{"id":927139,"date":"2026-07-11T05:22:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T05:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/927139\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T05:22:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T05:22:23","slug":"donald-community-comes-together-to-mourn-death-of-missing-teen-layla-jeffery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/927139\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald community comes together to mourn death of missing teen Layla Jeffery"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sports clubs in a small town in Victoria\u2019s west are calling on the community to don pink today, in honour of a teenage girl believed to be found dead in bushland this week.<\/p>\n

Thirteen-year-old Layla Jeffery was last seen on McCracken Street in Donald on July 4, and was reported missing the next day.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, a wide-ranging search of bushland recovered human remains believed to be that of the missing girl.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The death is being treated as suspicious, and a 16-year-old boy has since been arrested with investigators telling media on Friday they were confident those responsible for the death were in custody.<\/p>\n

But the investigation into the death still looms over the town this weekend, as search teams comb through bushland south of Apex Park.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

On Saturday, SES and police continued to search the parklands on the edge of Donald where Layla Jeffery was found. (ABC News: Angus Verley)<\/p>\n

The local community in Donald has been asked to wear a splash of pink to the town’s football, netball and hockey games today to remember the 13-year-old.<\/p>\n

The idea was proposed by Layla Jeffrey’s friends, and was embraced fully as teams played their matches in the neighbouring town of Charlton on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Layla Jeffery, 13, was last seen in Donald on July 4. (Suppied: Victoria Police)<\/p>\n

“As a close-knit community club, our hearts are with Layla’s family, her friends, and everyone whose lives have been touched by this unimaginable loss,” the Donald Hockey Club said in a social media post.<\/p>\n

“Some of our local community members have organised pink balloons, and many of Layla’s friends will be wearing pink ribbons as their hair in tribute.”<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Layla Jeffery’s friends paid tribute to the missing 13-year-old at their under 14s netball game. (ABC News: Angus Verley)<\/p>\n

The Donald Royal Blues Football Netball Hockey Club said on its Facebook page that the town of about 1,500 people “is hurting”.<\/p>\n

“On behalf of the Royal Blues, we extend our deepest condolences to Layla’s family, her friends and everyone affected by this tragic loss,” the club wrote.<\/p>\n

Donald community shell-shocked by death<\/p>\n

Family friend Peta Edmonds, who set up a crowdfunding page for Layla’s family, said they were “grieving the heartbreaking loss”.<\/p>\n

“Layla was so much more than a news story. She was a beautiful little girl who was deeply loved by her family and touched the hearts of our community,”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ms Edmonds said.<\/p>\n

“Donald is a small country town, and this tragedy has shaken every one of us to our core. We are grieving alongside Layla’s family, and right now the greatest kindness we can show is to respect their wishes, honour Layla’s memory, and surround them with love and support.”<\/p>\n

The online fundraiser, created on Friday, raised more than $18,000 in contributions within 24 hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Edmonds called on the public to respect the family’s wish for privacy.<\/p>\n

\"Teams<\/p>\n

Players embraced before a netball game on Saturday, with many wearing pink and black armbands. (ABC News: Angus Verley)<\/p>\n

Buloke Shire councillor Charmaine Delaney said the town had been devastated by the news.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re encouraging people to take their time for themselves and understand they\u2019re going to feel fragile and angry, and they do have a right to feel both,” Cr Delaney said.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re looking at \u2014 when the family is ready \u2014 offering a site for a memorial.”<\/p>\n

Donald resident John McConville said the community was feeling “sick in the stomach” following the tragedy.<\/p>\n

“We’re feeling a bit helpless, is probably the word,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re wondering what we could have done or what we should have done.”<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

John McConville is a long-time resident of the Victorian town of Donald. (ABC News: Angus Verley)<\/p>\n

Mr McConville said the death came as a particular shock given the closeness of the town.<\/p>\n

“When it’s a population of 1,500 and you know most people,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We knew of Layla, just a wonderful young lady and this shouldn’t happen.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports clubs in a small town in Victoria\u2019s west are calling on the community to don pink today,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":925326,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[4740,4219,4446,14607,373972,5425,50,3983],"class_list":["post-927139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-australia","tag-crime","tag-death","tag-human-remains","tag-layla-jeffrey","tag-missing-person","tag-news","tag-teenager"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116899674298287679","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=927139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/927139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/925326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=927139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=927139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=927139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}