A body and two people have been arrested in a major police operation following the shocking discovery of a human leg on a main road.
Police allege that a young driver hit an aboriginal woman and then, along with the help of an elderly woman, hid her body but left her severed leg behind a roadside.
A “dark-skinned human leg” was found Tuesday on the Stuart Highway near Coolalinga, about 29 miles southeast of Darwin.
But the driver was allegedly hit by the victim the night before.
Initial information suggests that the victim may have survived, but would have needed medical treatment as soon as possible.
However, no one with the wound had been admitted to any nearby hospital.
A 23-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman were arrested on Wednesday.
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“At 11:45 a.m. yesterday, police searched a site on Jenkins Highway in Virginia and located a dead Aboriginal woman. We believe she was the victim of the collision,” Detective Sergeant Major Paul Morrissey said Thursday. morning.
“They were partially hidden and the condition of the body was consistent with being hit by a vehicle.”
Although police believe they know who the victim is, they have not been formally identified.
It is not known if she was alive when she was moved from the scene, or how long her body was on the scene before being transferred.
An autopsy will be performed today and the 23- and 50-year-old is expected to be charged.
Sergeant Morrissey said they face charges related to driving causing death and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
“It’s very worrying. It’s one thing not to assist and report the matter, but to go further and try to hide a crime, it’s very terrible,” Sergeant Morrissey said.
He said that’s why the couple was facing “significantly more serious offenses.”
The leg was found between Virginia Road and Morgan Road on Stuart Hwy.
The freeway closed between Howard Springs and Virginia Road lights Tuesday morning and reopened in the evening.
More than 20 police cars were reportedly splashed by Stuart Hwy for about 1 km at noon when the crime scene was set.