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Carlie Sinclair: Human remains found by police searching Darwin site

Human remains have been found at a bush property in Darwin where police have been searching for the body of missing local woman Carlie Sinclair, police say.

Northern Territory Police Commissioner John McRoberts said he was "certain" they belonged to Ms Sinclair, but they had not yet been identified.

The remains will be taken to the mortuary for forensic tests, he said.

"Depending on the forms of identification, whether it will DNA or forensic odontology [dentistry], it may be some days," he said.

"But I'm not going to put a time on that."

Carlie Sinclair's mother, Marlene, told media at a press conference that police had left "no stone unturned".

"They assured us the whole time we would have a conclusion to this," she said.

"It just simply is awesome."

Partner appears in court charged with murder

Danny Deacon, Ms Sinclair's partner, appeared in court this morning charged with her murder.

Deacon's lawyer did not apply for bail during the hearing that lasted a few minutes.

Deacon, 44, was charged with murdering Ms Sinclair after being held by police for five days.

He was arrested when he visited a bush property in Berry Springs, in Darwin's rural area, sparking a large police search of the area.

Ms Sinclair, who would have turned 37 on Christmas Day, vanished on July, 18, 2013.

Deacon, who was the last person to see her, said she walked out of their decorative concreting business in the Darwin suburb of Parap after a row.

She was captured on CCTV cameras later that night at a petrol station in nearby Fannie Bay, which is about 50 kilometres from Berry Springs.

Her disappearance sparked a huge campaign in the Northern Territory to find her.

After hearing the news that Deacon had been charged, his mother Jaqueline Larosa said: "Our hearts go out to Carlie's family".

Earlier, members of his family had criticised police for holding Deacon without charge.

After arresting Deacon, police began searching a site in Berry Springs, saying they were looking for a body.

Mr McRoberts said on Saturday the work was delicate and akin to "forensic archaeology", with every "teaspoon" of soil removed from the area carefully being sifted.

However, two days later police began using large yellow excavators at the site.

Firefighters have also conducted a controlled back-burn of some of the search area.

The magistrate set the next hearing in the case for February 25.