Charges laid over Patricia Anne Riggs murder

UPDATE: A resident uncovered the remains of a woman allegedly murdered in 2001 while building a retaining wall on his southeast Queensland property, police say.

Human remains, confirmed to be those of Patricia Riggs, were found at Margate on Sunday.

A RESIDENT uncovered the remains of a woman allegedly murdered in 2001 while building a retaining wall on his southeast Queensland property, police say.

Redcliffe detective Senior-Sergeant Ben Fadian said the skeletal remains of Patricia Anne Riggs were examined yesterday afternoon after being uncovered at a Margate property on Sunday morning.

A 57-year-old man has been charged with her murder and interfering with a corpse.

He is due to appear in Redcliffe Magistrates Court this morning but will have to wait to apply for bail through the Supreme Court for the murder charge.

Police spent three days excavating the ground after the discovery was made to extract a “large proportion” of the remains before the crime scene was closed yesterday, Sen-Sgt Fadian said.

He said the address had been searched in the past but no leads had ever eventuated.

A post mortem is expected to be conducted tomorrow.

The arrest is part of Operation Denver, which was launched when Mrs Riggs, 34 at the time, went missing on September 29, 2001.

The mother of four was reported missing by her husband three days later.

More to come.

OVERNIGHT: Police have charged a man with the murder of Patricia Anne Riggs, almost 15 years after she was first reported missing.

The 45-year-old was last seen at her Margate home on the evening of September 30, 2001.

Police say they located human remains on Sunday in Margate, acting on information they had received.

The remains were confirmed to be those of Mrs Riggs on Tuesday afternoon.

A $250,000 reward had previously been offered for information regarding the disappearance of Mrs Riggs.

She was only declared dead by the Supreme Court in 2010 after her daughter sort a ruling so her estate could be finalised.

As a result of the discovery, a 57-year-old man from Dicky Beach has been charged with murder and misconduct with a corpse.

He will front the Redcliffe Magistrates Court this morning.

Originally published as Charges laid over Patricia Anne Riggs murder