Bikie may hold clues to mystery Gap death

POLICE believe a bikie gang member could hold vital clues about the death of a 25-year-old woman whose body was found floating in Sydney Harbour on Christmas Day 2006.

Katrina Ploy's clothes were discovered at the notorious suicide spot The Gap, at Watsons Bay, on December 18, 2006, and her body was found off nearby Lady Bay Beach seven days later.

However, suicide by jumping off The Gap has been all but ruled out by police because of ''minimal'' injuries on Ms Ploy's body.

They are now focusing on a possible bikie gang member link.

An inquest into her death is due to begin next Monday at Glebe Coroner's Court.

But detectives say their investigations have been frustrated; a man they want to question will not speak to them and other members of the public are said to be scared about offering up clues.

''People have been a bit hesitant in coming forward and it has made the investigation quite difficult from the start. They may be scared,'' Detective Senior Sergeant Martin Kiernan said yesterday.

Asked if that was because of the possible bikie connection, Detective Senior Sergeant Kiernan replied: ''There are phone calls [from Ms Ploy] to a certain member of the public.

''It hasn't been fully negated. We have to determine why those phone calls were made and at this stage we can't do that.

''Not everyone has been quite helpful in this investigation.''

The man police want to speak to has been asked to appear at the coronial inquest.

Detective Senior Sergeant Kiernan made a ''last ditch'' appeal yesterday to anyone with information about Ms Ploy's death to come forward.

Ms Ploy was last seen by family on December 17, 2006, at Seven Hills.

Police say she probably died about December 17 or 18.

Police suspect that Miss Ploy's handbag and jacket, found next to a fence on the northern end of a cliff at The Gap, were placed there by another person in an effort to make her death appear as if she took her own life.

A physics professor and a leading underwater pathologist used by police in the Carolyn Byrne murder investigation will be called to give evidence at Miss Ploy's inquest.

Miss Byrne's boyfriend, Gordon Wood, was jailed in 2008 for at least 13 years for her murder. He was convicted on circumstantial evidence, 13 years after she died from what was previously believed a suicide. Wood is appealing his conviction.

AAP