A man has been arrested in Inverell over the disappearance of Leisl Smith, who went missing from the Central Coast in 2012.
The 48-year-old man is due to front Inverell Local Court on Friday morning charged with murder.
Leisl Smith, then aged 23, was last seen about 1pm on August 19, 2012, leaving her Wallarah home.
Concerned family members alerted police when she failed to return home and she could not be located or contacted.
Extensive searches were conducted for Leisl, however, police have been unable to locate her.
Strike Force Wehl – made up of detectives from Tuggerah Lakes Police District – was subsequently formed to investigate her disappearance.
Leisl’s car, a Honda Accord, was found abandoned at the Tuggerah Railway Station car park on September 26, 2012.
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Strike Force detectives spoke to a then 42-year-old man before searching two properties in Wallarah and Brookfield on April 4, 2013, seizing a number of items.
Further properties were searched bordering the Golden Highway at Merriwa, approximately 60km west of Scone, in the upper Hunter Valley.
The investigation has been ongoing since this time.
About 5.10pm on Thursday, detectives from Tuggerah Lakes Police District arrested a 48-year-old man on the Gwydir Highway, west of Inverell.
He was taken to Inverell Police Station where he was charged with murder.
He was refused bail and will front court on Friday morning.
