More than 17 years ago, the Corowa grandmother was found dead just three weeks before Christmas.

The 59-year-old had drowned after her throat was cut sometime between the evening of December 6, 2001 when she was wrapping Christmas presents, and the morning of December 7, 2001 when a jogger spotted her body at about 8.15am.

Police gathered on the riverbank, tying chequered tape between huge gums to cordon off the area.

Soon news of the murder spread through Corowa, and questions reverberated across the small town.

What happened to Yvonne?

Who would attack a harmless grandmother?

Does a murderer live among them?

The small town was shaken, shattered.

But no one has ever been charged with her murder.

After nearly 18 years, her vast extended family have come together to remind people a murderer is still out there and their family is still waiting for answers.

The family don't know why their mild-mannered mother, who dotted on her family and "didn't have a bad word to say about anyone", was brutally killed.

But they believe someone does.

Almost 18 years later, it's still not clear how the 59-year-old, five-foot-two grandma ended up floating in the river, her throat cut.

In the intervening years no one has uncovered what happened the night of December 6, 2001, or the early morning of December 7, 2001.

There have been no charges laid, no answers - no justice.

No one was ever formally identified as a suspect, so everybody became a suspect.

For 17 years, nine months and 14 days Yvonne's family, and the extended Corowa community, have been left with nothing but grief and questions.

From that day, they were never the same.

Their mother, grandmother, aunt and sister had been brutally taken from them and even those who weren't yet born would feel the impact of her absence.

Almost 18 years after Yvonne Strachan was last seen alive, her sons, grandsons, granddaughters, nieces, nephews and in-laws - just some of the people still haunted by her murder - came together asking anyone with information about her death to come forward.

"I'm hoping someone's conscience is just killing them," her son Irwin Macartney said.

The family doesn't know of any suspects but believes someone knows something.

In the past 17 years, they believe whoever was responsible for Yvonne's death would have slipped up.

And that whoever they've told is keeping quiet to protect them.

"It's been so long, it's about time you came forward," Yvonne's niece Anita Ward said.

"Think of our family...She deserves a lot better, and the family deserves a lot better.

"Imagine it was your family, your mother, your sister or your aunt - how would you feel if it was them?

"And think about who you're protecting...This person took the life of this 59-year-old, five-foot-two tiny little thing - who'd want to protect someone like that?"

On December 7, 2001, police announced a woman, believed to be in her 50s, was found deceased in the Murray River near Corowa about 8.15am.

The next day police and rescuers pulled Yvonne's 1998 silver Ford Laser from the river, about 20 metres downstream from where her body had been.

Police searched Yvonne's house, on the corner of Federation Avenue and Gallipoli Street, for evidence and neighbours were questioned.

Eventually everyone known to be in Corowa on Thursday December 6, 2001, was questioned, including international visitors.

The murder left a "bitter taste" in the community, then-Corowa mayor Gary Poidevin told The Border Mail in 2001.

Residents feared for their safety and rumours filled the void left by the lack of answers.

"There's a lot of gossip in the town and speculation as to what may or may not have happened," he said at the time.

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A year later, in the lead up to what should have been Yvonne's 60^th birthday, police renewed calls for public assistance.

At the time police said they believed "firmly that Mrs Strachan knew the person who killed her" and revealed they were in the possession of a likely murder weapon.

But answers continued to elude authorities and not even the temptation of a $100,000 reward led to a resolution.

Yvonne didn't have any enemies, her sons said, she was loving and fair, gentle and law-abiding.

It was hard to take her seriously when she tried to tell you off, her nephew Colin Halket said.

"You meet someone like Yvonne ... and well these things shouldn't happen," he said.

Yvonne was a slight woman, who loved a small glass of sherry before bed and was the cornerstone of her extended family.

The five-foot-two matriarch drew together a wide web of cousins, in-laws and grandchildren, keeping the family close and connected.

Her house was a gathering place, filled with warmth, where family was always welcome. When the mother-of-four died, some of that extended closeness crumbled.

"Mum was like the centre of the family," Terry said.

"She pulled everyone together. Once she was gone that fell away a bit."

Irwin said Yvonne's strong character and love shaped the family.

"She had this personality, she wouldn't really preach or tell you right from wrong, but it all rubbed off," he said.

"My immediate family ... how close we are, it's all rubbed off from her.

"We're not calling up every minute saying 'I love you, I love you kiss and hugs', but we've got all this respect and love and it's all from her."

Telling his two young children that their grandma was gone was one of the hardest things Irwin has ever had to do.

Yvonne doted on her grandchildren and would spend hours on the floor playing with them.

Since she died, many more grandchildren have been born, and knowing they've missed out on a grandmother like Yvonne is heartbreaking to the family.

"It's just sad all round," Irwin said.

"She had so much to give but her life was taken and she didn't have any say in the matter."

When they first heard the news, her three sons, Steven, Irwin and Terry Macartney, and daughter, Raelene Strachan, were completely shocked.

Who would want to hurt their mum?

"She was only a tiny little thing and only about 40 or 50kg she was nothing - to hurt someone like that is so gutless and cowardly ... it just really doesn't sit well," Irwin said.

"What is someone's motive for doing what they did? There's no money, there was nothing stolen from the house, the only thing that was stolen was the car but it went in the river too - so what's the motive?

"Nothing makes sense. That's why everyone is so baffled by it."

The family never thought, nearly 18 years later, they would still be asking the same questions.

No closer to an answer.

"What type of person would do something like that? That's the horror of it, it just makes no sense," Anita said.

"The emotion when the boys walk down the street has to be, 'is it you, is it you, is it you', the not knowing who it could it be...that's got to play on your mind."

Without answers to allay fears, town chatter filled the silence left in Yvonne's absence.

Yvonne appeared to have left her house with little or no struggle in her pyjamas, leading many to conclude she knew her killer.

The family is not sure, they can't imagine anyone they know, or that Yvonne knew, murdering someone.

And they know that such a slight and somewhat timid woman, it wouldn't have taken more than a threat to intimidate Yvonne into leaving her house without a struggle.

But the question hangs over the town, does a murderer live among them?

After almost 18 years it's hard for the family to know if their questions will ever be answered.

"I didn't think it'd go on as long as it has," Irwin said.

"Now I don't know whether we will know...The longer it goes the less hope you've got."

Hope might be harder to muster, but the raw emotions of loss and horror haven't dulled.

"Someone said to me a while back, 'I can't imagine how you feel'," Irwin said.

"The only way I can explain it is - it's like you have a heap of emotions, you've got anger, sadness, bereavement, bewilderment and you put all those emotions at the highest level.

"Then you just smack them all together with a sledge hammer to make one emotion and that's what you have to live with for the rest of your life.

"It's still just as strong now."

Police were contacted for comment.

If you have any information, call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.