A man has been charged with murdering a woman after meeting her to ask for a loan, police allege.
Meeting at a Reserve
Police will allege that 33-year-old Ante Ivan Popovic met with the 58-year-old woman at John Curtain Reserve in Winston Hills, Western Sydney, about 4.30pm on Monday.
The woman’s family alerted police about 9.30am the next day after not hearing from her.
Phone Location Evidence
Her mobile phone location allegedly places her with Popovic as he drove west of the Blue Mountains in the HiLux he was arrested in.
Police are yet to find the woman’s body, but said there was enough evidence to charge Popovic with murder.
Hostile Communications
“It’ll be alleged that they were meeting there to talk about perhaps borrowing some money, but that ultimately we don’t know whether that exchange occurred,” Superintendent Barry Vincent said.
“We will allege that communications directed toward our missing lady were hostile in nature prior to that meeting. So we have significant concerns.”
Arrest and Charges
Popovic was sitting in a white Isuzu HiLux along the Parnell Fire Trail in Tomerong, about 200km south of the woman’s last known location, when he was arrested on Thursday afternoon.
Popovic was charged with murder and on Friday appeared before Bail Division Court, where he did not apply for release.
He is expected to return to court in August.
Family Shocked
Vincent said the woman’s family was “shocked” a murder charge was laid.
“We’re working through that with them and supporting them through that as best we can,” he said.
He added the alleged victim was a mother and the caretaker for her elderly parents.
Vincent called on anyone with information, including those who may have seen a white Isuzu HiLux or have relevant dashcam footage, to contact Crime Stoppers.
