Tiahleigh Alyssa Rose Palmer (sometimes known as Tia or Tiah) was a 12-year-old Australian girl who lived in Logan City, Queensland.

[5] Later that day, the remains of a female aged 12–18 were found by a fisherman on the bank of the Pimpama River and, on 6 November, they were officially identified as Palmer's.

[10][11] In June 2021, a coronial inquest into the specific cause of Palmer's death was held, at which Thorburn stated that he "thinks" he "must have accidentally suffocated her".

The Thorburns fostered no more children after Palmer's disappearance, but continued to run a daycare service from their home until April 2016 when the state's education and child safety departments were advised by police that Rick Thorburn was facing nine serious charges unrelated to Palmer, and the family's daycare approval was revoked and their foster care approval was suspended.

In a court hearing on 21 September 2016 prosecutors said that, two days before her death, Trent confessed to a cousin that he had had sex with Palmer on the previous Monday, and that she had told his mother about it.

[24] Trent Thorburn was sentenced to four years in jail for incest, perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice in September 2017[25] and released on 19 January 2018 after spending 16 months in custody.

[27] In March 2018, it was reported that Rick Thorburn intended to plead guilty to Palmer's murder,[28] and he did so formally before the Supreme Court on 25 May 2018.