It was a wintery Thursday night when the police alert reached the newsroom: model and mother of two children Shereen Kumar had disappeared from her home in Sydney.
According to the press release, Shereen, 43, had last been seen leaving her Dural property about 24 hours earlier, around 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, wearing only pajamas and a robe.
Her boyfriend Vincent Carlino, 39, claimed she had left the property on foot and did not take her phone.
He insisted that he had looked everywhere for her and just couldn’t find her. But the words didn’t sound right coming out of his mouth.
I should know: He told them to me, as a journalist seeking more information about the crime, hours after the police launched a massive search for Shereen.
That chilling conversation will haunt me forever.
Shereen Kumar, 42, is pictured with Vincent Carlino, 39. She was a manager at Mad Dogs & Englishmen in Chatswood, while he was the franchisee of the company’s Hornsby chain.
Unusual ‘disappearance’
Shereen was a strikingly beautiful mother of two young children, she was a model and the director of a dog walking chain, Mad Dogs & Englishmen.
She was divorced from her ex-husband and in a new relationship with Carlino, who was also a franchisee of the same company.
It sounded strange that someone would go into a cold, dark winter life, without their phone, their car, or at least a torch, and not come back.
In Dural, an affluent semi-rural suburb on the city’s northwestern outskirts, sprawling homes sit on acres, far from neighbors.
At night the landscape is completely black and public transportation is limited.
When I called Carlino’s mobile number seeking more information, he was cold and defensive, only expressing his concern for Shereen as an afterthought.
A beloved mother of two, Shereen was a model and part-time entrepreneur.
Pictured: The Dural property where Shereen was murdered in July 2022.
“Yes, I’m at the police station right now,” Carlino said.
‘I’ve told the police all the places I think he could be!’
Me: ‘So she left the house at 9 pm in her pajamas and you haven’t seen her since?’
Carlino: ‘Yes, he didn’t take the phone or the van.’
Me: ‘That’s very worrying. You must be worried.’
Carlino: ‘Yes. I’m extremely worried.’
The conversation ended with me telling Carlino to contact her if he could think of anything else that might help with the public appeal to find her.
As expected, he never did.
Just two days later, Carlino was arrested and charged with murder after detectives found Shereen’s body in nearby bush, wrapped in plastic.
While legal issues prevented the media from revealing Carlino’s previous criminal record at the time, it can now be revealed that he had a history of violence against women.
Carlino (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia he was “extremely worried” about his partner. In reality, he had murdered her hours before and dumped her body in a bush.
‘One step above the devil’
Last month, Carlino pleaded guilty to murdering Shereen the night he claimed she was missing.
The court heard the couple had been in a tumultuous on-off relationship for 17 months.
According to agreed facts, the couple were arguing on WhatsApp in the weeks before Shereen’s death, with Carlino describing himself as a “manipulative asshole who doesn’t deserve love or can’t give love.”
During one of their arguments, he told Shereen that she was “just one step above the devil.”
On the day of his death, the couple argued about dog walking and their relationship.
Shereen attended an online video therapy session that afternoon, and her therapist later told police that she seemed distracted and worried.
It was the last time anyone other than Carlino saw her alive.
Carlino then bombarded her with 123 calls in 42 minutes. Sometime between 7:19 p.m. and 9:38 p.m. that night, he killed her in her home by beating her and then strangling her.
He then pushed her body into his work truck and dumped her in a nearby bush, wrapped in plastic.
Then he tried to hide it by covering it with branches.
Carlino then called the police the next morning and claimed that Shereen had left the house for a walk in her pajamas to “get some fresh air” but had never returned.
Detectives discovered hours into the investigation that Shereen had been living in fear.
He also claimed that he had searched for her after she disappeared, but that the route he provided did not match the location data on her phone.
That was the discrepancy that led detectives to Shereen’s body.
Carlino has been in custody since his arrest. He is due to be sentenced on December 9 and could face life in prison.
Devastated friends and loved ones gathered at Kenthurst Park, in Sydney’s northwest, (pictured) on July 24, 2022 for a candlelight vigil to honor Shereen.
Her friend Erica Wadlow-Smith (pictured at the vigil) recalled her fond memories with Shereen, describing the mother-of-two’s “broad smile, enthusiasm and positive attitude.”
Mind games then murder
While Carlino awaits her fate in court, Shereen continues to be remembered as a strong woman, a loving mother and a great friend to her heartbroken loved ones.
Her friend Erika Wadlow-Smith described Shereen as an “awesome, intelligent creature” with the best laugh in the world.
“He would throw his head back and it would fall off,” Wadlow-Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald last month.
Wadlow-Smith said she was baffled as to why Shereen decided to date Carlino, but believes he took advantage of her caring nature and played mind games with her.
Wadlow-Smith said politicians must do more to combat coercive control, an insidious form of domestic violence.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, by 2024, 23 per cent of Australian women (2.3 million) and 14 per cent of men (1.3 million) have experienced emotional abuse from a current partner or earlier.
“What I really want people to know is not to believe that domestic violence only happens to weak or vulnerable women,” Ms Wadlow-Smith said.
‘Because Shereen Kumar was shrewd and intelligent. She was no fool.
Shereen’s ex-husband Gurpreet Beehan described her as a devoted and adoring mother to her two children.
He promised to make sure she got justice.
“She was an incredible mother to our children and we will miss her forever,” Mr Beehan previously told Daily Mail Australia.
‘This crime has left us all devastated.
“No one can replace a mother.”
For 24/7 confidential support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or 1800 Respect