The desperate search for a Unanderra woman ended tragically with the discovery of a body at the bottom of a cliff at Bulli Tops yesterday.
The body was yet to be formally identified last night, although it was believed to be that of Ashleigh Musson, 22, who went missing on New Year's Day. Her death was not being treated as suspicious.
Boyfriend of seven years, Tim Taheri, 22, described Ms Musson as a friendly, outgoing person.
He said Ms Musson had many friends in the region, both personally and at Wollongong's Stellar Call Centres where she worked.
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Nevertheless, Mr Taheri said she had been suffering a degree of stress that had led her to being prescribed antidepressants the day before she disappeared.
"I was aware she was under a real lot of stress. Her job and some concerns about her family," he said.
"She has been depressed from time to time and she was having trouble sleeping. She went missing for six hours when we were 17, but nothing like this."
Ms Musson had suffered trauma in the past, relating to her father having died two weeks before her birth in November 1985, and a school friend committing suicide off Bulli Tops.
She had been sharing a house with two friends in Panorama Dr, Unanderra, but was to move out on New Year's Day.
She planned to live with her grandmother at Woonona so she could be closer to her family, including her mother who lived at Bulli. She also had a brother in Sydney.
Mr Taheri, of Cordeaux Heights, said he and Ms Musson celebrated New Year's Eve at Western Suburbs Leagues Club, where she appeared to be in good spirits.
"I dropped her at her home around 1.20am. She seemed pretty normal," he said. "But she never went inside. She must have wanted to get away without me knowing."
Mystery surrounds Ms Musson's movements in the ensuing hours. Police said she paid for a taxi from Unanderra at 5.20am using EFTPOS. A taxi driver later revealed that he took her to Bulli.
By 10pm her grandmother raised the alarm.
"Her grandmother called us. She was worried because Ashleigh had a friend who jumped off Bulli Pass; she was so worried that she would do the same thing," Mr Taheri said.
The call led Mr Taheri on an all-night search that took him to a Sutherland cemetery, where Ashleigh's father is buried.
"Normally, when she is upset, she visits her father's grave," he said.
He also tracked down friends and family in Sydney, while constantly dialling Ms Musson's mobile phone.
At the same time, police were searching for Ms Musson's telephone at Bulli Tops, where it was traced using a GPS system.
Mr Taheri said the phone's battery finally went dead about midday, although the police search continued until late in the afternoon.
The revelation yesterday that Ms Musson had been delivered by taxi to Bulli resulted in him launching his own search of bushland out of a fear she may have become lost.
At noon yesterday police launched a search and rescue operation at Bulli Tops lookout, near the Cliffhanger Cafe, joined by SES crews, the Volunteer Rescue Association, Police Rescue teams and a PolAir helicopter searching bush tracks leading from Bulli Tops.
About 2pm the search crews returned after a body was discovered directly below the Bulli Tops lookout.
Before setting out, Mr Taheri said he could not face the thought of Ms Musson not being alive.
"Whatever happens, I hope she's alive and well. Her family really wouldn't be able to cope with this. Neither would her friends. Neither would I," he said.
