SHORTLY before 1am, when she was found gravely injured on Northcliffe drIve, April-Lee Gillen, the victim of an apparent hit and run, posted a chilling Facebook message.
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"Phone's on 1 per cent... and some Asian guy just stopped me telling me to come home with him cause it's safe and I need help wtf sos".
On Tuesday morning Lake Illawarra Local Area Command duty officer Steve Worthington confirmed the post was an important line of inquiry in the ongoing investigation.
A strikeforce comprising detectives from the command has been formed to investigate the incident.
Seventeen-year-old April-Lee is in intensive care in Wollongong Hospital with critical head injuries.
Emergency services were called to Northcliffe Drive, near the intersection of Lake Heights Road at Lake Heights, after reports of a woman on the road.
Police found 17-year-old April-Lee Gillen lying on the roadway. She was treated by paramedics for head injuries, before being taken to Wollongong Hospital.
Police are urging anyone who saw can help them piece together April-Lee's movements to contact them.
She is described as being of caucasian appearance, with long dark hair and an average build.
When found she was wearing a light-coloured pair of cargo pants, black shirt or blouse, khaki jacket and brown sandals, and she was carrying a black handbag.
Police have spoken to a number of witnesses in the neighbourhood, and conducted a canvass of the area.
While police have had a number of calls to Crime Stoppers after the weekend appeal, there have been no arrests and investigators are seeking any further information available from the public.
Police are urging anyone with information about this incident to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page:https://www1.police.nsw.gov.au/. Information you provide will be treated in the strictest of confidence. We remind people they should not report crime information via our Facebook and Twitter pages.