Bone of Lateesha Nolan found on remote riverbank 11 years after she vanished
The discovery of a bone belonging to murdered woman Lateesha Nolan has prompted a new search on the banks of the Macquarie River for more of her remains.
The 24-year-old disappeared in January 2005 and in 2012 her cousin Malcolm Naden was convicted of her murder after seven years on the run.
Police on Tuesday said the human bone was found by a member of the public late last month in the south of Dubbo and DNA testing and other analysis confirmed it as belonging to Ms Nolan.
Police are searching for the remains of Lateesha Nolan (pictured) after a bone that had belonged to her was found near Dubbo. Photo: Supplied
Malcolm Naden was convicted of Lateesha and Kristy's murder after seven years on the run. Photo: Supplied
Detectives will conduct a coordinated search of the riverbank near Butlers Falls on Tuesday with the operation expected to take a number of days.
Homicide Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Mick Willing, said detectives were determined to find Ms Nolan's remains.
"We now know we are looking at the right spot, which is near the 2012 excavation, but changes to the terrain have meant this area was unexposed at that time," he said in a statement.
Police excavate an area in the search for the body of Lateesha Nolan in Dubbo in 2012. Photo: AAP
"The loss of a loved one is never easy to deal with, but the grief can be even harder to overcome when you can't lay them to rest.
"For more than a decade investigators have been following every line of inquiry in hope of ending the family's search for answers.
"We hope we will soon be able allow them to properly - and respectfully - say goodbye," Det Supt Willing said.
Kristy Scholes (left) and Lateesha Nolan (right) were both killed in Dubbo in 2005. Photo: AAP
Naden's manhunt was one of the state's biggest. Photo: 7 News
In 2013 Naden, a former shearer and abattoir worker, was sentenced to life in prison after facing court on two murder charges.
The then 39-year-old had pleaded guilty to the murder of Ms Nolan whom he strangled in her car in Dubbo before dismembering her body and burying it beside the Macquarie River.
Naden was also sentenced for the murder of Kristy Scholes, 24, who was staying with him at his grandparents' house in Dubbo when he strangled her in June 2005.
Naden then went on the run before being captured in 2012 after one of the state's biggest manhunts.
He committed a spate of break and enters in rural bushland and shot a police officer during his seven years as a fugitive.
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