Missing Chinese UTS grad student found stabbed to death in blowhole

  • 8 years ago
SNAPPER POINT, NEW SOUTH WALES — After moving to Australia from China to study five years ago, 25-year-old Michelle Leng had her whole life ahead of her, until it was all viciously ripped away in a brutal murder attack last week.

A recent graduate of the University of Technology, Sydney, Leng went missing on April 21, 2016. Friends say they last saw her waiting for a bus outside the school's campus yesterday afternoon, heading out for an afternoon of shopping.

In CCTV footage, police managed to spot Leng walking on Pitt Street, known to be a major retail centre in Sydney. The time was roughly 3 p.m. Police say she then boarded a train at St. James Railway Station platform, heading home to Campsie Station, her final stop.

Based on her phone records, detectives say she was still communicating with friends until the late hours of the evening. But after she arrived at Campsie Station, she was never seen again. At about 10:30 a.m. on April 24, police were alerted to reports of a naked body seen floating in the Snapper Point blowhole at the Munmorah State Conservation Area, about 100 kms away from Michelle Leng's last known whereabouts.

The body had multiple stab wounds to the neck, and investigators say it would have been dumped in the blowhole less than 48 hours before it was discovered. A computer-generated image of the unidentified person's face was released to the public by police, and shortly after authorities were able to confirm that the victim found in the water was that of the missing Michelle Leng. Based on their most recent findings police say she was most likely stabbed 20 times before she died. Her body was then driven 100 km away and disposed of in the ocean.

On April 29, authorities arrested 27-year-old Derek Barrett, Leng's uncle through marriage, on charges of murder. Leng was staying at the home of the accused, her 48-year-old aunt, and her cousin at the time, and police believe it was there that she was attacked and killed. Potential motives for the suspect have yet to be reported at this time.

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