Police are closing in on the location of a man wanted over the disappearance of teenager Larissa Beilby.
Heavily-armed police are heading to an address in Alexandra Headland on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast after a reported sighting of Zlatko Sikorsky.
Detectives looking for Larissa found the body of a girl, now believed to be the teenager, stuffed inside the barrel in the back of a ute abandoned at a housing estate at Stapylton, south of Brisbane, on Wednesday.
She reportedly told those close to her she feared convicted criminal Sikorsky, 34, the man suspected of dumping the ute, would discover her real age. She also told friends he had a gun.
Larissa, whose friends affectionately call ‘Riss’, met and began a relationship with Sikorsky while living in transitional accommodation where she was seeking refuge from another violent man.
Police were searching for Larissa Beilby (pictured) before they found a body in a barrel on the back of truck at a mobile home park. The body has not been identified
Officers are closing in on an address on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast after a reported sighting of Zlatko Sikorsky
Police are hunting Zlatko Sikorsky (pictured) to assist with their inquiries after the body of a teenage girl was found in a ute south of Brisbane
Before she disappeared, Larissa had been in her final year of high school, but hadn’t been attending classes, according to friends.
On June 15, she walked out of the family home she shared with her father, sister and brother after a disagreement, Seven News reported.
Larissa’s life had been marked by tragedy, with her mother Karen dying when she was just four in 2006 in South Australia.
The three young children wrote a powerful tribute to their mother, who died at just 32.
‘To a mother with endless love who has made us who we are. We love and miss you and will never forget who you are,’ the tribute read.
‘We love you now and always, mum’.
Karen’s husband, Peter, said his ‘heart and soul are broken’ following his wife’s death.
The funeral notice asked attendees to donate to the Heart Foundation in lieu of flowers. The family later moved to Queensland.
Detectives believe the suspect switched vehicles after dumping the ute and is now driving a silver Holden Commodore with the registration 966WKB.
A Queensland Police spokesman said Sikorsky, who has tattoos around his neck, ‘may able to assist with their active inquiries into the case’.
Teenager Larissa Beilby (pictured) has been missing from Brisbane’s north since June 15
The badly decomposed body of a teenage girl was found in the back of this black utility truck
Detectives’ hunt for the teenager took them to a house in Buccan, south of Brisbane at 1.30pm on Wednesday. A body was later found on the back of a ute in Stapylton
Larissa (pictured) lost her mother at a young age. The teenager had been in her final year of high school when she vanished
Members of the public have been warned not to approach Sikorsky, who may be armed.
‘At this stage we believe he may present a risk to the public… we have information that he has access to firearms,’ Logan Detective Acting Inspector Scott Furlong said on Thursday.
Sikorsky’s father told The Courier-Mail his son was a ‘decent person’.
It is understood detectives know the identity of the victim, but are yet to release a name.
Before the body was found, a Facebook post by Larissa’s sister Deanna, 20, showed a picture of the missing teenager.
Pictured: The housing estate at Stapylton, south of Brisbane, where a body was found in a barrel on the back of an abandoned ute
Police tape is seen at the house in Buccan, south of Brisbane, on Thursday morning
‘She hasn’t been on social media for a week which is very weird for her, no-one has seen her since 15th of June,’ she captioned the photo.
When she stopped using social media three days later, alarm bells started to ring.
The manhunt for Sikorsky began when police attended a home in Buccan, south of Brisbane, at around 1.30pm on Wednesday. They were looking for Larissa.
A man, who police believe was Sikorsky, fled the home in black ute, before detectives tracked it the Stapylton gated community, where it was dumped.
A woman who lives at the estate said an armed and heavily-tattooed ‘big white dude’ offered her $2,000 to let him inside her home – before she saw a ‘dead arm’ hanging from the back of his ute.
THE DESPERATE SEARCH FOR MISSING SCHOOLGIRL LARISSA BEILBY: A TIMELINE
Larissa Beilby (pictured) has been missing since June 15. Police found a body, which has not yet been identified, in the back of a truck on Wednesday
June 15: Larissa Beilby is last seen at a home in Sandgate in Brisbane’s north.
June 27 – 1.30pm: The desperate search for the 16-year-old leads police to a house in Buccan, south of Brisbane.
As detectives arrive, a man escapes through the back door and speeds away in a black truck.
Dashcam footage captured the black truck swerving through traffic on the M1 motorway before turning down the Stapylton exit
Approximately 2pm: The vehicle is tracked 15km east to a gated community in Stapylton, where police found it abandoned, the tray covered by tarpaulin.
A resident of the estate said the driver threatened her with a shotgun and offered her $2,000 to be let into her home.
Police discovered a barrel containing what is thought to be the body of a teenage girl – but it has not been identified.
6.30pm: Police issue a statement saying they believe the man driving the black ute switched cars and fled in a silver Holden Commodore sedan.
June 28: Detectives release a photo of Zlatko Sikorsky, who they believe is behind the wheel of the Commodore.
Larissa’s sister Deanna comments at 9am: ‘We have not been told anything.’
JUNE 29: Police close in on the reported location of Zlatko Sikorsky after a reported sighting