A man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a missing schoolgirl who disappeared from the NSW Blue Mountains before her body was found in a barrel.
Court documents reveal the girl was killed between 7pm on Tuesday January 11 and 10am January 12, but police were not made aware of her disappearance until days later.
The girl was reported missing from a wedding estate in Mount Wilson about 8.20am Friday, sparking a major air and ground search.
Strike Force Buena was established by the Blue Mountains Police Area Command and assisted by the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad to investigate the girl’s disappearance.
Officers conducted a search in the vicinity of the Colo River on Tuesday where they found a young girl’s body in a barrel
The body is yet to be formally identified but police said they were consistent with the missing girl.
Police attended a Riley Street unit at Surry Hills about 8.30pm and arrested a 32-year-old man.
He was taken to Surry Hills Police Station where he was charged with murder and refused bail.
The man briefly appeared at Central Local Court on Wednesday from the cells at Surry Hills police station, still wearing the grey Everlast jumper he was arrested in overnight.
The Mount Wilson man’s lawyer did not apply for bail but told the court he was suffering long-standing mental health issues and was worried for his safety while in custody on remand.
“Asking for a recommendation for a full justice health assessment and he be supplied with his prescribed medication,” the lawyer said.
A police prosecutor requesting an adjournment of 13 weeks for a brief of evidence due to “the complexities of the matter”.
“We require additional time for the order to be served and I ask for an additional four weeks,” the prosecutor told the court.
“Eight weeks wouldn’t be sufficient for all the evidence to be served in that time.”
Magistrate Robert Williams declined the request and adjourned the matter for the scheduled eight weeks.
He will face Penrith Local Court on March 18.
Police, SES and RFS have spent five days scouring bushland around the multimillion-dollar wedding venue, where the girl had been staying.
The nine-year-old usuallxjmtzywy lives with her grandmother in Coolangatta, Queensland, but was spending two weeks with her mother during the school holidays.
A crime scene was established and is being examined by specialist forensic officers.
Investigations under Strike Force Buena are continuing.
