NT Police join nationwide manhunt for man with mafia ties following woman’s death in Victoria

NT POLICE have joined the nationwide manhunt for Ricardo ‘Rick’ Barbaro, with cops wanting to speak to him in relation to the death of his girlfriend Ellie Price.

Police are searching for Ricardo ‘Rick’ Barbaro, 33, pictured, following the discovery of a 26-year-old woman's body in a South Melbourne townhouse on Monday. Police believe Barbaro could be travelling in his white 2009 Toyota Hiace van, registration number 1OZ 8PC. Picture: AAP Image/Supplied by Victoria Police

NT POLICE have joined the nationwide manhunt for Ricardo “Rick” Barbaro, with cops wanting to speak to him in relation to the death of his girlfriend Ellie Price.

The 26-year-old was found dead in her home in South Melbourne on Monday.

However, Victorian detectives believe she was fatally assaulted in her home between the afternoon of Tuesday, April 28, and the early hours of the following morning.

A nationwide search is under way to find Barbaro, 33, who is a member of one of the country’s most notorious crime families.

Police believe he may have information that may help with the investigation.

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An NT Police spokeswoman said they had been advised by Victorian Police of the case, as was standard practice.

“There is nothing to suggest Barbaro intends to travel to, or is currently located within, the Northern Territory,” the spokeswoman said last week.

“A watching brief is being maintained, again as is routine in circumstances such as these. 

“The Northern Territory Police Force has a history of successfully identifying, locating and arresting interstate fugitives where they have decided to flee to the Territory, mistakenly believing our broad expanse will cover their tracks.”

Police are searching for Barbaro’s white 2009 Toyota Hiace van, registration 1OZ 8PC.

Ms Price’s white 2017 E 350 Mercedes sedan was found on Friday morning by police at a property in the Melbourne suburb of Diggers Rest.

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The NT has long been a place for fugitives to flee to, only to be caught.

Jonathon Andrew Stenberg, who was found guilty of murdering his next-door neighbour and decapitating him, was found in bushland at Berry Springs in June 2012.

He had fled from Broadwater, NSW, through outback Queensland, only to be caught with hypothermia in bushes next to a creek just outside Darwin.