Police search for body after man charged with Sydney schoolgirl's 1998 murder
Police are searching for the body of a 12-year-old Sydney girl who disappeared on her way to school nearly two decades ago, after a man was charged with her murder.
Schoolgirl Quanne Diec vanished while on her way to school from her Granville home in Sydney's west on the morning of July 27, 1998.
After more than 18 years, police arrested and charged a 49-year-old man with her murder on Sunday afternoon.
Quanne Diec was last seen on 27 July, 1998. Photo: Missing Persons Unit
NSW Police have established a crime scene at a home in Granville after officers said the man handed himself into police.
Superintendent Scott Whyte said the man accused of murdering Quanne was not known to the family but said the murder was not random.
"There is a search underway at the moment at a (local) residence," Supt Whyte said.
NSW Police established a crime scene at a home in Granville after officers said the man handed himself into police.
Photo: 7 News
Police said the man has been "a person of interest in this investigation for 18 years".
It's also believed Quanne was alive a short time after she disappeared.
Police allege it was a premeditated attack and would not comment on whether the man was stalking the schoolgirl.
Quanne was on her way to Clyde train station but never made it. The alarmed was raised when she failed to show up for class at Strathfield Girls High School.
Police said the man has been "a person of interest in this investigation for 18 years". Photo: 7 News
Early on in the investigation, Quanne was feared to have been abducted but her disappearance was not reported to police for about 10 hours because the school believed she was probably at home sick.
The Diec family, who has searched for years for the schoolgirl, has been told of the man's arrest.
"They are very distressed. It is a time of mixed emotions," Supt Whyte told reporters on Monday.
Supt Whyte said police had never stopped investigating the disappearance of the girl.
"Police investigators ... never stop, never give up."
For the years following her disappearance, Quanne's family prayed that she was alive.
Her elderly father Sam had travelled around Australia in the hope of confirming reported sightings of his daughter. While sister Tina and brother Sunny both told media in 2000 they were praying for the return of their sister.
Quanne was on her way to Clyde train station but never made it to school. Photo: Supplied
While sister Tina and brother Sunny both told media in 2000 they were praying for the return of their sister.
The man charged with murder was refused bail and is due to appear at Central Local Court on Monday.
Strike Force Lydney was established with police pursuing numerous avenues and following up reported sightings to no avail.
During the investigation Detective Inspector Brad Cox said police had hypnotised witnesses, set up mannequins and drained and searched a nearby waterway, Duck Creek, but failed to come up with answers.
Police were unable to confirm whether Quanne was the girl seen talking to the male driver of a white van near the intersection of Third and Factory Streets in Granville on the day of her disappearance.
The girl was reportedly seen getting into the van, which then drove away.
The case resurfaced in public eye last year remains of another young girl were found inside a suitcase beside a road in South Australia.
It was eventually determined that the remains belonged to someone else.
