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Stephanie Scott (Photo: Get Steph Home / Facebook)
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Stephanie Scott (Photo: Get Steph Home / Facebook)
Thursday, 9 April 2015 - 21:37
Dutch connection to murdered Australian woman
A 24-year-old man, possibly from the Netherlands, was charged with the murder of Stephanie Scott in Australia. Scott was last seen on Easter Sunday, April 5, at about 11 a.m. local time when she was at her workplace, Leeton High School, according to police in the Australian state of New South Wales.
A drama and English teacher, she was reported missing the following day. Her body has not been found. She was due to marry her childhood sweetheart, Aaron Leeson-Woolley, on Saturday.
Vincent Stanford, 24, was a cleaner at the same school, located in Leeton, about 300 kilometers northwest of the Australian capital, Canberra. Police arrested Stanford after finding blood, and a camera in his truck containing photos of a burning body, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Although the AAP newswire says Stanford is a native of the Netherlands, the Daily Telegraph says he was born in Tasmania before moving to the Netherlands.
Stanford moved to the small town of fewer than 10,000 with his mother and older brother last year, a neighbor told the Herald Sun.
“I found him a very nice, well-mannered young fellow,” neighbour Gail Scanlan told the Herald Sun. “I always liked Vincent,” she added. He also has an identical twin brother in Adelaide, South Australia.
Police officers on Wednesday evening visited a Leeton home "where they spoke to two residents at the home," a police statement said. "Around 7:30 p.m., another resident of the home – a 24-year-old man – arrived at the property. The man was subsequently arrested and taken to Leeton Police Station."
The truck was secured as a crime scene. Police finally found Scott's car on Thursday, abandoned in a field eight kilometers away from her home. Police were also treating that area as a crime scene
“It is tragic for the people of Leeton, it is tragic for the people of NSW and it is tragic for society in general,” Police Detective Superintendent Michael Rowan said.
A crowdfunding campaign to assist the family topped 12,400 Australian dollars Thursday night.