Police investigating the death of a woman near Cessnock overnight are seeking to speak with a man they believe can assist with inquiries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Emergency services were called to a home on Ellalong Street, Kearsley, just after 7.30pm (Friday 31 October 2025), responding to reports of a domestic violence-related incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inside the house police located the body of a woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Officers attached to Hunter Valley Police District established a crime scene overnight, which is being examined by specialist forensic officers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Local detectives, assisted by State Crime Command\u2019s Homicide Squad, have established Strike Force Keavall to investigate the circumstances surrounding the woman\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hunter Valley Police District Commander, Superintendent Steve Laksa, said detectives wish to speak with 37-year-old Christopher James McLoughney, as they believe he has information that may assist investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBased on information provided to investigators, we are warning anyone who sees this man to not approach him but to call Triple Zero (000) immediately,\u201d Supt Laksa said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe is described as being of Caucasian appearance with short red hair, a thin build and 175cm to 178cm tall. It\u2019s not known what he is wearing; however, he may be in possession of a firearm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s believed he may be driving a 2008-model black Hyundai Tuscon SUV with NSW registration, DK75HP<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is very important that people do not approach this man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are appealing to anyone with information about this man\u2019s whereabouts contact Cessnock Police or Crime Stoppers as soon as possible as we believe he may have information crucial to the investigation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supt Laksa said a child, who is believed to have lived at the home, is being cared for by his extended family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt this time, investigators are investigating this as a domestic and family violence-related incident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA post-mortem examination will be conducted in coming days to establish identity and determine cause of death; however, I can confirm a firearm was discharged at the premises.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Supt Laksa said the incident will have a significant impact on the families of those involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe community of Cessnock \u2013 and the Hunter Valley as a whole \u2013 will be affected by the tragic death of this young mother, but I know there will be support for those involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI appeal to anyone in the area who has information which can assist investigators to call police immediately,\u201d Supt Laksa said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Police investigating the death of a woman near Cessnock overnight are seeking to speak with a man they believe can assist with inquiries. Emergency services were called to a home on Ellalong Street, Kearsley, just after 7.30pm (Friday 31 October 2025), responding to reports of a domestic violence-related incident. Inside the house police located the body of … Continue reading “Strike Force Keavall formed to investigate death of woman near Cessnock”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newcastle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35779,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35778\/revisions\/35779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}