SA police contact NT counterparts as part of investigation into girl’s remains found in suitcase

NT police have been contacted by their South Australian counterparts after the discovery of a little girl’s bones in a suitcase on the side of a remote highway.

NT joins hunt for girl in suitcase

NORTHERN Territory police have been contacted by their South Australian counterparts after the discovery of a little girl’s bones in a suitcase on the side of a remote highway.

The child’s remains were found — along with a faded suitcase, items of clothing and a degraded quilt — near a highway about 120km east of Adelaide on July 15.

A national and international hunt is in progress for clues about who the little girl is.

In a statement to the NT News yesterday, Detective Acting Senior Sergeant Tony Henrys said: “SA police have been in contact with NT police on this matter. There are no apparent missing persons on NT files that match the information provided by SA to this point.”

The girl is believed to have been aged between two and five when she was murdered. It is believed she was killed as long as eight years ago.

SA police said 43 children had now been eliminated as potential victims, including British girl Madeleine McCann. There have been more than 500 reports made to Crime Stoppers since the child’s remains were found.

Her remains were found alongside a badly degraded patchwork quilt.

Police have since released digital images and identified seven of the homemade quilt’s 25 octagonal patches (inset), including one piece of fabric believed to have been manufactured in New York.

The quilt was homemade using a sewing machine and a polyester material was used to line its inside, which indicated it was made for a child.

Previously, police said the labels, decomposition of fabric and staining of clothes found with the remains indicated she was killed some time after 2007.

It was also likely she had fair hair and was 90-95cm tall when she was killed.