By Michael Newhouse
POLICE are calling for the public’s assistance to help catch the person responsible for the death of a Sunshine woman who was run down on her way to work this month.
The body of 51-year-old Heip Thi Nguyen was found dumped on the pavement in Whitty St soon after 6am on Saturday, 3 March, after she was killed in what police said at the time could have been a botched abduction attempt.
Police have been searching for a dark SUV two witnesses saw near the body of Ms Nguyen the morning she was found dead.
Police believe that the driver of the vehicle stopped and placed Ms Nguyen in the car before dumping her body on the side of the road a few hundred metres away.
Police said Ms Nguyen, who was from Vietnam originally, moved to Australia and became an Australian citizen. They said she had no relatives living in Australia.
Ms Nguyen worked long hours in a West Footscray clothing factory and had very little contact with anyone outside work, which was making the investigation difficult for police.
“Heip was an extremely private person and has no known friends outside work,” a police spokesperson said last week.
Detective Sergeant Wayne Woltsche, from the homicide squad, said police had contacted Ms Nguyen’s brother and sister in Vietnam, and were in the process of organising for her body to be returned to her homeland.
It comes as clearer details emerge about Ms Heip’s final moments.
Det Sgt Woltsche said Ms Nguyen was cutting through the car park between Withers and Clarke streets, only a short distance from her house in Devonshire Rd, when she was run down as she made her way to the station to catch the 6.22am train to work.
Over the weekend police had planned to search for more witnesses in the hope that they could track down the vehicle involved.
Anyone who may have seen a dark SUV in the vicinity of Devonshire Rd and Withers St about 6am Saturday 3 March should contact Crime Stoppers on 1300 333 000.
