Police have found the body of a child believed to be that of a missing five-year-old girl .
Northern Territory police commissioner Martin Dole told reporters the tragic discovery was made just before midday on Thursday.
“Just before midday today, police members of the search party located the body of a young Aboriginal girl we believe to be five-year-old [Kumanjayi] Granites,” he told reporters at a press conference in Alice Springs.
“The body was found about 5km south of the crime scene at Old Timers’ camp. This is an incredibly distressing development. [Her] family have been formally notified and our thoughts are firmly with them at this devastating time.
“I want to be clear from the outset: we’re not in a position today to provide answers on the cause of [her] death or how long she may have been deceased. A postmortem examination will now be conducted, most likely tomorrow, and that will be a critical step in establishing those facts. The criminal investigation is ongoing and a coronial process is about to begin.
“This is devastating news, not only for [Kumanjayi Granite’s] family but also the first responders, the Alice Springs community, and all of those around Australia who have been worrying for [her]”
Kumanjayi Granites was last seen by her mother at 11.30pm on Saturday. A short time before her disappearance she was seen with a 47-year-old man named Jefferson Lewis, who was holding her hand.
An arrest order was issued for Lewis on Sunday. On Wednesday, police found sa pair of children’s underwear and a yellow t-shirt that matched clothing that Lewis was filmed wearing, in body camera footage captured by police on Saturday night.
Hundreds of volunteers and Northern Territory police scoured the scrub and bushland around the town camp for five days. As of Thursday morning 6km sq had been covered on foot, with the remainder of the 20km sq search area canvassed by helicopters and heat-detecting drones.More than 170 volunteers assembled for the search on Thursday morning.
‘The community support the NT Police Force’s Search and Rescue team has received has been overwhelming,” police said in a statement, issued just hours before the body was discovered. “Police would like to thank the community for this support as they work to bring [her] home.”
Tangentyere Council Aboriginal Corporation, which represents 16 town camps in around Alice Springs, coordinated the community response and provided support for the family.
“I’m immensely proud of the efforts of Tangentyere staff, who are on the ground from daylight to dark, coordinating volunteers, making sure everyone is fed and hydrated and supporting the work of Police and Emergency Services,” CEO Walter Shaw said.
“Societies are judged by the support they give to their most vulnerable, and who is more vulnerable than a child? In this case, Alice Springs can be proud of the efforts.”
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, also joined search efforts and told ABC radio in Alice Springs that she hopes the young girl is found safely and returned home.
“Like everyone, we want to be able to find this beautiful little girl,” Mcarthy told ABC local radio on Thursday morning.
“[I’m] deeply saddened at the thought that she still has not been found, but incredibly grateful for the coming together of the Alice Springs community in working with Northern Territory police and emergency services… The family’s no doubt, very appreciative of that too.”