Breakthrough in case of missing woman Maryam Hamka with police locating what they believe to be her body in bushland near iconic Cape Schanck
- Toby Loughnane will stand trial over Ms Hamka death
- She was captured on CCTV leaving Brunswick store
- Blood-like appearance was found on carpet in Loughnane’s home
- Loughnane has pleaded not guilty to her murder
The body of missing Melbourne woman Maryam Hamka is believed to have been found in bushland more than two years after she vanished.
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Dave Dunstan will front a press conference on Monday in relation to the discovery of a body in Cape Schanck earlier today.
The discovery comes just weeks after Toby Loughnane was ordered to stand trial over the killing his former partner in April 2021.
A Victoria Police spokesperson confirmed human remains, believed to be Ms Hamka, were located about 10.30am on Monday in bushland off Rogers Road near Patterson Road.
Loughnane pleaded not guilty to his former partner’s murder and faces a Supreme Court of Victoria trial.
Melbourne woman Maryam Hamka (pictured) vanished without in April 2021. Her bodywas found on Monday
Ms Hamka, 36, was last seen leaving a Woolworths supermarket in inner-city Brunswick on April 10, 2021 after telling family she was going to visit a friend in Brighton.
A significant stain with a blood-like appearance was found on a section of carpet at the bottom of the stairs in Loughnane’s Brighton home, the court heard last month.
But no DNA profile could be obtained from the sample, forensic expert Maxwell Jones told the court.
That could have been because a small amount of blood was spread out, consistent with situations where a person has tried to clean up blood, he said.
‘That may be one explanation as to why we got such a broad luminol reaction in that area of carpet,’ he said.
Maryam Hamka was captured on CCTV leaving a Woolworths supermarket in inner-city Brunswick on April 10, 2021. It was the last time she was seen alive
Magistrate Johanna Metcalf found after a committal hearing that began in May that there was sufficient evidence to support a murder conviction even without Ms Hamka’s remains.
Another man, Oscar Newman, will also stand trial charged with assisting Loughnane to avoid apprehension between April 11 and 15.
He has also pleaded not guilty.
Loughnane remains behind bars in custody while Newman remains on bail.
Maryam Hamka (pictured) vanished without a trace after telling family she was going to visit a friend in Brighton
