Mother’s Day heartache for son of slain mum
The doting four-year-old son of slain South Melbourne mum Ellie Price will be without her today, and for every day to come after she was brutally killed earlier this week.
VIC News
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It was supposed to be her special day — a day to be treated and showered with love.
But there are no Mother’s Day hugs or kisses today for Ellie Price from her adoring little boy, or her family. Because she is dead.
Instead, grieving relatives will release pink balloons emblazoned with gold hearts to show that she has not been, and will not be, forgotten.
Ms Price’s four-year-old son, Mostafa, must spend the day and every one to come, without her.
“It’s going to be devastating — he’s going to be wondering all day where his mummy is,” cousin Rebecca Lehner said yesterday.
“No kid should have to grow up without a parent. That poor little boy. How do you explain to a four-year-old that his mum isn’t coming home? It is horrible.
“It’s not something any family should go through.”
Ms Lehner told the Sunday Herald Sun Ms Price, whose body was found in her South Melbourne apartment on Monday, was focused on providing for her son.
The 26-year-old had been studying for a beauty diploma.
Mostafa, who has been living with grandmother Tracey Gangell in Hobart, started school this year.
Ms Price would frequently fly to the Apple Isle to see her son, sometimes just for the day.
“Ellie tried to give him the best possible life she could,” Ms Lehner said.
“She had a brighter future and brighter goals, so she moved to Melbourne to make a good life for herself and her son.
“She wanted to get on top and sometimes you just have to do the hard yards. She had so much going for her, she was kicking those goals.
“Anything she would put her mind to, she would achieve.”
Ms Lehner said that at Christmas time the family had overheard Ms Price speaking lovingly on the phone to her boyfriend, Ricardo Barbaro — now at the centre of a nationwide manhunt.
“She told us they were going to settle down together, they were going to get a house,” Ms Lehner said.
“Ellie sounded happy, she was just her normal self. There were no red flags at the time I knew of.
“She showed me a picture of him and at the time I didn’t know who he was. She said he had a brother in Queensland and they were going to holiday up there.”
The family is holding out hope Ms Price’s killer will soon be found.
Her luxury Mercedes-Benz was discovered by homicide police on Friday at a Diggers Rest property northwest of Melbourne, after a tip-off from a stablehand.
“I hope whoever killed her is caught,” Ms Lehner said. “What kind of sick animal takes her life? There’s no heart, no soul, no words.”
Ms Price’s mum now faces the heartbreaking task of bringing her body home to Tasmania, once it is released by the Coroner.
The hunt for 33-year-old Barbaro continued yesterday.
He had recently been released from jail in relation to a charge of attacking Ms Price. He was due to face court in September.
He vanished as his girlfriend lay murdered in her home, undiscovered for up to a week.
Police across Australia are working to track Barbaro down, believing he may travelling in a white 2009 Toyota HiAce van with the Victorian registration 1OZ 8PC.
Queensland was a key area of focus because Barbaro has family links on the Gold Coast.
“This is not going to go away,” Victoria’s top homicide cop, Inspector Tim Day, said last week.
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