POLICE have released the names of two people found dead in Candelo earlier this month.
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Francesca Doyle, 52, and Nicholas Shannon, 53, were discovered at a residential premises at the rear of the Black Sheep Baa café two weeks ago.
Ms Doyle was the proprietor of the Black Sheep Baa, which opened in late August.
Former Sydney resident Ms Doyle told the BDN in September she had spent six years searching for the perfect seachange business before buying the cafe in Candelo (BDN 20/9).
She spoke positively about immersing herself in the Candelo arts community and she ran music events at the Black Sheep Baa on Friday nights.
Ms Doyle said she had plans to expand the café into an artisan produce store.
However, the café closed without explanation in November and its Facebook page was deleted.
On December 16 the bodies of Ms Doyle and Mr Shannon were discovered in a small home at the back of the café.
Tony Hall, a friend of Mr Shannon’s from Sydney, said he was in shock at the news.
“Nick and Frances were just really decent people, I’m deeply saddened by this,” he said.
Mr Hall is the former mayor and councillor at Ku-ring-gai Council in Sydney’s northern suburbs.
During his time on council he met Mr Shannon who was an IT professional at the time and was formerly a stockbroker.
“Nick was a lovely fellow and very thorough at his job, we became friends.”
He said Mr Shannon and Ms Doyle lived in the Sydney suburb of Gordon before moving to the Far South Coast.
“They wanted to make a new start, it’s very sad that this is the ending to their story.”
Mr Hall said he last saw Mr Shannon a month ago and “he seemed well”.
“He came back and forward to Sydney a bit, I think Frances was mainly doing the café on her own,” he said.
Mr Hall said he believed Ms Doyle had an adult son from a previous marriage living in Sydney.
An official cause of death for the couple has not yet been released.
Detective Sergeant Justin Marks from Bega Police said investigators are still waiting to hear from pathologists.
“We are still preparing a report for the Coroner, and we are still making inquiries here and interstate,” he said.
Last week Detective Sergeant Marks said Bega Police had set up Strikeforce Darvell to investigate the death of Ms Doyle and Mr Shannon, but they did not believe there were any suspicious circumstances.