\u201cMe and your brother will meet you one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is going to be so hard to live the rest of our lives without you.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Your brother) Ramsiah wants to tell you that when he sees you in heaven, he is going to give you the biggest hug ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is part of the 5-old\u2019s extended family and said: \u201cThis loss is deeply felt.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added, \u201cThis is the worst possible outcome, and no child should ever be placed in harm\u2019s way.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we need justice for this horrific crime, and those responsible must be found and held to account.\u201d<\/p>\n
NT Police on Thursday confirmed the body of the 5-year-old, who disappeared from her home in Old Timers Camp on the outskirts of Alice Springs last Saturday night, was found just 5km away about midday local time.<\/p>\n
Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley, who is leading the investigation, said the focus now was to find Jefferson Lewis who they allege abducted the little girl.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the focus right now is to locate Jefferson Lewis. It is our sole job in this investigation right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say to the family of Jefferson Lewis that we believe he has murdered this child, do not assist him, get him to the police station and we will look after him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say to Jefferson Lewis that we are coming for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole announced the tragic news in a short press conference just two hours later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an incredibly distressing development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSharon\u2019s family have been notified and our thoughts are firmly with them at this devastating time.\u201d<\/p>\n
NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole and Assistant Commissioner Peter Malley announced the tragic news on Thursday. Photo \/ Gera Kazakov, NewsWire<\/p>\n
Commissioner Dole says the little girl\u2019s death is \u201cdevastating news\u201d for her family, first responders, the Alice Springs community and all of those around Australia who have been worrying for Sharon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe support shown during this time has been overwhelming and this is the worst possible outcome,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very important that the Alice Springs community continues to support one another, and it\u2019s equally important that police be allowed to do their job.\u201d<\/p>\n
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro offered her condolences to the community, saying the focus was now on \u201ca grieving family, a grieving town and Northern Territory\u201d.<\/p>\n
She vowed to \u201cthrow every resource we have available\u201d to the police investigation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAround 200 people have worked tirelessly around the clock in searching for this beautiful little girl,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone is incredibly devastated\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said when asked if a reward would be offered that \u201ceverything is on the table\u201d and the Government would follow the advice of police.<\/p>\n
Deputy Chief Minister Gerard Maley said an autopsy would be arranged.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whilst that\u2019s happening, the police are going to work hard to catch this person, catch the offender because this is a very dark day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doyle said NT Police were \u201cnot in a position today to provide answers around the cause of [the little girl\u2019s] death or how long she may have been deceased\u201d.<\/p>\n
NT Police are hunting for Jefferson Lewis who is wanted for the murder of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby. Photo \/ NT Police<\/p>\n
Malley said the child\u2019s underwear found on Wednesday had been analysed and two DNA profiles had been located \u2013 that of Kumanjayi Little Baby and of Jefferson.<\/p>\n
Previously, NT Police had alleged 47-year-old Lewis \u2013 who they said was at the house at the time of Kumanjayi Little Baby\u2019s disappearance \u2013 may have taken the 5-year-old.<\/p>\n
Police said Lewis was seen walking out of the house \u201cwith the little girl, holding hands\u201d about 11pm on April 25.<\/p>\n
She was reported missing two hours later in the early hours of Sunday morning.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Malley said there was a social gathering taking place at the house at Old Timers Camp, where Lewis was staying at the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe Jefferson Lewis has led the little girl away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The search for the 5-year-old involved about 200 people for five days. Photo \/ Gera Kazakov, NewsWire
A search party scours the banks of the Todd River in the search for Kumanjayi Little Baby. Photo \/ Gera Kazakov, NewsWire<\/p>\n
Malley said Lewis \u2013 who they believe may have been \u201cunder the influence of alcohol\u201d at the time of the alleged abduction \u2013 had been released from prison only six days earlier.<\/p>\n
Her disappearance sparked one of the largest searches in the Northern Territory, with more than 200 volunteers on the ground alongside police, helicopters, ATVs, horses and the dog squad.<\/p>\n
Aboriginal trackers also assisted in the search, which stretched in the 20sq km radius of the Old Timers Camp, scouring through shoulder-high barrel grass and tough terrain.<\/p>\n
Malley said the search for Sharon was \u201cone of the biggest investigations we\u2019ve had going for a while\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a declared major crime and as such I have got access to all the resources of the Northern Territory Police.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sign up to Herald Premium Editor\u2019s Picks<\/a>, delivered straight to your inbox every Friday. Editor-in-Chief Murray Kirkness picks the week\u2019s best features, interviews and investigations. Sign up for Herald Premium here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMe and your brother will meet you one day. \u201cIt is going to be so hard to live…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405627,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[28848,109989,60933,74,3359,1554,8666,6794,7800,4058,4731,29940,1874,71,42,1345,5606,208410,208895,6093,21409,43,1118,384,4056,3271,55600,14042,1361,1961,40,38,41,39,158167],"class_list":["post-405626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-28848","tag-abduction","tag-aboriginal","tag-after","tag-alice","tag-alleged","tag-aware","tag-baby","tag-body","tag-contains","tag-days","tag-deceased","tag-found","tag-from","tag-headlines","tag-home","tag-images","tag-islander","tag-kumanjayi","tag-little","tag-names","tag-news","tag-of","tag-people","tag-person","tag-should","tag-springs","tag-strait","tag-that","tag-this","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-torres"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}