The lead detective investigating the death of a Riverina teenager in a suspected hit and run has told an inquest that an anonymous tip implicated the boy's stepfather.
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However, Detective Senior Constable Stanley Wall, testifying on day one of a coronial inquest into the death of Braydon Worldon, said there was no evidence to support the accusation.
The 15-year-old's body was discovered on River Road, Wantabadgery, on December 19, 2018 by a passing motorist.
The young boy's death occurred a few hours after he had celebrated his birthday.
NSW Deputy State coroner Elaine Truscott opened an inquest at Wagga Courthouse on Tuesday.
Detective Senior Constable Wall, one of the first officers on the scene, took to the witness stand.
"About 1.45am on December 19, I was called to duty to attend a fatal," he said.
"I was informed a young male had been located."
Detective Wall said while driving to the scene, he noted it was a "warm, clear night" with good visibility.
He said that on the way he did not see any other vehicles until he came across the other emergency services. From that moment, an investigation began as officers attempted to identify the body.
At about 5am, Detective Wall spoke to Peter Lees, better known as Toby Lees, about the discovery of a teenager dead on the road.
"Lees informed me that his stepson Braydon had not returned home this evening ... Lees was physically upset," he said.
"[Braydon's mum] Crystal was very emotional about the news and collapsed to the ground. Lees indicated that at 11.30pm, Braydon was not in his bed."
At the inquest, Detective Wall then detailed the various avenues of investigation he undertook over the following two years.
This included canvassing the area the day after and speaking to campers at a nearby reserve, examining vehicles, accessing CCTV footage and downloading information from phone towers.
At one point, officers at Wagga Police Station got an anonymous phone call from a woman who was later identified as a Junee resident.
She detailed alleged conversations she had with Braydon's great-grandmother June Worldon which implicated Mr Lees. But Detective Wall said when he spoke with Mrs Worldon she did not repeat these allegations.
Coronial advocate Brooke Notley asked Detective Wall if he had formed any view about Mr Lees.
"After all that I have seen putting this brief of evidence together, I can see no connection between Peter Lees with Braydon's death," he responded.
When no more leads were coming up, Detective Wall asked mechanical and biomedical engineer William Bailey to provide an expert report.
"At that stage of the investigation ... we had a number of appeals, and the investigation was bogging down," he said.
"We weren't getting anywhere."
Mr Bailey found Braydon's injury patterns consistent with that of a medium to heavy rigid vehicle, fitted with a bull bar that had two protruding structures at 1.5 to 1.6 metres and 1.3 to 1.4 metres above the roadway.
Magistrate Truscott asked Detective Wall if the driver would have seen Braydon or known they had hit someone.
"I believe that someone should have seen him on the road ... I believe there is a suitable distance there to have been able to identify him on the road," Detective Wall replied.
"I think they definitely know they have impacted something given the force of the impact."
Detective Wall was the first witness to speak at the inquest.
The inquest will continue on Wednesday.
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