Police in Australia have charged a man with the murder of a 16-year-old girl whose body was found stuffed in a barrel on the back of a pickup truck, sparking a manhunt and 27-hour siege at an apartment block on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
Officers issued a call for help to find Zlato Sikorsky, 34, last Thursday after he was suspected to have sped away from a property in Buccan, south of Brisbane, in a pickup truck as police arrived to make inquiries about missing teenager Larissa Beilby.
The black pickup was later found abandoned at a caravan park in the nearby suburb of Staplyton, with a barrel in the back bed which was revealed to contain a body, later identified as the missing teen.
On Friday afternoon, the police search for Sikorsky led to an apartment block in Alexandra Headlands, north of Brisbane.
Surrounding streets were cordoned off and neighbors told to take cover as police negotiated with Sikorsky for more than 24 hours.
He gave himself up at 6:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, and has since been charged with murder and misconduct with a corpse.
Police on Thursday said Sikorsky was associated with Beilby, but didn’t elaborate on the nature of their relationship.
Beilby was reported missing from the suburb of Sandgate on June 15. She last spoke to friends on June 18.
Two other people face charges of being accessory after the fact to murder, including a woman who allegedly helped Sikorsky get to the apartment block.
All three are due to appear in court on Monday.