'She was a beautiful girl ': Ex-boyfriend of young mum found dead in Belanglo Forest reveals he was 'gutted' to find out about her murder - and how he had followed the 'girl in a suitcase' mystery with interest
- A girl's remains found in a suitcase has been linked to a murdered woman
- The young girl has been formally identified as Khandalyce Kiara Pearce
- Her mother's body was found 1,200km away in the Belanglo State Forest
- Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson was discovered five years before her child
- The pair were both born in Alice Springs and had left the town in 2008
- Her former boyfriend said he and the regional community were 'gutted'
- Police are following 'a very strong line of inquiry' in a NSW prison
A man who once dated single mother Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson said he was 'gutted' after learning that she and her two-year-old daughter Khandalyce had suffered violent deaths.
Kassidi Lally met Ms Pearce-Stevenson in Alice Springs and the pair briefly dated when she was around 17 or 18-years-old, several years before her remains were found in Belanglo State Forest.
Mr Lally learned of the devastating news when his current girlfriend - who followed the 'baby in the suitcase' murder - told him the single mother and her daughter had been formally identified.
'I was gutted. I was in complete shock. I didn't say anything. I couldn't really put a sentence together or anything,' he told ABC News.
Scroll down for video
Remains of a girl found in a suitcase in South Australia have been identified as Khandalyce Pearce. Her mother Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson's skeletal remains were found in NSW's Belanglo State Forest in 2010
Mr Lally, who last saw Ms Pearce-Stevenson at a bus stop after she had fallen pregnant with her daughter Khandalyce Kiara Pearce, said his former flame had always been an 'awesome chick'.
'She was always really bright and bubbly, funny, cheeky ... she was just a beautiful girl really'
He said the news had rocked the close-knit regional town of Alice Springs, whose residents could not believe the mother and daughter had been 'dumped' more than '1,000 kilometres apart'.
Share this article
'No one should go through that, like the family and friends of Karlie. They are just mortified by it how someone could do this to someone,' he told ABC News.
This comes as police reveal they are following 'a very strong line of inquiry' in relation to the heartbreaking murders.
Single mother Karlie, who was 20 at the time, was last seen driving a car with a two-year-old Khandalyce on the Stuart Highway near Cooper Pedy in the Northern Territory on November 8, 2008
A convicted child sex offender detained in a New South Wales prison, along with several other prisoners believed to be serving time for violent crimes, have been revealed as 'persons of interest' in the double-murder, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Police said it is likely Ms Pearce-Stevenson met a violent end in or around the Belanglo State Forest.
Investigators believe they have spoken to people with 'actual knowledge' of what happened to Karlie and her daughter Khandalyce Kiara Pearce and believe multiple people may have been involved.
Police are almost certain the young Alice Springs mum was killed in NSW and put her time of death around December 2008, nearly two years before her remains were found.
Her daughter, Khandalyce Kiara Pearce, was born in 2006 and would have been about two years old in 2008 when she was killed.
But where and when Khandalyce died and how her remains came to be found near a suitcase alongside a South Australian highway in Wynarka 1200km away and five years later is still a mystery.
Police were provided with photos taken by a friend of Karlie's who she met with in Adelaide in 2008 that showed a baby Khandalyce (pictured) with the quilt found in the suitcase in July
'We are currently pursuing a very strong line of inquiry but we are keeping an open mind,' NSW Police Homicide Squad Commander Mick Willing said.
'We've looked at and are now speaking to people who we suspect have actual knowledge of what occurred to this young mum and her little girl.'
Police said a number of 'very productive' searches were conducted in homes across South Australia and the ACT on Wednesday and Thursday.
They said the 'complex' investigation is moving at quite a 'fast pace', leading them to believe an arrest may be imminent.
'Our focus at the moment is on gathering evidence and building a strong case. We want to charge those responsible and ensure a conviction for what can only be described as a brutal, horrific murder of a young mum and her little girl,' Det Supt Willing said.
Where and when Khandalyce died and how her remains came to be found near a suitcase alongside a South Australian highway in Wynarka 1200km away and five years later is still a mystery
DISCOVERY AND IDENTIFICATION OF KARLIE PEARCE-STEVENSON AND KHANDALYCE PEARCE
2006
Khandalyce Kiara Pearce was born in Alice Springs and remained in the care of her single mother Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson.
2008
Ms Pearce-Stevenson, 20, left her hometown of Alice Springs to find work, taking her daughter Khandalyce, then two-years-old, with her.
November 2, 2008
The last known photograph of two-year-old Khandalyce, wearing a pink dress and pushing a pram, was taken at Marion Shopping Centre, Adelaide.
November 8, 2008
Ms Pearce-Stevenson is spotted driving a red or maroon 1896 VL Commodore wagon in Coober Pedy, 846 kilometres north of Adelaide on the Stuart Highway.
September 4, 2009
Ms Pearce-Stevenson's family lodge missing persons report for the mother and daughter with Northern Territory Police.
September 10, 2009
The missing persons report is closed as it was believed Ms Pearce-Stevenson was 'safe' and had chosen not to make contact with her family.
August, 2010
The body of a young woman is found by trail bike riders in the notorious Belanglo State Forest.
As she was not formally identified at the time, the mystery woman was dubbed 'Angel' by investigators because of the T-shirt found near her remains that read 'Angelic'.
Police believe the woman could have been killed in another location and dumped in the forest, south of Sydney, anywhere from six months up to 10 years prior to the gruesome discovery.
Karlie's (pictured in a police facial reconstruction) remains were found two metres from a sock, earring and size 10 Chain Reaction shirt (right)
Karlie's bones were found by trail bike riders in NSW's Belanglo State Forest in 2010
July 15, 2015
A tattered suitcase containing the remains of a small girl and a collection of a child's belongings was discovered beside the Karoonda Highway about 2km west of the Wynarka township, east of Adelaide, at around 11am by a motorist who claimed they were 'drawn to something on the side of the road'.
Police determine that the child met a violent death between the age of two and five-years-old, and was likely killed up to seven years earlier at a different location.
DNA testing could not provide conclusive evidence on the child's identity.
The remains of a young girl found in a suitcase (pictured) near Wynarka in South Australia in July has been identified as Khandalyce Kiara Pearce from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory
A motorist driving past Wynarka in South Australia picked up the suitcase and found a jaw bone after a well-dressed man aged in his 60s was spotted carrying the suitcase several weeks earlier
This badly degraded quilt was found with the child's remains and is identical to the one pictured with the baby
October 1, 2015
Dashcam footage, recorded in May and June 2015, showed that the suitcase had been moved before it was found by authorities resting alongside the Karoonda Highway.
A still recovered from the dashcam footage shows the suitcase has been moved up the embankment
Police have released dashcam footage filmed on a South Australian highway where a suitcase containing the remains of a young girl was discovered in July
October 8, 2015
Police received a tip off through CrimeStoppers from an individual who believed the remains found inside the notorious suitcase could be that of Khandalyce Pearce, a toddler who had been missing since 2009 when her and her mother Karlie Pearce-Stevenson were last been seen in the Northern Territory.
Detectives found medical records for Khandalyce and a previous blood sample was matched to the bones found inside the tattered suitcase.
Police were able to link a pink dress found alongside the suitcase with a garment Khandalyce was wearing in a photograph taken at an Adelaide shopping centre in 2008.
A tip-off to police earlier this month led to detectives finding photos of Khandalyce wearing a pink dress identical to one found a the suitcase her remains were found in
Soon after, police were able to formally identified Ms Pearce-Stevenson.
Detectives created a DNA profile from the 20-year-old’s medical records which were cross referenced with reports from the NSW Police, who after five-years, were able to confirm the identity of 'Angel' as Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson.
Most watched News videos
- Scottish woman has temper tantrum at Nashville airport
- Tesla Cybertruck explodes in front of Trump hotel in Las Vegas
- Mass panic as New Orleans attacker flies down Bourbon street
- Shocking moment zookeeper is fatally mauled by lions in private zoo
- Horrific video shows aftermath of New Orleans truck 'attack'
- Meghan Markle celebrates new year in first Instagram video
- Tesla Cybertruck burns outside Trump hotel in Las Vegas
- See how truck that drove into crowd made it through police barrier
- Cheerful Melania Trump bops to YMCA at Mar-a-Lago NYE bash
- New Orleans terror attack suspect reveals background in video
- Plane passenger throws drink at flight attendant in boozy fight
- Horrifying moment yacht crashes into rocks and sinks off Mexico coast
