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
A manhunt is under way for a suspected killer, who is believed to be armed and dangerous, after a girl's dead body was found in a barrel on the back of a ute on the Gold Coast.
Police attended an address at Buccan, south of Brisbane, in relation to a missing person Larissa Beilby, 16, at 1.30pm Wednesday. When they arrived a man drove off in a black ute.
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 vehicle was tracked and located a short time later near a mobile home park in the Gold Coast suburb of Stapylton, and the man left in another vehicle, according to police.
Police confirmed they found a female's body in the black ute after searching the vehicle.
"A further search of the vehicle uncovered a deceased person," police said in a statement.
"Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death."
The body was reportedly found inside a barrel — which had a tarp over it — on the back of the ute's tray. The body has not yet been officially identified. A QLD Police spokesman told news.com.au that Ms Beilby is still missing. Police appealed for information regarding her 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".
"She is described as caucasian, is approximately 168cm tall, of a medium build with blonde hair, hazel eyes and a nose piercing," the statement read.
"Initial investigations indicate she may be in the company of a Caucasian man in his late teens."
Police are investigating the discovery of a deceased person in a utility at Stapylton this afternoon. Anyone who may have seen a silver late model Holden Commodore sedan rego 966WKB please call 000. MORE >>>https://t.co/L7FAkUeCCspic.twitter.com/tdtDCQEndj
On Thursday evening, Detective Acting Superintendent Mark White told reporters that police were treating the death as a homicide and an investigation centre had been established at Logan Central police station.
"Police are still working to positively identify the deceased person located in the back of a ute in Stapylton," he said.
"I'm not going to speculate on any particular aspect of it because it's at a real critical stage. "We have a lot of information that's coming in, a lot of information we're processing."
Detectives are forensically examining the ute and have started "extensive inquiries" in relation to anyone associated with it.
Police appealed for information on Beilby on Tuesday. Photo / Supplied
Det Supt White declined to go into detail about the person being sought over the matter.
"We don't know the identity of this person and we may not know that until tomorrow or possibly the next day," he said.
"As you can appreciate, there's a fairly intensive forensic examination that is occurring as we speak and will continue to occur possibly for the next 24 to 48 hours." A witness told Nine News that things "just spiralled out of control" when the alleged offender fled the scene.
"I thought someone was on the run then I found out it was a body in the barrel," he said.
Police say they are now looking for a person travelling in a silver late model Holden Commodore sedan with the registration 966WKB. Reports suggest the man may be armed, according to the Courier Mail.
