Detectives who recovered murder victim Allecha Boyd recognised

Ms Boyd, a 27-year-old Coolamon woman, was reported missing in August of 2017, and her body wasn't found until more than three years later. Two men and a woman were later convicted and jailed in relation to her murder.

Her body was later recovered in December of 2020 from the Lester State Forest.

On Wednesday at the Riverina Police District Award ceremony three detectives attached to Strike Force Amias, formed to investigate Ms Boyd's murder, received Commissioner Unit Citations for their efforts.

Detective Senior Constable Marc Lawrence and former Detectives Dominic Burton and Inspector Darren Cloake proudly accepted their citations.

Detective Lawrence said while the recognition was appreciated, it is never the reason police do the work they do.

"This job was over a long period of time and a lot of police were involved in this particular job," he said.

"We don't do this for awards."

While the outcome remained heartbreaking for Ms Boyd's family and friends, hard work and dedication by the Wagga-based detectives enabled them to bring Ms Boyd's body home.

"At the time Allecha was reported missing to us, we had a drug investigation already running and after a few weeks it became pretty clear the two investigations overlapped," Detective Lawrence said.

"It took a long time, from the time she went missing to the time of the conviction and then even after a conviction it was still a number of years that passed before we were able to locate the body and that was through the really dedicated and hard work of all the police involved.

"It always sort of played in the background for everyone in the office and a number of police in particular, it became almost their goal to make sure we found Allecha."

In many missing persons cases families don't ever find out what happened to their loved one.

"The media around it at the time was quite significant and obviously to get that result in the end was quite significant for everyone on the job," Detective Lawrence said.

Riverina Police District Inspector Jill Gibson said the award represents outstanding service and devotion to the community.

"In the infancy of the investigation, police were met with evasive witnesses who provided misinformation," she said.

"Despite this, inquiries soon revealed correlations between the disappearance of the young female and another investigation into a local drug supplier.

"As they persisted, it became clear that methodologies, both overt and covert, and other strategies to uncover the truth through their determination they were able to lay charges against several people for the murder of the young female who was buried in the Lester State Forest.

"Despite having a conversation, investigators persevered with the search to locate the victims remains and just over three years after her murder, they successfully located her, bringing a sense of closure to the case for her family and the wider community."