Man arrested and charged with murder of missing woman Karen Rae

A YEAR-LONG cold case has been solved, with human remains found near a Melbourne highway and a man charged with murder.

Missing woman Karen Rae may have been found.

A YEAR-LONG cold case has been solved, with human remains found near a Melbourne highway.

The remains are believed to be Karen Rae, a woman who disappeared in April 2015.

They have not yet been formally identified.

Police were scouring bushland beside the Frankston Freeway in Frankston North, in Melbourne’s southeast, on Friday and Saturday and found the remains.

A 49-year-old man from Langwarrin in Melbourne’s southeast has now been arrested over the disappearance of Ms Rae.

The 48-year-old mother left a 10-year-old son behind when she went missing. She left her Frankston North home in Abib Court on April 15, 2015, and never returned.

The intersection in Frankston North, Melbourne, where Karen Rae was last seen.

Since she went missing, police have been trying to piece together clues and figure out what happened to her. They did not rule out foul play but thought she may have also disappeared on her own terms.

She did not access her bank accounts or use her phone after she went missing, and Acting Detective Sergeant Peter Tasiopoulos said at the time that “rang alarm bells”.

Last year police were searching for Ms Rae on a golf course.

Tony John Smith was charged with Ms Rae’s murder on Sunday and briefly appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.

A lawyer acting for Smith on Sunday told the magistrates’ court the Langwarrin man had spent the past two nights in the Royal Melbourne Hospital being treated for a heart condition. If Smith hadn’t actually had a heart attack he’d suffered “something similar”, the lawyer told Magistrate Bob Kumar. The court heard Smith was on a host of medications for his condition.

There was no application for bail and the magistrate told the accused man he would be seen by the custody nurse.

Asked if he understood, Smith replied: “Thank you.”

The 49-year-old was dressed in a light blue checked shirt and dark blue jeans.

He was remanded to reappear in court on Friday December 16.

— with AAP