A woman whose naked body was found in a Blue Mountains dam might have gone into the water on a "walkabout" while suffering a mental health episode, an inquest has heard.
Cecilia Devine, 42, was found dead on March 18, 2019 in the remote Upper Cascade Creek dam catchment at North Katoomba.
She was last seen in the nearby NSW village of Katoomba more than six months earlier, on September 6, 2018.
The inquest in Sydney on Friday examined the manner and cause of the musician's death, which remains a mystery.
Detective Sergeant James Allan, the officer in charge of the investigation, told the inquest a likely hypothesis was that Ms Devine, who had bipolar disorder, walked into the dense bushland, entered the dam and passed away in a case of misadventure.
On the day Ms Devine was last seen alive, she had been travelling for about 17 hours without shoes and had previously gone on "walkabouts" where she would dispose of her possessions, the inquest was told.
It was told Ms Devine could sometimes go walkabout for around 24 hours before turning up to hospital or calling an ambulance.
Det Sgt Allan said suicide was unlikely, but homicide could not be excluded.
Police looked into several persons of interest, but all were eliminated as potential murder suspects, he said.
Another possibility was that Ms Devine got unintentionally lost in the area of extremely thick vegetation after sunset, the inquest was told.
Asked for his opinion on why Ms Devine's body was found naked, Det Sgt Allan said it was possible she took her clothes off due to the effects of hypothermia before she entered the water.
Quizzed on the police investigation, the detective stood by evidence that Ms Devine could be "drawn to water" during recovery from a mental health episode.
Several witnesses told police Ms Devine was a modest person who did not take off her clothes in public and even swam clothed in her friend's backyard pool.
The inquest heard expert evidence would be given at a later date on the issue of clothing leaving the body by "natural means" in water.
Ms Devine would have had to walk 3km shoeless "in agony" to the dam from Coles at Katoomba, where she bought groceries on the afternoon she vanished, the inquest heard.
Ms Devine's family, some of whom were in court, want police to renew the investigation with a reward, photographs, signage and a mannequin in the local area, the inquest was told.
The family also want police to offer a reward in the case.
Ms Devine was reported missing on September 5, 2018, from Waratah, a suburb in Newcastle, after family and friends were unable to find or contact her, investigators have previously said.
Police launched a murder investigation into her death in May 2019 and have said they are confident that there are people in the community who have information about the case.
Deputy State Coroner Elizabeth Ryan adjourned the inquest until July 5.
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