Human remains have been found in the search for a missing Sydney couple, police in Australia said Tuesday, four days after an off-duty police officer who is said to have dated one of them was charged with their murders.
Two bodies were discovered at a rural property in Bungonia, a town about 100 miles south of Sydney, where detectives had established a crime scene over the weekend in the murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
Though the bodies have not been formally identified, “we are very confident that we have located Luke and Jesse,” New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said at a news conference.
Police said the bodies had been found with assistance earlier Tuesday from the accused, whom they did not name.
Last week, New South Wales police said a 28-year-old senior constable had been charged with two counts of murder in the disappearance of the two men. Local media identified the officer as Beau Lamarre, and a Beaumont Lamarre-Condon appeared Friday at a local court where he was denied bail, according to online records.
Lamarre-Condon is accused of killing Baird, 26, a former TV presenter whom he is said to have dated until recently, and his partner Davies, 29, who according to his LinkedIn account was a flight attendant for the Australian airline Qantas.
Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty said police also found two surf bags at the scene that they allege were used to transport the bodies from Baird’s home in the Paddington area of Sydney, where the two men are believed to have been killed on Feb. 19.
The bodies were found near the entrance to the Bungonia property, and an attempt appeared to have been made to cover them with rocks and debris, Doherty said.
Organizers of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, which is set to take place this Saturday, have requested that New South Wales police not march in it as planned, saying it “could add to the distress within our communities.”
“Our community needs space to grieve the loss of Jesse and Luke who, before this tragedy, would have been here celebrating with us at the Festival,” they said in a statement on Monday, adding that the officer accused in their deaths had participated in the parade in the past.