Father’s fury over Charlise Mutten’s fate
Image: Facebook
The biological father of missing girl, Charlise Mutten, whose body was found inside a barrel in NSW’s Blue Mountains overnight has paid tribute to his “beautiful” daughter.
The 9-year-old was holidaying with her mother Kallista Mutten and stepfather Justin Laurens Stein at a wedding estate in Mt Wilson when she was reported missing at 8:20 am on Friday.
Stein, the fiance of Ms Mutten, has since been charged with her murder.
Her biological father spoke out about the situation in a Facebook post earlier on Wednesday.
“Goodbye you beautiful little girl. I love you so much. I miss you every day! You have captured the hearts of the nation and the world, and now those hearts are breaking, with mine,” he wrote.
“This doesn’t happen! Kids need to be safe. What is wrong with you people????
“We will get the answers for you baby, and we will honour you properly. This is not the end of you or your story.”
Police, SES and RFS crews spent the past five days searching bushland around the multimillion-dollar Wildenstein wedding venue, where the girl was staying with her mum and her mum’s fiance.
Charlise usually lives with her grandmother in Coolangatta, Queensland, but was spending two weeks with her mother during the school holidays. According to acting Commissioner Webb said the cause of the child’s death is yet to be determined and the investigation remains ongoing.
“The search will remain ongoing to look for any clues to help us identify the cause of the death,” she said.
“I encourage people to come forward with information. There are still many elements of this investigation that we have to work through to determine exactly what happened from the time the young girl was reported missing up until last night when those remains were found.”
Deputy Commissioner Dave Hudson said while investigators are still uncertain of exactly what happened, they were “certain” about a number of facts, sharing that police have alleged the accused placed her body in the barrel.
"Things will unravel over the next week or so to find a cause of death, the purpose for a death, and try and identify exactly what happened so that the remaining family have some comfort in that,” he told reporters.
He said the investigation is ongoing and that there is no evidence to support anything other than that the accused acted alone.