POLICE hold fading hope of finding alive the husband of a murdered woman discovered in the back shed of her grandmother’s Wyndham Street, Greta, home this week.

Darren Fishburn, 42, has not been seen since the body of his wife, Tammy, 43, was found by her daughter at 9.30am on Tuesday.

The Fishburns are understood to have been living on the property.

Mrs Fishburn, who also went by her maiden name of Sindermann, is believed to have been killed on Monday night.

Police declined yesterday to confirm metropolitan media reports that Mrs Fishburn was strangled.

The reports said early autopsy results had indicated the cause of death.

Police also declined to accuse Mr Fishburn of anything, simply saying they held concerns for his welfare and keenly wanted to speak to him about the circumstances of his wife’s death.

Mr Fishburn has been described as a Caucasian, of solid build with short brown hair, a goatee beard and piecrings in both ears.

Mrs Fishburn’s red 1989 Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive, with New South Wales registration YAE-923, has not been seen since Tuesday.

Mr Fishburn is believed to have driven it into bushland somewhere.

The Polair helicopter joined homicide detectives and the Public Order and Riot Squad searching bushland on the banks of Lake Macquarie, near Wyee, for Mr Fishburn on Wednesday.

No trace was found and the search in that area ended yesterday.

Police declined to comment on metropolitan media reports that a stationary signal from Mr Fishburn’s mobile telephone had been tracked to Wyee on Tuesday.

It is understood that police initially responded on Tuesday to a call that a woman was hanging in the Greta shed.

After Mrs Fishburn’s body was found on the floor of the shed, police established a crime scene.

Ambulance paramedics determined that Mrs Fishburn was dead.

Police secured the site and had it examined by forensic specialists.

Mrs Fishburn’s grandmother, Irma Sindermann, who has lived at Greta for more than 50 years, was found unharmed inside the house and has since been cared for by relatives.

Police have interviewed family and friends of the Fishburns and neighbours in the Wyndham vicinity as part of the ongoing investigation and have called for public help with their inquiries.