A 27-year-old man has been charged over the murder of a Chinese international student whose naked body was found inside a blowhole on the New South Wales Central Coast last Sunday.
Mengmei 'Michelle' Leng, 25, was reported missing by her family on Anzac Day after claims she failed to return to her Campsie home from a shopping trip four days earlier.
Police have confirmed the man, Derek Barrett, to be Ms Leng's uncle, charging him with the murder on Friday afternoon at Campsie Police Station.
The man's arrest came after detectives executed a crime scene warrant on the family's Campsie home on Friday. He has been refused bail and is due to appear at Parramatta Bail Court later today.
Ms Leng's body was discovered by a tourist at Snapper Point at around 10:30am on Sunday, April 24.
Police said Ms Leng was naked and had been stabbed multiple times. She remained unidentified for three days.
"When the body was recovered from the water, there were a number of injuries indicative of Michelle suffering a very violent attack," Detective Inspector Gary Jubelin said.
Inspector Jubelin said police had informed members of Ms Leng's family -- who lived in both Australia and overseas -- of the news.
"We spoke to Michelle's aunty who she lives with, then I spoke to Michelle's brother by phone who she lives with in China," he said.
"It's terrible news to deliver and you can understand how upset they are."
Earlier, police released CCTV footage of Ms Leng who was last seen shopping in Pitt Street in Sydney's CBD last Thursday. The vision showed her catching a train from St James Railway Station to Campsie Railway Station where she arrived at 4:30pm.
According to Inspector Jubelin, Campsie Railway Station was the last place Ms Leng was seen alive.
Ms Leng had lived in Australia for five years and was a recent business graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney.