The family of deceased woman Karen Ristevski has vowed to do everything possible to bring her killer to justice.
Police identified the body found at Mount Macedon last Monday as that of the Avondale Heights woman, missing since last winter.
Mrs Ristevski, 47, was last seen at her home address on Oakley Drive in Avondale Heights about 10am on June 29.
The breakthrough in her case came last week when a bushwalker stumbled across her body between two logs, not far from a dirt track off Loch Road in Mount Macedon Regional Park.
Mrs Ristevski’s devastated aunt, Patricia Gray, described her as “so full of love”.
“[We are] happy we’ve found her … devastated that’s how she was discarded,” Ms Gray said.
She had made the family’s final public appeal for information last year.
“How a person such as Karen, so full of love, life and laughter, could be left, abandoned, discarded, with no thought or emotion shown, is unforgivable.”
Mrs Ristevski’s cousin Lisa Gray said the family wants the person responsible brought to justice, and Missing Persons Squad detectives are appealing for anyone who may have been walking along the dirt track off Loch Road, or anyone that may have seen any vehicles, to contact them.
Investigators are also appealing for information from anyone that may have visited Mount Macedon any time from June last year and taken photos or video footage in the area.
In December, police were looking for Mrs Ristevski around Toolern Vale, about 25 kilometres from where her body was found.
There were reports at the time that Mrs Ristevski’s phone pinged on telecommunication towers on the Calder Highway and at Gisborne on the day she went missing.
Police and SES volunteers searched from Blackhill Road to Gisborne Road, looking in grassland, waterways, creeks and farms, on December 19 and 20 last year, a 23-minute drive from where she was eventually found.
Anyone with information is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential crime report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au.
