An MP has revealed that teenager Isla Bell engaged with her on social media about violence against women, before being allegedly murdered herself.
Ms Bell was last seen leaving her Brunswick home, in Melbourne, at about 6pm on October 4, just days before her 20th birthday.
Her remains were found at a tip at Dandenong on Tuesday evening and two men are in custody charged over her alleged murder.
On Thursday, Victorian MP Georgie Purcell revealed that Ms Bell had been a passionate advocate for ending violence against women.
‘I didn’t know Isla personally, but I did watch as she engaged on my own Instagram page,’ Ms Purcell said.
‘She made jokes and offered solidarity. And she also liked my posts about ending femicide and attending the national rallies against violence.
‘But the reality is, while women are devastated when this happens, we are not shocked.’
Ms Purcell, who represents the Animal Justice Party in the Victorian Parliament, added: ‘Isla turned 20 in the time she was missing.’
Isla Bell (pictured) was last seen leaving her Brunswick home, in Melbourne , at about 6pm on October 4, just days before her 20th birthday
On Thursday, Victorian MP Georgie Purcell (pictured) revealed that Ms Bell had been a passionate advocate for ending violence against women
‘She had a family trip planned to the Great Barrier Reef – and she was so excited,’ she wrote.
‘I want to say more about the person I am told she was as a friend, a daughter, an aunty – but that shouldn’t actually matter.’
On Wednesday, Marat Ganiev, 53, of St Kilda, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court charged with Ms Bell’s murder.
His co-accused, Eyal Yaffe, 57, of Hampton, faces a charge of assisting an offender with murder.
Daily Mail Australia revealed that police will allege the 19-year old texted her friend just hours before her alleged murder expressing her happiness at finding the man of her dreams.
In a Snapchat post sent on October 7, Ms Bell, who was last seem leaving her Brunswick home in Melbourne three days earlier on October 4, told her friend that she had ‘found the best sugar daddy’, court documents state.
Ms Bell told her friend this ‘sugar daddy’ had lavished her with gifts and ‘saved her from sex traffickers’.
She had allegedly shacked up with Ganiev just two days earlier – a day after her frantic mother reported Ms Bell missing to police.
Ms Purcell, who represents the Animal Justice Party in the Victorian Parliament, made the post on Instagram
Marat Ganiev, 53, of St Kilda appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with murdering Isla Bell
Eyal Yaffe (pictured) is accused of helping the man who allegedly murdered Isla Bell conceal his alleged crime
Police allege Ganiev murdered Ms Bell just after midnight on October 7. Why it is alleged he did so remains a mystery for now.
Her remains were found at a tip at Dandenong six weeks later on November 19 and are yet to be formally identified.
On Wednesday, Ms Bell’s heartbroken mother Justine Spokes issued a gut-wrenching statement in memory of her daughter as Ganiev faced court.
‘I am so, so sorry my darling daughter,’ she said.
‘I could not protect you from your complex illnesses and this cruel world.
‘I was so proud of your choices this year, your strength to endure despite your suffering.
‘All you ever wanted was to create, make and nurture life, to love and be loved.
‘We were so much looking forward to being reunited as a family again; my heart aches and cannot reconcile that’s not going to happen.’
She said her daughter was ‘the gentlest soul, the kindest human and free spirited’.
‘I will connect to you in spirit my care bear and no one can take that connection away from us,’ she added.
For the six weeks Ms Bell was missing, lampposts and walls throughout Melbourne were plastered with missing persons posters calling for her to come home.
Her mother told The Age she had the ‘deepest empathy for all life forms’.
‘An exquisitely beautiful soul, it is an unspeakable torment to know that despite my daughter’s love for the world she felt the depth and breadth of its cruelty,’ Ms Spokes said.
‘I have two cherished daughters, one in the flesh and one in spirit, both live in my heart and walk by my side, always.’
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