A man was arrested for the murder of a woman whose skeletal remains were found in an Australian forest 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from where her daughter's body was discovered dumped in a suitcase, police said Thursday, according to AP. The arrest Wednesday came a week after police identified the remains of Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson, 20, and her 2-year-old daughter Khandalyce Pearce. The breakthrough came seven years after police say the pair were murdered at different times and in different locations. The 41-year-old suspect was arrested at the Cessnock Police Station, 150 kilometers (95 miles) north of Sydney, and would appear in nearby Maitland Local Court on Thursday charged with the mother's murder, a police statement said on Thursday. Police said the investigation into her daughter's murder was continuing. New South Wales Police Detective Superintendent Mick Willing said police allege Pearce-Stevenson was murdered on Dec. 14 or 15, 2008. Her daughter was murdered sometime later, he said. Police allege several people were involved in the double murder, the theft of the mother's identity and related frauds over several years. Fraudsters used the mother's cell phone for three years after her death to make family and friends believe she was still alive, police said. They convinced Pearce-Stevenson's mother to deposit money into the dead woman's bank account, which continued to receive government benefits, South Australia Police Detective Superintendent Des Bray said on Tuesday. Pearce-Stevenson's credit card was used in several cities, with the final transaction in March 2012. Her bones were spotted by bicycle riders in 2010 in the Belanglo State Forest, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) south of Sydney. The forest is infamous for being a dumping ground for victims of Australia's most notorious serial killer, Ivan Milat, who was convicted in 1996 of murdering seven backpackers. Police suspect Pearce-Stevenson's killer wanted her to appear to be a Milat victim. Khandalyce's body was discovered in July after a driver spotted the suitcase dumped on the side of a highway near the small South Australia town of Wynarka. Police sifted through dozens of missing persons profiles to try to figure out who the remains belonged to, even receiving a call from British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who vanished during a 2007 family vacation in Portugal. The identities of both bodies had stumped police in two states until they received a tip on a crime prevention hotline three weeks ago. The caller suggested the girl in the suitcase might be Khandalyce Pearce, who left with her single mother from their Outback home town of Alice Springs in 2008 to go traveling. DNA tests confirmed the remains were indeed Khandalyce's. Police then used blood samples from the medical records of Pearce-Stevenson to identify her remains.
