The two-year-old is fast resembling her aunt Angela, who died in 2000 under suspicious circumstances that continue to haunt the Far North.

“Where is Angie?” Kelly asks.

Aleea buries her face in mum’s chest and toys with the silver chain around her neck.

“Up in the sky,” the toddler, 2, said.

Kellie and husband Arron – Angela Mealing’s brother, often tell their children about their aunt.

“We talk about her a lot, she is still a large part of our lives even though she is not here,” Ms Mealign said.

“We want our kids to know who she was – we have photos up around home.

“We tell the children that Angie is in heaven – they know who she is because we talk about them.”

Angie the guardian angel is still very much a part of the extended Mealing family, cousins who grew up as close as siblings around Edmonton.

Angela Mealing’s death is still shrouded in mystery and suspicion. A coroner could not determine whether the 17-year-old took her own life at Behana Creek or was the victim of foul play.

Angela, then 17, disappeared in April 2000 after apparently accepting a lift from off-duty police officer Adrian Deemal on the outskirts of Cairns.

For six weeks her family faced the agonising and unenviable wait for news until tragically her death was confirmed when her remains were found on a creek bank.

Seventeen years later, Angela’s cousins prefer to dwell on the good memories.

“I was three or four years old when she went missing,” Jade Dibben said.

“We were all really close- Angela and Arron were always looking after me.

“I have one memory of playing on the bed with her – that’s all I really remember.”

Clint Arnold does not want to think too often about the circumstances surrounding his cousin’s death.

“If you dwell on it, it will bring back bad memories,” Mr Arnold said.

“We do hope someone will come forward.

“We still want to find out what happened.”

For the heartache they feel over Angela’s loss, the cousins, Arron and Kelly have a young, mischievous reminder of her that can only make them smile.

“Angie’s cousins will say how similar our daughter reminds them of her – they see similarities between she and Angie all the time.

“Her face and her hair are the same as Angie,” Ms Mealing said.

“She takes after Angie more than she does me.

“She is outgoing around people that she knows.”

Angela Mealing has become a very cold case – filed somewhere in Brisbane waiting for new leads.

A police spokesmen in Brisbane refused a request to interview investigators about the status of the case, but did confirm the mystery “remains an ongoing investigation.”

What is known about Angela’s death is still patchy.

She disappeared in the early hours of April 2, 2000, after she was bashed by three girls and beaten by her boyfriend as she left a party at Mooroobool.

It is understood the distraught girl was picked up by former Cairns police constable Adrian Deemal and driven to Riverstone Rd, near Gordonvale.

On May 15, her skeletal remains were found at Behana Creek by investigators.

They were alerted by tourists who stumbled across her wallet while looking for fish bait.

A nylon rope noose was discovered near the scene and a note – “I’m sorry mum be strong not your fault Ang’’ – and a heart symbol were scratched on a nearby tree.

Angela’s family has vehemently rejected theories she committed suicide.

Coroner Ken Lynn, at an inquest in 2002, handed down an open verdict, saying there was insufficient evidence for anyone to be charged.

The six weeks between Angela’s disappearance and discovery wiped away any certainty over her death and left a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the case that remains to this day.

The unanswered questions have not quashed the hope that someone would eventually come forward with new details.

“Police still have the reward out for information out for her – there hasn’t been any new information come up since it happened,” Ms Mealing said.

Police confirm that a $250,000 reward for information is still current.

Kelly and Arron Mealing hope that in the boxes of information gathered by Angela and Arron’s mother Jackie Shadforth will one day yield something overlooked.

“It is something we will like to revisit, ” Ms Mealing said. “We have a lot of information of mum’s at home.”

“When the time is right, we’ll open it up and have a look at the work she did with it all.”

Ms Shadforth refused to stop fighting for her daughter.

She once said “I won’t give up. I’ll never give up; I’ll fight to the day I die.”

Sadly, her unfinished quest for answers is a torch that was passed to Arron, Kellie and the cousins when she passed away in 2008.

“We can’t even assume what happened to Angie,” Ms Mealing said.

“Arron still struggles a little bit with everything – he always has that feeling over him. He remembers her as the girl she was. She’ll be 34 this year.”