A probe has been launched into the mysterious death of an
Australian Instagram influencer, whose body was found aboard a Mexican billionaire’s luxury yacht in
Greece over the weekend.
Sinead McNamara, 20, had been working on the £108-million
Mayan Queen IV superyacht for four months when she was discovered on Friday.
The 92-metre yacht owned by Alberto Baillères, an 87-year-old mining magnate, has been ordered by the Hellenic Coast Guard to remain docked at the port of Argostoli, on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, while detectives interview crew members and forensic tests are carried out.
An autopsy has been ordered to determine the cause of Ms McNamara’s death.
Originally from Port Macquarie in New South Wales, Ms McNamara was a Sydney-based social media influencer who had been working on the vessel as it sailed around Europe over the summer.
It is unclear what type of work Ms McNamara was doing on the yacht. She had been promoting swimwear, underwear and skincare brands to her 14,000 Instagram followers over the last year while travelling to some of the world's most exclusive resorts.
All members of the Baillères family on the trip had left the yacht on Tuesday and returned to Mexico, according to reports, and it had not been established on Sunday whether Mr Baillères was on the holiday.
The coast guard confirmed that only crew members were left on board.
The Ballières family owns one of the world’s largest silver mines and Mexico’s second largest mining company.
A crew member reportedly found Ms McNamara hanging from the rear deck of the boat in the early hours of Friday morning and alerted port authorities.
Attempts were made to revive her at the scene, but she fell into a coma and died while being airlifted from the island hospital at Argostoli to a larger hospital in Athens.
Her death prompted an outpouring of grief, with family, friends and fans commenting under her final post - a picture of a secluded, wild stretch of northeast Kefalonia coastline.
“Thanks Sinead for photos of things I have not seen,” her grandmother wrote, while a friend congratulated her on “living the dream.”
Days before her death, Ms McNamara created a Facebook album of memories with her older sister, Lauren McNamara, saying “excitement was an understatement” for how much she was looking forward to seeing Lauren, who was scheduled to join her in Greece today.
Her brother, Jake McNamara, described hearing about her death as "the worst news of my life".
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family as the investigation continues.