Murder cops launch investigation after Brit lapdancer found dead in Australian strip club
29-year-old Stacey Tierney was found dead at Dreams Gentleman's Club in Melbourne last month
MURDER squad detectives have joined the investigation into the death of a stunning British lapdancer found slumped in an Australian strip club, it was revealed yesterday.
Stacey Tierney, 29, was discovered in a room in Dreams Gentleman’s Club in Melbourne 12 hours after a what appeared to be a private party with men at the venue.
She had been with a mystery group who had access to the building on a day when it is normally closed.
Her body lay undiscovered for 12 hours - sparking fury from friends who blasted the men for not raising the alarm yesterday.
Melbourne’s Crime Investigation Unit investigators have spoken to Stacey’s family and sources confirmed the city’s Homicide Squad is now probing the tragedy.
The blonde beauty had ignored warnings not to work at the club and concern rose yesterday about what she was doing there when it was closed.
She reportedly told club staff she was not feeling well when she arrived for her shift on Saturday, December 17.
But friends who danced with her said they immediately feared foul play as police stepped up the hunt for the mystery men yesterday.
Dancer Briar Rose said: “As soon as I heard she had died I asked if she had been killed... I knew in my heart that something was not right.
“She was healthy, didn’t touch drugs and was so upbeat about life she wouldn’t take her own life.
“’I can honestly say she was the kindest soul I had ever met.”
New Zealander Briar said it was out of character for Mr Tierney to spend time with strangers outside normal working hours.
Dreams declined to comment last night.
Briar worked with Stacey at a strip club on Australia’s the Gold Coast before moving to Melbourne and started work at Dreams five weeks ago.
She said there was no way Stacey would have been able to access the club alone and said she was stridently anti-drugs.
She added: “Strippers don’t go to clubs when they’re closed. It just isn’t done.”
Police spent yesterday scouring CCTV footage for clues - but discovered some private areas of the club are not covered by cameras.
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Club management were also being interviewed.
Stacey’s mum Michelle and her sisters Stephanie, Kristie and Kelly-Anne from Stockport, Greater Manchester, were awaiting confirmation of the cause of death.
Her former boyfriend Matthew Girvan said on Facebook he was left distraught by her death and posted pictures of them riding a zip wire together.
He said: “Woke up to some horrible news this morning. Sat and watched the sunrise over Indonesia. My ex girlfriend I was with for 6 years passed away.
“Words can’t describe how devastated I am.”
Friends and family have launched a web drive to raise funds to repatriate Stacey’s body to the UK and had raised more than £11,000 yesterday.
Stacey, a former Manchester fitness instructor who moved to Australia three years ago, was found dead at around 11.50am on Monday December 19.
The men with her made no attempt to raise the alarm when they apparently fled the scene 12 hours earlier when the club was closed to the public.
Other friends said Stacey - who would have celebrated her 30th birthday on January 20 - was “streetwise” and “liked a drink” but never took drugs.
A post mortem examination and toxicology tests on samples taken from her body should reveal the cause of death within days.
A spokesman for Ambulance Victoria confirmed they were called to the scene following reports of a medical issue.
But officials declined to release further details relating the the circumstances citing “privacy reasons.”
A manager at Dreams, which boasts of being “Melbourne’s finest tabletop dancing venue housing a selection of the most exquisite ladies”, said: “We can’t comment.”