Police have found human remains believed to be those of missing Melbourne woman Isla Bell and have charged a man with murder.
Mrs Bell was last seen six and a half weeks ago, leaving her home, a few days before her 20th birthday, at around 6pm on October 4.
On Wednesday, Missing Persons Squad detectives arrested three men after executing search warrants at two properties in Bentleigh East and Mulgrave.
The remains were found in Dandenong, southeast of Melbourne, on Tuesday afternoon and have yet to be formally identified.
A 53-year-old St Kilda man has since been charged with murder, while a 57-year-old Hampton man has been charged with assisting the offender (murder).
A 63-year-old Mulgrave man has been released pending further investigations.
The Missing Persons Squad formally took over the investigation at the end of October.
Isla’s family has been notified.
Two men have been charged after police found suspicious human remains in their search for Bell Island.
Isla Bell, 19, was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick, inner-city Melbourne, at around 6pm on October 4.
Shortly after she disappeared, her best friend said she last spoke to Bell on Oct. 7, three days after she was last seen.
During that conversation, she really wanted to talk about a recent night out and a new friend.
“He was about to tell me everything about his night…he abruptly stopped responding before giving me more details,” the anonymous friend said.
“She was very anxious and excited to tell me all about this, then radio silence.”
Her family had planned a trip to the Great Barrier Reef for her 20th birthday. They tried to contact her to book flights, but she never responded.