Man charged with murder over girl, 9, missing in Blue Mountains
A man has been charged with murder following the disappearance of a schoolgirl who vanished from the Blue Mountains last week.
NSW Police arrested the 31-year-old at a Surry Hills unit on Tuesday night after five days of extensive searches west of Sydney for the missing nine-year-old.
She disappeared from a property in the Blue Mountains suburb of Mount Wilson late last Thursday where she was holidaying with family. The child was visiting from Queensland where she lives with her grandmother.
The arrested man has been refused bail to appear in Central Local Court on Wednesday.
More than 100 people had been searching dense bushland for any sign of the girl, who was reported missing on Friday morning.
The search for the girl has since ceased with police confirming a body was found in a barrel.
Officers conducted a search in the vicinity of the Colo River where a body of a child was discovered in the barrel, NSW Police said in a statement Wednesday morning.
The body is yet to be formally identified while a crime scene has been established.
Investigations had also included extensive searches of the property where the girl was staying and the questioning of family members.
Woman spots vehicle without headlights on in the area
A nearby resident told AAP his wife had seen a car in the area early Friday morning without its headlights on.
"She went to the window and got out of bed and saw through the trees the shadow (of the vehicle)," the neighbour said.
"People go out at night and usually have headlights."
She later contacted police with her account after learning of the girl's disappearance.
The property where the girl vanished, as well as the surrounding bushland, remains an active crime scene.
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