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© NSW/SA Police/AAPKhandalyce Kiara Pearce, left, and her mother Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson.
Remains found in NSW's Belanglo forest in 2010 and in SA's Wynarka this year identified as Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce Kiara Pearce

The remains of a little girl and a woman found years and thousands of kilometres apart have been identified as being from mother and daughter, who police believe were murdered in a "shocking" crime. In a huge breakthrough in each case, police have been able to identify the remains of a woman found in New South Wales's Belanglo forest in 2010 and the remains of a girl found in a suitcase near the Karoonda Highway at Wynarka, east of Adelaide in South Australia in July.

They were mother and daughter, Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson and Khandalyce Kiara Pearce, who were from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The last confirmed sighting of the pair was in 2008 on the Stuart Highway, just south of Coober Pedy in South Australia, when Karlie was 20 and Khandalyce was two years old.

Remains of murdered child in South Australia were put in suitcase, police say. Police said the pair were murdered and suffered violent deaths, though it is yet to be established where they were when they died and if they died at the same time. "This is one of the most shocking crimes, shocking and unimaginable, and another family has been torn apart and devastated," Detective Superintendent Des Bray told reporters on Wednesday. "Those people that are responsible for this crime are truly evil and must be quickly caught and held to account for what they've done."

Bray said although it was a significant breakthrough it was the beginning of an investigation rather than the end of one, and initially it had been like looking for a needle in a haystack. "This is about the killing of that beautiful little girl. Everybody who knows something needs to do something about it and I'm confident that even people within the criminal community will provide information about who commits such a horrible crime," he said.

Bray said Karlie and Khandalyce moved away from their family in Alice Springs between 2006 and 2008 with Karlie intending to travel and work. She cut off contact with her family for reasons the police do not want to disclose.

Police are appealing for anyone who knows anything about the movements of the mother and daughter between 2006 and 2008 to come forward. "It's critical to our investigation to build a very accurate timeline that can give us a complete picture of their life since the birth of Khandalyce in 2006. The friends, and associates, it's important we know them," Bray said.

"We encourage them to make contact through CrimeStoppers. As well as landlords, motels and caravan parks. We know that at different times they have been in Darwin, Alice Springs, Adelaide and Canberra. We know they've stayed in motels, caravan parks, along that route and other areas and possibly through the Murray Malle and Riverland. We're asking that all landlords, motel operators, caravan park, cabin parks, have a look at your records, everything's on computer, it's not hard.

"Have a look at your records and see if since 2006 they've stayed there in your premises. If they've stayed there ring CrimeStoppers and you will be of tremendous help to this investigation."

No family member is a suspect in the murder case. The critical tip-off in the investigation came through CrimeStoppers from the 1,267th and 1,271st callers in the case.

The first caller identified that the pair had been missing since about 2009, although there was not a missing person report on either in existence. The second caller provided a photo of Khandalyce with a blanket that had matched the one found with her remains.

The mother and daughter had been reported missing in 2009 in the Northern Territory but once the family assured the police the pair were safe the missing report was resolved. The remains of Khandalyce were found in July when a motorist stopped his car to answer the call of nature and saw the suitcase with various items scattered around it, including the girl's remains.

Police believe the girl was murdered between 2007 and 2009 before her body was placed in the suitcase and dumped four to six weeks before it was found. It also seemed like someone rifled through the suitcase and moved it from where it was originally dumped before it was found. A Dora the Explorer T-shirt, pink track pants, blue teddy-bear pyjamas and a patchwork quilt were also found with the remains and the suitcase.

The investigation into Khandalyce's remains resulted in 280 calls to CrimeStoppers within 10 days, with 29 children nominated as potential victims before being eliminated from the investigation. Police have spent the past few months cross-referencing Centrelink and immunisation records after moving on to a list of more than 200 children and ruling every one out. The search was widened and police have been scouring school records and other databases as they tried to find out who the little murdered girl was.

Police have also combed databases trying to identify the woman found in the Belanglo forest who earned the nickname "Angel" after she was found with a mass-produced T-shirt with the word "Angelic" across the chest. Anyone who thinks they may have any information relating to the mother and daughter or their murders can ring CrimeStoppers anonymously on 1800 333 000.