Police have arrested a man over the murder of Alice Springs mother Karlie Pearce-Stevenson.
Detectives arrested a 41-year-old man at Cessnock Police Station at 4.15pm today. He is expected to be charged with Karlie’s murder later tonight.
Enquiries into the murder of Karlie’s daughter Khandalyce Pearce.
News Ltd reported earlier today that a man already serving time in prison for unrelated offences was the main “person of interest”.
The development comes just days after police made the link between the bones of a child found in a suitcase near Wynarka in South Australia in July, and her 20-year-old mother, whose remains were found more than 1000 kilometres away, in the Belanglo State Forest.
Police believe that Karlie’s body may have been dumped in the Belanglo State Forest in a deliberate attempt to confuse police into thinking she may have been another victim of the notorious backpacker murderer, Ivan Milat, who dumped his victims there.
Karlie and her daughter were last seen by police on the Stuart Highway near Coober Pedy in November 2008. The car she was travelling in hasn’t yet been located.
Karlie’s family has launched an online appeal to raise funds for a proper burial in Alice Springs. The post said the family had “spent the past six years desperately trying to locate their whereabouts”.
