Bodies of Australian TV star Jesse Baird and boyfriend found after police officer charged

The bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies were found on Tuesday in a rural property south of Sydney, ending a search that had gripped Australia for days. Baird, a 26-year-old television presenter who had worked as a red carpet reporter on Channel Ten's morning show Studio 10, and Davies, a Qantas flight attendant, had been missing since mid-February. The discovery came after Beaumont Lamarre-Condon, a serving police officer who had been charged with their murders, revealed the location of the remains to detectives.

The bodies were discovered in Bungonia, a town roughly four hours south of Sydney, partially concealed beneath rocks and debris. Two surf bags were found at the scene—police say these were used to transport the victims' bodies. New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb confirmed the identification with measured certainty: the remains matched those of the two missing men. The discovery marked a turning point in an investigation that had begun when blood and a bullet casing were discovered at Baird and Davies' home in Paddington, an inner Sydney suburb, earlier in the month.

Lamarre-Condon, who joined the police force in 2019, had become the focus of the investigation almost immediately. Before his police career, he had worked as a celebrity blogger and had met figures including Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Miley Cyrus. Detectives learned that he had previously dated Baird, which placed him at the center of their inquiries. A bullet recovered from the crime scene matched a gun issued to Lamarre-Condon through his work. He did not report to his shift on February 20, the day after police believe the couple were killed inside Baird's home.

The investigation had narrowed its focus to a white van believed to have been used to move the bodies. Surveillance and witness accounts revealed that Lamarre-Condon had visited the Bungonia property the previous Wednesday with an acquaintance. According to police, he severed a lock on a gate, left the woman at the entrance, then drove the van onto the property alone, returning thirty minutes later. This sequence of events, combined with other evidence, led detectives to concentrate their search on the rural site over the weekend.

Search teams, including divers, had been combing the area around Bungonia for days before the breakthrough. On Friday morning, the white van was finally located. Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty confirmed that police would argue in court that the vehicle had been used to transport and dispose of the bodies. Additional evidence had been seized from an industrial bin in Cronulla, seventeen miles from the crime scene—blood-stained clothing, a phone, and credit cards—as well as items from a house.

Lamarre-Condon appeared before a court without applying for bail. His case has been adjourned until April 23 to allow police time to prepare their evidence. His lawyer declined to answer questions outside the courthouse. The case has reverberated across Australia, drawing widespread attention to the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two young men whose social media pages have been flooded with messages of condolence from friends and colleagues. Baird had worked on Studio 10 until the program was cancelled in December 2023. Davies' family and the broader community now await the court proceedings that will determine the course of the case.