Woman found dead in Adelaide hotel room
Police say man had explosive device and firearm. Photo: ABC
A Chinese woman who was a Sydney resident has been found murdered in a Hindley Street hotel room in Adelaide, police have said.
Staff at the Hotel Grand Chancellor found the body of the 26-year-old about 8:35am (ACDT) on the 12th floor, where water was flooding from her room into the corridor and a room below.
Outside the hotel, Detective Inspector Greg Hutchins said signs of violence in the room made it immediately clear the woman had been murdered.
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Police said two cars belonging to local associates of the woman were towed from nearby Victoria Street for examination, but a suspect has not been identified.
He said police believe they know the woman’s name but cannot reveal it at this stage, and said it was possible the woman was a sex worker.
“We don’t know why this person was the victim of murder. We’re still establishing what she was doing in Adelaide,” he said.
“It’s just a possibility that she could have been working in that industry but it’s clearly something we need to chase up and identify.”
Detective Inspector Hutchins said while the room was flooded, the woman was not found in the bath but would not reveal how she died.
“There’s obvious signs of violence which made it quite obvious that it was a murder, that right from the start we were dealing with murder,” he said.
“We do need to keep certain aspects close to the chest, particularly in such an early stage of an investigation.”
Major Crime detectives are trying to piece together the events leading up to woman’s death as forensic investigators scour the room and nearby laneways for evidence.
“At this time, we can’t establish when she was last sighted at the hotel,” Detective Inspector Hutchins said.
He said the woman had been staying in the room alone for the past few days and associates of the victim are being spoken to.
Police are reviewing security vision as they try to determine exactly when the woman was killed, but believe it was overnight.
Earlier on Thursday, guests emerged from the hotel unsure of what had happened.
Hundreds of New Year’s Eve revellers packed Hindley Street on Wednesday night.
The street is a known trouble-spot in Adelaide’s CBD, with numerous clubs, tattoo parlours and sex shops, and has a reputation for a high rate of street crime.
The Hotel Grand Chancellor has 208 rooms and suites, and is located on the section between King William and Morphett streets.
Its website promotes the venue as a place of “elegance”, “casual comfort” and “quiet sophistication”.