comments. I doubt that the article itself has info that you do not already know since this newspaper never spoke with us but merely took info from other news articles out there (as most news services do.)

Warmest regards,
Vickie

http://www.deseretnews.com/user/com...-tree-in-Australia-after-nanny-job-ended.html

http://www.deseretnews.com/user/com...erge-on-BYU-graduates-death-in-Australia.html

 

[cocomod]

Vickie,

I am so terribly sorry for the loss of your daughter. Thank you for joining, and I will certainly read your comments. I am terribly sorry that you will not be bringing your daughter home alive, but I hope that you will find some peace in being able to have her brought home.

I too am in Utah, and I didn't see your comments until you posted them here today. I sincerely hope that none of my comments have offended you as I worried about this beautiful little girl from BYU found in Australia.

My prayers and sympathies go out to you and your family during this extremely difficult time. Her story really brought me to tears on several occasions, and your post brought tears to my eyes once again. :hug:

raying:

 

[anAmericanGirl]

Actually, we are in Redlands, which is Southern California. The Deseret News simply happened to be one of the newspapers that did a couple of articles on Melissa to which we replied to comments there.

No comments here offended us. The people in these forums seem uncommonly kind, and I think you have a truly wonderful group here.

 

[revampz]

To Melissa's family.

I live in Northern Australia and just read about your daughter. I was very sad to hear this story and can tell you that I wish she had of reached out to someone because I am sure someone here would have helped her. It was good to read that the family she worked for knew there was something wrong and tried to get her to go to the doctors. It seems as though the voices had taken over by this stage.

Such a very sad story and I really wish someone here could have helped her. I am sure this story has saddened many people in Sydney over the last couple of weeks.

Rest in Peace Melissa.

 

[anneonymous]

Thank you for being so open about her story. I never knew bipolar disorder could have the added curses of hallucinations and sleep deprivation. It makes me more amazed by the daily difficulties sufferers have to face.