Man charged with murder of missing woman Kobie Parfitt
A man has faced court over the death of Ballarat woman Kobie Parfitt, whose body was found in a mineshaft.
Victoria
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A murder accused has faced court eight months after the disappearance and violent death of Ballarat mother Kobie Parfitt.
Brendon James Prestage, 31, has been charged with killing Ms Parfitt, whose body was found nine days ago in an abandoned mineshaft near Snake Valley, west of Ballarat.
Prestage, who is from the Ballarat suburb of Wendouree, was arrested by police from the critical incident response team at Kinglake, northeast of Melbourne, on Tuesday night.
He fronted the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court for a brief hearing on Wednesday and was remanded in custody.
Charge sheets presented to magistrate Kimberley Swadesir allege that Prestage murdered Ms Parfitt on April 28 last year.
His next appearance will be on May 5.
The arrest and charges come after weeks of intensive investigation in the Ballarat area by detectives from the missing persons squad.
Investigators arrived in November and were able to establish that the 43-year-old Ms Parfitt was last seen alive at a house in Hickman Street.
Forensic experts later made a major search of the property for any evidence that she had met with foul play within its walls.
The focus of the inquiry then shifted to an area of old gold-mining country near Snake Valley.
Search and rescue squad members and other officers spent more than a week examining scores of abandoned mine shafts before finding Ms Parfitt’s remains on December 22.
A 31-year-old woman from Mount Clear was questioned in the aftermath of the discovery. She was later released without charge.
A Victoria Police statement said the investigation was ongoing.
Ms Parfitt had become involved with criminals and figures in the Ballarat drug trade in recent years.
Her mother, Kathy Snowball, made a public plea for information in November, describing her daughter as a “beautiful person who lost her way”.
“I just hope that someone out there that knows something can please stop this nightmare that we’re living,” Ms Snowball said at the time. “So that we can tell her kids to move forward, put her to rest, and so we can just remember the beautiful person that she was.”
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