The brother of Karen Ristevski has said that he knew his sister, who disappeared on June 29 last year, wouldn't be coming home, describing the period since 47-year-old vanished as "horrific".
"[I] knew Karen wasn't coming home...knew that from a very early stage," Steven Williams told Nine News.
"Yesterday just confirmed what we pretty much thought and knew all along. Part of it is actually a little bit of a relief, it's just an end to what everyone was unfortunately thinking."
Williams described his older sister as being a dedicated mother to her 21-year-old daughter, whom she shared a special bond with.
On Monday, forensic testing confirmed that a decomposed body found in bushland at Mount Macedon, north of Melbourne, was that of the missing mother.
A shovel containing soil samples has reportedly been seized by police after being found in the garage of Ristevski's Avondale Heights home and is said to be undergoing forensic testing, the Herald Sun reports.
Victoria Police however, could not confirm if the shovel had been seized and told The Huffington Post Australia that as the investigation was active and ongoing, they "would not be providing a running commentary on the case".
A witness, who arrived at the scene where the body was found, allegedly told police that he had seen a man with a shovel before the discovery, and was met with an expressionless face after jokingly asking "What did you do to the body", the Herald Sun reports.
Ristevski's husband, Borce, is yet to speak publicly since the discovery of the body but visited the office of his lawyer on Wednesday morning. He is considered to be the prime suspect in the investigation, according to his lawyer.
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