Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for improved safety for health workers in remote communities after a nurse was killed and buried in a shallow grave in South Australia's far north.
A Mimili man has been charged with murder after the body of missing woman Gayle Woodford, 56, was found in a roadside grave near Fregon on Saturday.
Ms Woodford's body was discovered four days after she was last seen on Wednesday night in the state's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands.
Her disappearance sparked a wide-scale aerial and land search on Thursday amid police concerns Ms Woodford was taken from her home.
The ambulance she normally drove was intercepted by police at Coober Pedy on Thursday, with two men and a woman inside.
A 36-year-old man was arrested and initially charged with the theft of the ambulance before he was charged on Sunday with Ms Woodford's murder.
He has been remanded into custody and taken to Port Augusta, where he is due to face court on Tuesday.
Ms Woodford's death has sparked calls for all remote health clinicians to work in pairs, with an online petition asking the federal government to abolish single nurse posts in Australia garnering more than 53,000 signatures by Monday evening.
Remote healthcare association CRANAplus executive officer Christopher Cliffe says many people in the industry are "very angry and upset" over Ms Woodford's disappearance and death.
"It's such a horrific tragedy to occur," he told AAP.
Mr Cliffe said while it is too early to know the exact circumstances around Ms Woodford's death, there have been safety concerns for remote healthcare workers for some time.
He said the vulnerability of clinicians needs to be recognised, and workers should not be allowed to work at posts alone to ease the stress of isolation and workload.
Ms Woodford's son, Gary, and his sister Allison, have spoken publicly about the loss of their mother.
"Anyone who knows mum would appreciate the kind, generous and loving, devoted and beautiful person she was," Mr Woodford said.
"We are having difficulty coming to terms with this unprovoked, premature end to mum's life."
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