UPDATED: Saturday, Apr. 11, 12:54 p.m. AEST
Australian woman Stephanie Scott was due to be married to her long-time sweetheart on Saturday, instead her devastated family are coming to terms with her murder.
On Easter Sunday, 26-year-old Scott visited the school she worked at as a drama and English teacher, in the New South Wales town of Leeton, to finalise her work in preparation for her honeymoon. She received keys from a colleague at 11 a.m. and sent an email to a bus company confirming transport for her wedding at 12:59 p.m.. It was the last time anyone heard from her.
Scott was due to meet her fiancé Aaron Leeson-Woolley for dinner at a local restaurant on Sunday evening at 7 p.m. but she didn't show up. On Monday, he called the police and on Wednesday Scott's family hired a helicopter to scour the local area looking for any sign of her, while Facebook groups called on the public to search the country roads surrounding Leeton for her missing car.
Leeson-Woolley was forced to deny accusations that his partner of five years, who he grew up with, had gotten cold feet. The family and Leeson-Woolley told the media it was totally "out of character" for the bubbly woman, who was excited about her upcoming wedding.
In a shocking twist, on Thursday, 24-year-old school cleaner Vincent Stanford was charged with her murder, police said. He has been refused bail and will face court again on June 4. Stanford was on the grounds at the same time as Scott on Easter Sunday, but it is not known how their paths crossed or if the two knew each other prior to this tragedy.
Police allege Scott was murdered between 11 a.m. and 7:20 p.m. on Easter Sunday, and their investigation focussed on Stanford after he gave varying accounts of his movements on the day of Scott's disappearance. The Daily Telegraph reports police discovered the school keys at his home.
Stanford, originally from Tasmania, had moved into the area 13 months earlier, police confirmed. He had been living with his family in the Netherlands but had since returned to Australia and moved into a Leeton property with his mother and brother, according to the Daily Telegraph. He also has an identical twin brother who lives in South Australia.
Police confirmed his house had been searched and marked as a crime scene. Multiple reports have suggested a mobile phone or camera was found at the scene with a photograph of a burnt body saved on it and that blood was discovered in Stanford's vehicle, a white Toyota Hilux, now seized by police, yet authorities have not confirmed either report.
The morning after Stanford's arrest, Scott's car, a red Mazda 3 sedan, was discovered by a Network Nine news helicopter in a paddock 8 kilometres out of Leeton, on the edge of a vineyard. It is unknown how the car was dumped in that location.
Police have confirmed divers pulled an iPad from a canal just outside of the town with Leeton High School markings on it. Witness Brendan Lyons said he saw a man driving a Hilux throwing objects into the water body on Monday afternoon, according to the Daily Mail Australia.
On Friday at 5 p.m., charred remains were discovered in a Cocoparra National Park not far from a road, police confirmed. The accused had gone camping regularly at the park, which is 70km out of Leeton, with his family.
"I've been asked over the last couple of days about whether there had been burning of the body. I can certainly say that is confirmed," Superintendent Michael Rowan said at a press conference on Saturday. "The investigation is ongoing but in terms of our searching, we certainly believe the remains are those of Stephanie."
UPDATE: Police have located the car of Stephanie Scott off Griffth Rd leading out of Leeton. #9News pic.twitter.com/qOIjFzyEdV— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) April 9, 2015
Scott's fiancé is now preparing a memorial for the woman he called "my life," instead of getting ready for the upcoming wedding. He made the devastating journey to the local school on Friday, where dozens of tributes for Scott lined the fence, to pay tribute to his bride-to-be, breaking down as he knelt in front of the flowers.
Speaking to the media, New South Wales police superintendent Michael Brown summed up the affect this crime has had on Australians. "This is tragic. It is tragic for the family, it is tragic for the people of Leeton, it is tragic for the people of New South Wales and society in general," he said.
Too sad RIP RT "Heartbreaking photo of Stephanie Scott's fiance Aaron Leeson-Woolley visiting her floral memorial pic.twitter.com/8UebKEAwsl”— Julie M (@JulieOMarshall) April 9, 2015
Tributes are being left at the school where #StephanieScott was a teacher. @lizfoschia is live from #leeton next pic.twitter.com/JcwzomYRbq— ABC News 24 (@ABCNews24) April 9, 2015