An eyewitness who was reading on her porch at 4.30am has told how she saw a mysterious car with no headlights on leaving a wedding estate where a nine-year-old girl was last seen.
The development comes as an expert bush tracker said the missing girl could stay alive for ‘many weeks’ in the wild if she has access to drinkable water and shelter.
Charlise Mutten was last seen on Thursday afternoon on the verandah of a five-hectare wedding venue in Mount Wilson, in the Blue Mountains – which is owned by the family of her mother Kallista’s fiance, Justin Stein.
But police were only notified of her disappearance at 8.20am the following day, and investigators are now trying to determine whether Charlise is lost in the bush or has been kidnapped.
One theory circulating is that the youngster was whisked away from the property in a mysterious car with no headlights.
On Tuesday, John Haitzler – who lives next to the Steins and claims he previously had a nasty confrontation with Charlise’s stepdad – told Daily Mail Australia his wife Carole was reading at 4.30am on Friday when she heard the sound of a car on the driveway.
Charlise Mutten (pictured) was not reported missing for more than 12 hours after she was last seen on Thursday afternoon
John Haitzler (pictured) says his wife Carole saw a vehicle with no headlights leave the Stein’s driveway at 4.30am on Friday – approximately four hours before police were notified of Charlise’s disappearance
Bush tracker Jake Cassar (pictured) says Charlise Mutten could still be alive if she has access to drinkable water – and could keep going for ‘months’
‘She got out of bed and went to the window and saw a shadow moving,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It is very quiet here at night and you can see the headlights – there weren’t any on.’
Investigators have been scouring the scene since Charlise (pictured) went missing
Mr Haitzler said his wife couldn’t see what make of car it was or who was driving it, but that he reported it to police after he heard a little girl had gone missing from next door.
The orchardist said the Stein family were known to leave their property in the middle of the night, but the headlights were always on.
Mr Haitzler also said Mr Stein lived ‘in a shack’ on the grounds of Wildenstein and had been there with a different girlfriend when he had got into trouble more than five years ago with ‘drug dealing on the property’.
Daily Mail Australia confirmed on Tuesday that Mr Stein was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison in 2017 for possessing a marketable quantity of a border-controlled drug the previous year.
Police confirmed on Friday that a neighbour saw a car with no headlights leave the property.
Later that day, they seized Mr Stein’s red Colorado ute in Penrith for forensic examination.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mrs Haitzler saw Justin Stein’s ute leaving the property, or that he is connected to Charlise’s disappearance.
Charlise Mutten’s stepdad Justin Stein (pictured) is a convicted serious drug offender
Police have seized Mr Stein’s red ute (pictured) as part of their investigation, which will be forensically examined
Her distressed mum Kallista Mutten (pictured, left and right, with Charlise) was consoled by emergency workers on Saturday
Rescue teams were warned in a Tuesday morning briefing that Charlise would likely be ‘lethargic’ and ‘stationary’ if she’s been sleeping in the Blue Mountains National Park for five days.
Expert tracker Jake Cassar told Daily Mail Australia that she would probably be exhausted – particularly if she’s stressed and has been pushing through dense scrub – but says she could survive for two months if she has access to drinkable water.
Mr Cassar believes the nine-year-old could potentially have a lot of energy if she stays hydrated and finds shelter.
Charlise Mutten was last seen on Thursday afternoon. She was reported missing on Friday
‘Her stomach would have shrunk by now so she’s probably not that hungry, but she’s probably stationary and sticking close to water, and hopefully shelter as well,’ he said.
‘If the climate is not too harsh and exposure isn’t a risk, and there’s water, then evidence suggests people can last for many weeks.’
The search was hampered by heavy rain on Monday, forcing SES and RFS volunteers to wind up their efforts ahead of what would be Charlise’s fifth night missing in the mountains – but the downpour could help keep the schoolgirl alive.
Mr Cassar referenced 18-year-old Matthew Allen who was found in dense bushland in Westleigh, near Cherrybrook in Sydney’s north-west, two months after he was reported missing in 2013.
The teenager had lost half his body weight, was dehydrated, exhausted and covered in leeches and bugs, but was alive nonetheless.
RFS volunteers (pictured) were deployed to the area to search for the nine-year-old
Police told volunteers that Charlise would likely be exhausted lying still if she was lost in the bush
Pictured: Police vehicles moving down the driveway at Wildenstein – the five-hectare property in Mount Wilson
Pictured: RFS volunteers on Tuesday. Rescue workers have been searching for five days
He said most people who get lost in the bush are found within a few kilometres of where they were last seen, but are often missed by search teams.
‘I’ve got an enormous amount of respect for the volunteers, but people are often missed in these situations and it’s incredibly important to ensure searches go on for weeks,’ the bush tracker explained.
‘If this girl is in the bush, then statistics would suggest she’s no more than three to five kilometres away.’
Mr Cassar successfully helped police search for three-year-old AJ Elfalak when he wandered off into bushland for four days near his home in the NSW Upper Hunter Valley, and says he will join the search for Charlise if she’s not found soon.
He said AJ ‘set a real benchmark’ for how a child could stay alive in extreme circumstances, and said the little boy’s story ‘taught us not to underestimate the human spirit’.
The bush tracker added that Charlise’s state-of-mind is critical to her survival because ‘if you were to panic, you could become dehydrated a lot quicker’.
Pictured: RFS volunteers during a briefing on Tuesday morning. Heavy fog descended on the area later that evening
Police an emergency crews have been at the Mount Wilson property for five days (pictured on Tuesday)
A police officer told the Rural Fire Service and SES searchers on Tuesday: ‘It’s day five. She’s not going to be mobile.’
The officer warned them that Charlise would need water from a ‘bottle, puddle or dam’.
A thick blanket of fog descended on the Blue Mountains on Tuesday afternoon after a day of slippery conditions in Mount Wilson.
At the search command post in Mt Wilson, a troupe of emergency services volunteers – much-reduced in numbers after some tested positive for Covid – began making their way back to base around 3.30pm as the mist rolled in.
Charlise Mutten (pictured) went missing on Thursday afternoon. Search teams have been scouring the scene for four days
While Charlise was initially said to be wearing a pink top, black knee-length skirt and pink Nike thongs when she was last seen, neither Kallista Mutten or her fiance have been able to definitively say how she was dressed.
NSW Police sent out multiple geo-targeting text messages to all residents in the area on Friday and Saturday evening to inform them of Charlise’s disappearance and request help.
They also asked social media users to share the missing girl’s photo widely.
Police are appealing for anyone with information about her whereabouts to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
INSIDE CHARLISE MUTTEN’S COMPLICATED FAMILY TREE
A former drug addict mother, stepdad on parole and doting grandmother who ‘struggled’ after letting the missing nine-year-old travel to Sydney to reconnect with her family
– By Brittany Chain for Daily Mail Australia
As Christmas passed and school holidays dragged on, missing schoolgirl Charlise Mutten’s doting grandmother agreed to let the nine-year-old visit her mother in Sydney.
The summer trip was the perfect opportunity for mother and daughter to reconnect after Covid-enforced border closures and a jail stint had driven them apart.
Charlise lives with her grandmother, Deborah Mutten, in Coolangatta on the Gold Coast and attends a local primary school south of the border, where she’s known as a spritely and cheerful student.
Deborah shared a sweet photo just two weeks ago on January 5. With the ocean as a backdrop, Charlise leaned back and kissed her beaming grandmother on the cheek.
Five days later, after Charlise had already made the trip to NSW to see her mother, Deborah confessed to a friend she was ‘struggling’.
Deborah shared a sweet photo just two weeks ago on January 5. With the ocean as a backdrop, Charlise leaned back and kissed her beaming grandmother on the cheek
‘A bit of silly business was needed to lift the mood,’ she said alongside a photo of herself using a comedic Snapchat filter.
‘Struggling a bit to be quite honest.’
Then, on January 14, she learned her beloved granddaughter had vanished while in the temporary care of her daughter, Kallista Mutten.
Now Charlise’s disappearance puts a halt on what should have been a chance for Ms Mutten to bond and reconnect with her daughter after so many missed moments.
Ms Mutten was jailed in November 2017, when Charlise was just five, after she was convicted of dangerous driving occasioning death and driving with an illicit substance in her system.
It’s understood Charlise was handed over to her grandmother to care for her at the time.
The court heard Ms Mutten was an ice addict and using two to three points every day when she swerved off the road and into the Tweed River, killing her passenger and friend, 53-year-old Karen ‘Kaz’ Bunch.
After the crash, Ms Mutten checked herself in to a rehab facility, but relapsed and began using again, the court heard.
She was also expelled from a clinic at Logan in Queensland after she threatened a fellow resident with violence.
It’s unclear if Ms Mutten ever regained full time custody after her stint in jail.
Daily Mail Australia revealed on Tuesday Charlise’s stepdad, Justin Stein, also has a criminal past from about the same time as when her mother was convicted.
Stein was sentenced to six-and-a-half years prison for possessing a marketable quantity of a border enforced drug in 2017.
He was released on parole after serving a mandatory three years and nine months in November 2020, and by December 1 2020 was engaged to Ms Mutten.
It’s unclear if the duo knew each other prior to Stein’s release from jail just three weeks earlier.
Stein comes from a wealthy family who moved to the Blue Mountains from Perth around the time he was born.
They own and operate the Wildenstein estate where Charlise was last seen – which is known as an exclusive wedding venue – as well as a jeweler in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney’s CBD.
Charlise’s biological father – who has not been named – is ‘absolutely shattered’ the nine-year-old is missing, a friend said on Tuesday.
He, along with his family and friends, are hopeful she’ll be found safe and unharmed.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk