Heartbreak After Jana Armstrong’s B-o-d-y Is Found—The Promise Her Family Made to Her Four-Month-Old Son Changes Everything
The family of a young mother whose former partner has been charged with her murder has vowed her four-month-old son will always know how much she loved him.
Jana Armstrong, 30, vanished from her Gordon Ave home in Newtown, Toowoomba, on July 7, with her baby boy left alone at their home.
During a police search, her white Hyundai Kona was found abandoned in the middle of the road at the end of the street about 6am on Wednesday.
Four days later, pig hunters found her body in bushland near Redbank Creek, where police allege it had been transported and dumped after she died sometime between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.
A fundraising page, launched while Armstrong was still missing, was updated after police confirmed they had located human remains believed to be hers and charged her former partner, 48-year-old Dharminder Singh, with her murder.
“Our family is absolutely devastated and trying to process this unimaginable loss,” organisers Hannah and Lara Sweedman wrote.
The cousins thanked the thousands of people who had shared the fundraiser, donated and supported Armstrong’s loved ones throughout the search.
“We will make sure Jana’s baby boy always knows just how deeply his mummy loved him and how incredibly special she was,” they wrote.
“Her memory will live on through him forever.”
Armstrong’s sister, Faith Isaacs, later shared her own heartbreaking tribute, promising her nephew would never forget his mother.
“There are simply no words to describe the heartbreak and devastation I am feeling,” Isaacs wrote. “My beautiful Jana deserved so much more. She was so deeply loved and will be missed beyond words,” she wrote on Facebook.
“I promise you, Jana, your beautiful baby boy will always know exactly who his mummy was, how deeply you loved him and just how incredibly special you were.
“I will speak your name, share your stories and keep your memory alive for him every single day. I will never, ever let him forget his beautiful mummy.”
Following the discovery of Armstrong’s body, the fundraiser was updated to state that donations would no longer just support the beloved disability carer’s baby boy, but would also help cover her funeral costs and support the family as they raise her son, with Isaacs now his full-time guardian.
The fundraiser reveals Armstrong’s death is the latest in a heartbreaking string of tragedies for her family.
Just weeks before Armstrong’s death, Isaacs and her husband lost their three-week-old daughter.
“Only last month, Faith and Michael experienced the devastating loss of their own newborn baby and had to do what no parent should ever have to do and say goodbye and lay their baby to rest,” the fundraiser says.
“Through that unimaginable heartbreak, Jana was right beside Faith.”
The post says Armstrong helped organise her niece’s funeral and support her grieving sister after the siblings had already lost their mother, Robyn, to breast cancer seven years ago and their father, Ron, to a heart attack five years ago.
“Jana was the glue for the family,” the organisers wrote.
The fundraiser described her as someone who always showed up for the people she loved, putting others before herself and doing anything she could to help them.
“My sister Lara and I have created this fundraiser to surround Faith and Michael with the same love and support that Jana has always so freely given to everyone else,” Sweedman wrote.
Police are still appealing for information about Singh’s movements and CCTV or dashcam footage from the route between Toowoomba and Redbank Creek between 10.30pm on July 7 and 1.30am on July 8.
Singh appeared via video link in Toowoomba Magistrates Court on Monday, where his matter was briefly mentioned. He was remanded in custody and is due to face court again on September 14.
