Discarded under bushes in the shadow of a popular amusement park, the mysterious murder of a Melbourne teacher, 31, in Georgia has locals on edge - amid claims disinterested police just want it to blow over

Police in the former USSR running the murder investigation into the brutal murder of Australian teacher Shanae Brooke Edwards are under fire for keeping worried locals in the dark. 

The body of the 31-year-old Melbourne woman was reportedly found with stab wounds near the ferris wheel attraction in Mtatsminda Park, in a ravine near a narrow pedestrian trail on July 31. 

Weeks later, Georgia's 'Ministry of Internal Affairs', which is leading the investigation into Ms Brooke Edwards' murder, has released scant information on its investigation. 

Tributes for the kind and adventurous Shanae Brooke Edwards have flooded social media since her brutal murder

Shanae Brooke Edwards, 31, was hiking Mount Mtatsminda alone above Tbiilsi, Georgia, when she was ambushed on Friday and her body found the next day 

Police in Georgia search for Shanae Brooke Edwards in Mtatsminda Park. Her body was found a day after she went missing 

 WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MURDER

The body of Shanae Brooke Edwards  had been deliberately covered with tree branches and leaves. 

Police sources have told local media that contrary to earlier reports, no signs of sexual assault were found on her body.

The source claimed Ms Brooke Edwards had been stabbed to death with a 'plastic handled knife' at a different location and later dumped where she was found. 

Local media had earlier reported a potential suspect with blonde hair, aged in his 30s, was believed to be a person of interest, but no further word has emerged in the weeks since.

Ms Brooke Edwards had phoned a friend across the ocean in California in a desperate cry for help on the day she died. 

'Please let me go, ok… just let me go,' she cried, before the phone went dead.

Police have been told Ms Brooke Edwards had been earlier approached by two male passers-by, one of whom approached to ask her a question while the other stood by. 

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Georgia's 'Ministry of Internal Affairs', but has received no response. 

The silence from Georgian detectives has led to fears in the Georgian capital of Tbilsi of misinformation being spread. 

In the weeks since the horrific murder, reports Ms Brooke Edwards had been raped have been revealed to be unfounded. 

As have reports of a supposed photofit of a young blonde male being passed around by detectives in the days following the crime. 

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs - which does not have an embassy in Georgia - also refused to reveal what, if anything, it is doing to assist in the case. 

On Thursday night, a spokesman claimed it 'continued to provide consular assistance' to Ms Brooke Edwards' family, but would not reveal what due to 'privacy obligations'.

Ms Brooke Edwards' body was found discarded under bushes in the shadow of a popular amusement park in what is now believed to be a robbery-gone-wrong. 

Daily Mail Australia can reveal locals in the area long held concerns over the behaviour of men in the area. 

So concerned are female residents, many are now seeking to arm themselves with weapons, including pepper spray and stun guns, which are legal to carry by citizens in the country. 

A social media page set up in the wake of the tragedy is awash with horror stories by women describing terrifying encounters with local men. 

Many claim random men have touched them inappropriately as they go about their ordinary business, with some men stalking them down busy streets.   

Others claim men openly perform lewd acts in full view of the public.  

People living in the capital of Georgia where Shanae Brooke Edwards was murdered are calling on the government to intervene 

The ferris wheel attraction in Mtatsminda Park would have been in view of Shanae Brooke Edwards when she was brutally murdered 

Ms Brooke Edwards' final Instagram post, of her on a motorbike on July 29, was captioned 'Joy'

The area where Ms Brooke Edwards was murdered in known to be feared by women in the region, who know it to be an area 'you would not go to alone'. 

'There was also an incident, happened to me at Mtatsminda less than a year ago, when a man offered me sex aggressively; I tried to freak him out, I succeed - so I'm alive,' one woman wrote following the attack.

'That time I had hundreds of therapy hours, so I can't say I was a person who didn't understand anything, but I literally didn't know what to do, should I report it somehow, where to go, what do.'

The Facebook group is made-up predominantly of English-speaking professionals living in the Georgian capital.  

While victim blaming is reportedly rampant among Georgian men in the region, it is concern over the effectiveness of local police that is causing those living in the area most concern. 

Some women claim police are little better than the vile men on the street, with allegations officers have later harassed women who came forward to report crimes. 

'(An officer ) ask for her documents ( expat ) then ask her number. She was afraid and give him her number then 15 min later he started to text her,' one person claimed.

Emerging reports of previous attacks in the area Ms Brooke Edwards was killed have since emerged. 

'Some of them write they have reported these incidents to police and spent time in police departments,' a woman claimed.

Timeframes quoted range from several years to several months to one day before last month's murder.

'So the police did zero to prevent it ... I have personally been to that trail but it gave me goosebumps even though I have never went there alone. If a woman had asked me for advice, I would definitely not recommend going there alone,' the post continued. 

Shanae Brooke Edwards, 31, was murdered in what could have been a robbery gone wrong 

Searchers found this old and rusty shovel in the bushes in the area where Ms Brooke Edwards went missing. A man was also seen having 'aggressive' sex with a woman about 50m away - the day before her disappearance

One woman who claimed to have been in Mtatsminda Park at the same time as Ms Brooke Edwards told the group she had seen a suspicious man there. 

'I think it maybe not helping, because it was on the pass far right from the wheel, but I feel I need to go and say it to police,' she posted a day after Ms Brooke Edwards' body was found. 

Foreigners living in the region claim police are loathe to help them due to the language barrier. 

'We expats definitely want to wait for 3 hours at a police station "for a translator" and be treated like complete trash, being told to come back the next day and have to wait 3 hours again, etc, to report suspicious activity,' one woman claimed.

'It's the same crap every time, they just don't want you to come or file a report.'

Others claim local police are just 'three bribes away' from the kind of police corruption that plagued Georgia in the 90s and early 2000s.

Mtatsminda Park, where Ms Brooke Edwards went missing, is a booming tourist park with several adventure rides on top of Mount Mtatsminda. 

It is also a known hang out for drug users, with discarded syringes littering the landscape. 

Ms Brooke Edwards' friends reported finding  black leggings and winter boots discarded along her likely route.

'There's also a tent and some weird s**t. Worth searching properly,' one searcher reported seeing. 

An old, rusty shovel was found, as were strange signs of life living among the trees. 

'Signs of activity, firepits, used needles, lots of bottles in some spots,' one man reported.

'This spot below was freshly used and had some linens or clothes inside a plastic bag nearby. Bad smell in the area but more like human waste.'

The much-loved 'free spirit' was on a call to a friend in the US while trekking when she was heard shouting 'take your hands off me' - before the call cut out

Final hike to death: A map of where Ms Brooke Edwards was expected to go hiking was shared with her friends, who rallied to find the Melbourne woman a world from home 

Searchers found strange signs of life living among the trees including 'needles and lots of bottles in some spots.'

As the days and weeks roll on, frightened women are calling on the Georgian government to do something to stop the violence against them. 

'If government won’t take serious measures after recent incident, more mentally ill people and potential culprits come to the area and it will get worse,' a woman wrote.

'Overall, I’ve noticed general ignorance from local police on crime prevention and lack of readiness to react fast.'

Some fear police hope the matter will simply fade from the public eye altogether. 

'It was strange that government did nothing to warn local neighborhoods about the culprit wandering in the area or close Mtatsminda Park that day,' another wrote. 

'It looks like local government and police try to “calm down” this situation and focus on “safe country” image to attract more tourists, digital nomads, foreign investments and grants. If this is usual communication strategy, it will hard to believe in safety that we all were looking for and promised here.'