Larissa Beilby, 16, was reported missing from Sandgate in Queensland on June 15. Photo / Supplied
Larissa Beilby, 16, was reported missing from Sandgate in Queensland on June 15. Photo / Supplied
The family of missing Brisbane teen Larissa Beilby has confirmed she is dead.
"With a broken heart shattered into more than a million pieces our family is utterly destroyed to inform you all that Larissa has been taken from us," her sister Deanna posted on Facebook.
"Our beautiful girl has been reunited with our beloved wife and mother. Fly high our darling angel, until we see you again Rissy."
The announcement came about an hour after a man wanted in connection with the 16-year-old's death surrendered to police following a "highly complex and lengthy negotiation" lasting nearly 28 hours after barricading himself inside a Sunshine Coast unit.
Larissa Beilby, 16, was reported missing from Sandgate in Queensland on June 15. Photo / Supplied
Police said 34-year-old Zlatko Sikorsky surrendered without incident around 6:30pm on Saturday.
Sikorsky had been the subject of a massive manhunt since Wednesday, sought for questioning over the death of a then-unidentified girl found in a barrel on the back of a ute.
The Courier-Mail reports police have confirmed the body in the barrel as that of Ms Beilby. News.com.au understands a post mortem was completed on Friday.
Police had appealed for information regarding Ms Beilby's whereabouts earlier this week. In a statement released on Tuesday, police said Ms Beilby was "last seen at an address on Kempster Road and has not contacted family or friends since June 18".
Police appealed for information on Beilby on Tuesday. Photo / Supplied
On Wednesday, it's believed Sikorsky fled from a property at Buccan in Logan, south of Brisbane, when police went to make inquiries about Ms Beilby, about 1:30pm. Ms Beilby had been living in a halfway house in Brisbane but had been dating Sikorsky, The Courier-Mail reported.
The newspaper reported that Ms Beilby expressed concerns to friends that her boyfriend Sikorsky might discover she was only 16 years old.
She had reportedly been linked to another man before Sikorsky but left him after feeling threatened.
THE GETAWAY
The man thought to be Sikorsky took off from the house in a black ute with a barrel loaded onto the tray and covered by a tarp.
He arrived at a nearby gated complex in the Gold Coast suburb of Stapylton where a female resident claimed he pointed a shotgun at her and demanded to be let into her housing estate.
The woman said it was at that moment she saw a "dead arm" sticking out of the blue barrel.
Zlatko Sikorsky. Photo / Queensland Police
"There was a blue barrel with, all I've seen is an arm flapping out, it was a little bit scary," she told reporters.
"There was just the one barrel, it wasn't massive either, it was only small. I just seen (sic) an arm, a dead arm."
She said the man pointed the gun at her before offering her money to be let inside the complex.
She said the ute was badly damaged and that she was surprised the man was able to drive it.
"The windows were all shot out, bullet holes through the bonnet of the ute," the woman said.
"He pulled out a shotgun and said to me and my partner 'I'll give you two grand if you let me in the gate right now' so we lifted up the gate and let him in."
Police were called to the Stapylton complex where they found the badly decomposed body stuffed into a barrel on the ute's tray.
"A further search of the vehicle uncovered a deceased person," police said in a statement.
"Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death."
The black ute where a young woman's body was found in a barrel in the tray of car at Silky Oak Cres in Stapylton, Queensland. Photo / News.com.au
The body was so badly decomposed police warned it could take a number of days to formally identify the woman.
Queensland Police earlier confirmed Ms Beilby was "associated" with Sivorsky who was able to make another getaway in a different car.
Insp Furlong would not confirm reports that officers had found bullets and knuckle dusters in the ute Sikorsky allegedly left behind.
Insp Furlong said the man who fled in the ute was at the centre of the murder investigation but that it was possible other people were involved.
"We consider him dangerous," Insp Furlong said.
THE SIEGE
At about 3:30pm on Friday, Sivorsky was located at a unit complex in Juan Street and an emergency declaration was made under the Public Safety Preservation Act.
Sivorsky was believed to be in possession of a firearm. Sikorsky had told police he "will shoot if they come near [him]", according to 9 News.
Up to 40 police officers, including Specialist Emergency Response Team personnel, were locked in a stand-off at the complex for hours.
Police teams at the scene were refreshed in a second shift changeover as negotiations crawled into their second day on Saturday.
Superintendent Darryl Johnson of Queensland Police had warned the siege could drag on for "possible days".
"We've seen these situations go for lengthy periods," Supt Johnson said on Saturday morning.
Larissa Beilby at a school event. Photo / Facebook
The complex was evacuated and surrounding streets cordoned off by police.
Resident Fern Murphy, 24, told news.com.au that at one stage during the siege she heard a man yelling to police for about a minute that he "was turning his phone on" and waiting for them to call him.
"I then went out on my veranda and heard something along the lines of 'I have a weapon' or 'I have weapons'," Ms Murphy said.
Another witness said he could hear a man making demands in a neighbouring unit about wanting to speak to his girlfriend and father.
A witness later told The Courier-Mail Sikorsky was heard to say "I just don't want to get shot" before ordering police to back off.
FATHER MAKES CONTACT
Police continued to communicate with Sikorsky throughout Friday night and even allowed his father, John Sikorsky, to visit him.
John Sikorsky reportedly arrived at the complex wearing orange hi-vis just after 9pm Friday.
He exited the apartment complex almost two hours later, appearing happy and animated as he spoke to police, before driving away in a Toyota Hilux, The Daily Mail reported.
A "shocked" resident claimed he inadvertently let Sikorsky into his home, not knowing who he was, when an "old friend" brought him to visit.
The man, who said his name was Joe but didn't want his full identity disclosed, told reporters he was the tenant of the apartment where Sikorsky has barricaded himself.
He claimed a friend he hadn't seen in more than a year asked him if he could visit on Friday, and "brought this bloke", according to The Daily Mail.
"Joe" said he didn't know who Sikorsky was, or that police were seeking him, when the pair arrived.
"He seemed cool and calm, he wasn't an angry bloke," Joe said.
Larissa (right) and older sister Deanna. Photo / Facebook
Joe claimed the building manager knocked to follow up on reports of a verbal disagreement which he had been engaged in with his ex-partner. Sikorsky opened the door before the manager reportedly recognised him, "put two and two together", and alerted police.
Joe said he and his ex-partner left the apartment, separately, about 15 minutes later. Joe said when he returned from the shops, police wouldn't let him back in, and it was then he was "shocked" to discover Sikorsky was wanted by police.
Police believe a network of criminal associates may have helped hide the fugitive. News.com.au does not suggest Joe was one of them.
28 HOURS LATER
Sikorsky was taken to the Maroochydore Watch House following his dramatic arrest, around 6:30pm Saturday.
The area was rendered safe after specialist police searched and cleared the scene and the emergency declaration was revoked at 7:45pm.
Sunshine Coast District Officer Superintendent Darryl Johnson said in a statement that at all times during the incident, public safety remained the top priority of police.
"It was important to give our negotiators the time and space to help us resolve this peacefully — and I am relieved that we have been able to take this man into custody without him, any member of the public or any of our officers being hurt," Superintendent Johnson said.
"I want to thank the people of Alexandra Headlands — particularly those living within our exclusion zone — for their patience and assistance during the last 24 hours. It is very much appreciated."
Meanwhile, a 40-year-old woman from Palmwoods has been charged with accessory to murder, a police spokesman told news.com.au. Police will allege she assisted Sikorsky by bringing him to the Sunshine Coast unit.
She was arrested on Friday night and appeared in the Maroochydore Magistrates Court on Saturday morning. She has been remanded in custody and will face court again on Monday, July 2.
Police will further allege that a 28-year-old Alexandra Headlands man also assisted Sikorsky. He was charged on Saturday night with one count of accessory after the fact to murder and is also due to appear in the Maroochydore Magistrates court on Monday.
SUSPECT'S CRIMINAL PAST
Sikorsky has an extensive criminal history which includes armed robbery, deprivation of liberty and four extortion offences.
He pleaded guilty to 14 charges and received a five-year prison term when sentenced in September 2016. But he had already served 594 days in custody which was declared as time served, with his parole eligibility date set for October 2016, and he was released on January 6, 2017.
Police have had a warrant to arrest Sikorsky since March 15, after he breached his parole conditions.
In 2003, Sikorsky, then 19, pleaded guilty to the charge of unlicensed driving after he was caught behind the wheel just days after his license was suspended for speeding offences.
The court heard the contract cleaner, of Slacks Creek, was often away for long periods for work and was not aware of the suspension when stopped by police. He was given a mandatory six-month licence suspension on top of a $300 fine.
