Mystery items removed from crime scene where Melissa Hoskins was fatally injured after Olympian was allegedly hit by husband Rohan Dennis’s car

By Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia[1]

Published: 06:07, 9 January 2024 | Updated: 06:39, 9 January 2024

Mystery items including clothing and fabric were removed from the crash site where Olympian Melissa Hoskins was allegedly struck by her husband's car.

Footage filmed by Channel 7 at the crash scene in the inner northern Adelaide[2] suburb of Medindie after 8pm on December 30 showed clothing and possibly a towel scattered on the road.

The items appeared in the middle of Avenel Gardens Road alongside police attending the scene, who were seen applying yellow paint markers to the bitumen where Ms Hoskins was allegedly fatally struck by her husband, champion cyclist Rohan Dennis.

The clothes were gathered into a pile and photographed by an officer before a paramedic was seen picking up and carrying the items away - presumably to be processed by the police.

One item appeared to be a red beach towel with a white fringe and the other items looked like clothing coloured green, white, yellow and maroon.

It has been reported that Ms Hoskins somehow ended up on the bonnet of Dennis's Volkswagen Amarok V6 ute before suffering catastrophic injuries.

Items scattered on the road after the incident in which Olympian Melissa Hoskins was allegedly fatally struck by her husband's ute were removed from the crime scene

Melissa Hoskins' uncle Graham posted this image of his niece with her aunt Anke Hoskins Bergmann and paid tribute to the 'beautiful & genuine soul who instantly made you smile, relax, laugh'

A paramedic removed what appears to be a fringed beach towel and clothing which was left on the road after Melissa Hoskins was injured and later died in Adelaide on December 30

Ms Hoskins was placed in an ambulance and taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital where the 32-year-old died shortly afterwards.

All the items were removed from the scene and South Australian Police impounded Dennis's £70,000 vehicle, while Adelaide CIB detectives charged the world champion pursuit cyclist over his wife's death.

Currently on police bail, he is due to face Adelaide Magistrates Court in March on charges of causing her death by dangerous driving, driving without due care and endangering life.

The incident happened just metres from the £2.45million home which Ms Hoskins, her husband and their children had recently moved into after buying it in 2019 and renting it out.

Dennis, 33, had competed on the European cycling circuit for the last few years with the young family commuting between Adelaide and Spain and Andorra, where they lived in the village of La Massana.

He retired last year and the couple was due to be the face of the family ride through the Adelaide CBD this Saturday as part of Australian cycling's Tour Down Under, held every year in the SA capital.

However, race officials scratched Dennis from the ride in the wake of Melissa's death.

The couple appeared to be beginning a bright new chapter of their lives after Rohan Dennis's retirement from cycling, with plans to start their own vineyard and wine label

The crash scene, marked by police in yellow, was just metres around the corner from where Melissa Hoskins was living with husband Rohan Dennis and their two young children

Melissa Hoskins' parents, Amanda and Peter, released a statement about her death and the fact her funeral will be held in her hometown of Perth ahead of a memorial in Adelaide following the end of the Tour Down Under.

The two-time Olympic pursuit cyclist's uncle, Graham Hoskins, posted on Facebook a heartfelt statement about ' the untimely passing of ... our beautiful 'Lissa'

'We are all absolutely devastated beyond belief, especially given the tragic circumstances surrounding her death,' he wrote, 'I still can't believe it is real.

'Everyone who met Melissa, even in passing, knows what a beautiful & genuine soul she was, & who instantly made you smile, relax, laugh & feel comfortable.

'Melissa is proof that performing & achieving, even at the absolute elitist level on the world stage, does not mean you cannot also be a decent, real & relatable person ... always down to earth, always sincere, always caring & compassionate & with time for everyone.'

Melissa Hoskins was the mother of two young children, a five-year-old son and her daughter born in 2021.

Cycling greats such as Anna Meares have expressed their shock and sorrow at Ms Hoskins' death, with competitors in the AusCycling Road National Championships in Ballarat last weekend holding a minute's silence.

References

1. ^ Candace Sutton for Daily Mail Australia (www.dailymail.co.uk)
2. ^ Adelaide (www.dailymail.co.uk)