Jayden Ruiz: NSW police officer, 23, found dead in a police car near Brewarrina after two months – as his grieving father breaks his silence

A probationary police officer has been found dead in a police car while on duty after just two months on the job.

Jayden Ruiz, 23, was working the afternoon shift at Brewarrina police station, in remote northern NSW, on September 6.

His body was found around 4.30am in a police car along the Kamilaroi Highway, about 30 kilometers west of the station.

A NSW Police spokesperson said the homicide unit is investigating the death, but added: “Initial investigations suggest there are no suspicious circumstances.”

His father Andro Ruiz told Daily Mail Australia: ‘Jayden never showed any signs of depression.

“His colleagues all said the same thing.”

Andro said he had spoken to his son three days earlier, on Father’s Day, but everything seemed fine.

“Jayden was his happy self,” he said. ‘We are so devastated.

“I feel destroyed because he was my only son.”

Mr Ruiz started training to become a police officer in 2019, a year before he formally applied, because he knew he had to be physically fit enough to get the job.

His father said the photo of them together at his graduation was “probably the happiest time of his life.”

“The smile on his face, honestly, that picture shows it all,” he said.

“Imagine going through all that effort and getting exactly what you want.”

Before the funeral last Tuesday, his colleagues signed a bear made from police shirts and decorated with Mr. Ruiz’s official name tag.

Mr Ruiz graduated from Goulburn Police Academy in June before being transferred to Brewarrina – about 800km north of his family home on the state’s central coast.

In the weeks following his death, police officers from across the country flooded social media with tributes.

‘How tragic this death of a young man at the beginning of his career is. So very sad,” one person wrote.

Someone else said: ‘RIP brother. I’m sorry you didn’t get the help you so desperately needed.”

Others commented on the difficulties posed by graduates being stationed in remote areas, far from their families and friends.

An officer also stationed in Brewarrina said it was an ‘extremely challenging place to live… and lonely, even with a partner’.

The police spokesman said: ‘A critical incident team from the State Crime Command’s homicide unit will investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident and prepare a report for the coroner.’

“The investigation will be subject to an independent review.”

“Support services have been made available to his colleagues and the officers at the station and will also be offered to all staff and associates.”

For confidential crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.