Police identifies main suspect in murder of the ‘girl in suitcase’ and her mother

Detectives claim to have identified a key suspect in the murder of Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson, a 20-year-old woman from Alice Springs and her 2-year-old daughter, whose bodies were discovered separately within a gap of five years. The New South Wales and South Australian police have received information from a huge number of people after they revealed the identities of the mother-daughter duo to public on Wednesday.

The man believed to have committed the murders is reportedly serving a prison sentence for unrelated offences. A spokesperson for the police said on Friday that the police are “keeping an open mind” as the murders of the single mother and her daughter Khandalyce Pearce-Stevenson are still being investigated by the police.

"Police are following a number of lines of inquiries in relation to the deaths of Karlie and Khandalyce Pearce-Stevenson," the police spokesman said.

The dead body of Karlie was discovered five years ago in 2010 in the Belanglo state forest while her daughter’s bones were found stashed in a suitcase beside a highway near Wynarka in South Australia in July, 2015.

According to police, Karlie was last sighted driving with her daughter Khandalyce in November, 2008. The police had intercepted her while she was driving down the Stuart Highway in South Australia.

“[We are] appealing for people from across the country who may have seen this young mum and this little girl at any time in the last 10 years so we can piece together their moments,” the NSW homicide squad commander, Detective Superintendent Mick Willing, told Seven.

One of the victim’s friends, Athena, who attended Alice Springs High School with Karlie, described her as friendly and sociable.

“She was very kind, loving, she had heaps of friends, she had more friends than enemies if anything,” Athena told ABC’s AM program. “She would never walk past without saying hello. She’d always say hello, we’d always have a little yarn here and there. She was a good girl.”

According to the information gathered by investigators, Karlie left Alice Springs with her daughter in 2006. They went missing in 2009 and their extended family was under the impression that they are alive and moving on with their lives.

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