A man accused of murdering missing teen Isla Bell has fronted court after human remains were found at a Dandenong rubbish tip.
St Kilda East man Marat Ganiev, 53, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday charged with the 19-year-old’s murder.
Ms Bell was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick on October 4.
Human remains, which are yet to be formally identified, were found at the waste management facility on Tuesday evening.
Missing Persons Squad detectives raided homes in Bentleigh East and Mulgrave on Tuesday and arrested three men.
Ganiev, wearing a black T-shirt, sat slumped in the court dock as he looked around the room on Wednesday morning.
He has been charged with Ms Bell’s murder in St Kilda East on October 7, about three days after she was last seen, court documents reveal.
Ganiev had been prescribed methadone but his lawyer said he had not received the medication for two days.
Magistrate Justin Foster remanded Ganiev in custody and ordered he be seen by a prison nurse.
He will return to court in March.
A 57-year-old Hampton man has been charged with assisting the alleged murderer and will appear in court on Wednesday afternoon, while a 63-year-old Mulgrave man has been released pending further inquiries.
Ms Bell’s family have been notified of the discovery and police say they will be provided support services.
Her mother Justine Spokes paid tribute to her “beloved daughter” in statements to the media on Wednesday.
“Cherished forever and suffering no more,” she told The Age newspaper.
“I am so sorry I could not protect you, that your experience of the world was cruel and unsafe.”
Ms Spokes had previously made emotional pleas for information about her daughter’s whereabouts.
“My girl is missing and dearly missed,” she wrote on Facebook on October 15.
“She leaves an impression, she’s hard to forget. She has a fighting spirit, sometimes it’s loud and sometimes it’s soft, always enduring.
“We’re here for you bub. I love you my care bear.”
There had been no activity on Ms Bell’s bank or social media accounts and her phone had not pinged to any telecommunication towers.
