Murdered teen Larissa Beilby never on child safety radar: Minister

Queensland’s child safety department insists Larissa Beilby was not known to it, amid claims she had raised fears for her life.

Murdered teenager Larissa Beilby.

Queensland’s Child Safety Department insists murdered teenager Larissa Beilby was not known to it, as claims emerged she had raised fears for her life.

Zlatko Sikorsky will face court today charged with the murder of the 16-year-old and misconduct with her corpse, after her body was found in a ­barrel on the back of a ute last Wednesday.

Mr Sikorsky has strenuously denied murdering the teenager.

“It isn’t a murder. Mr Sikorsky certainly did nothing to cause her death. She may well have passed through misadventure,” his lawyer Brendan Ryan said.

After the arrest police reportedly found a handgun and rifle, both loaded, and cash with a note that read “hope this helps”.

Mr Sikorsky surrendered to police on Saturday after a 27-hour siege at a Sunshine Coast unit, with police yesterday confirming they had seized weapons from the bolthole.

“It’s always a dangerous situation,” said Detective Inspector Damien Hansen, from the Homicide Investigation Unit.

“You’ve got a person there you’re negotiating with. He’s armed. It’s a tense situation but at no time was the public at risk.”

Police said they were still ­investigating how and when ­Larissa died but confirmed she had been in a relationship with Mr Sikorsky, 34.

Asked if he was troubled by the delay in the alarm being raised about Larissa’s disappearance, Inspector Hansen said: “It’s certainly a concern. That’s something that will come out from our side of it but it’s also something that a lot of other areas are going to have to have a look at too. Other areas would be school and other government departments. I won’t comment on their processes, that’s a matter for them.”

Larissa was last seen on June 15 at Sandgate and was in touch with a friend on social media on June 18, police said. She was ­reported missing on June 26. Her body was found at Stapylton, south of ­Brisbane.

A spokesman for Child Safety Minister Di Farmer yesterday said: “She was not a child known to the Department of Child ­Safety.”

But Ros Bates, the Queensland opposition spokeswoman for women, said child safety sources had told her a school counsellor helped secure Larissa temporary accommodation.

“There have been allegations made that she went to a school counsellor and said she was in fear for her life,” Ms Bates said.

Ms Bates also questioned why an “amber alert” — used for ­abducted or high-risk missing children — was not issued.

“It seems that the system that’s supposed to protect our vulnerable children may have failed another poor young girl,” she said.