The young woman who was found dead in the shower at a buck’s party apartment has been identified as 20-year-old soldier Private Natasha Rowley.
The Perth woman’s sisters have posted tributes to their sister, who joined the army just four months before her death.
Her 21-year-old sister Alannah posted a collage of the two girls, captioned: “I’ll never forget your sweet smile, my beautiful sister. I love you, Natasha.”
Her other sister Bryanna changed her bio to “Natasha Melanie Rowley. Rest In Paradise. I Love You”, with her latest upload being one of Pte Rowley holding her nephew in April.
Pte Rowley was found fully clothed at The Oaks serviced apartments in central Melbourne on Sunday, July 16.
The apartment was being rented by a buck’s party that had travelled from ACT and NSW to celebrate and it’s believed the men met the private out at a club on Saturday night.
Although it is not publicly known what transpired between the hours of 2am, when Pte Rowley went to the apartment, and 8am when paramedics were called, the police are not treating the death as suspicious.
Victoria Police are currently awaiting the results of a toxicology report before deciding how to proceed, but are currently treating the death as a misadventure.
Four of the 11 men involved were taken into custody, but were released overnight without charge.
At the time, one of the buck’s party guests told The Herald Sun he thought the whole situation was initially “one big stitch-up … but turns out it wasn’t”.
“It sucks,” he said.
