The family of a mother-of-five who mysteriously vanished during a late-night bushwalk with her on-off boyfriend believe she is dead - as her turbulent life marred by restraining orders and domestic violence comes to light.
On Friday, her mother Lyn Wallace told Daily Mail Australia her daughter had been in a relationship with a man from Orange for three years.
Ms Wallace lived with her mother in Tottenham, about three hours' drive away.
The boyfriend would visit on Fridays, before heading home on Sundays. On the last weekend in November, he stayed in town before they went to Mount Canobolas together.
Mrs Wallace said her daughter's boyfriend was a regular visitor at the house she shared with her daughter.
'Had he gone home, I feel she would still be alive,' Mrs Wallace said.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest Ms Wallace's partner had anything to do with her disappearance.
Detectives stressed Ms Wallace's partner is not a suspect - and said he has been cooperating with investigators.
Mrs Wallace said the situation 'doesn't make sense', and can't understand why the couple decided to walk in the bush, in the dark, at 1.30am.
'Esther loved camping, but she wasn't a walker,' she said.
'I fear the worst - something went terribly wrong.'
She said her hopes that police will find her daughter alive are 'dwindling' - and described the situation as being like a 'bad dream we haven't woken up from yet'.
'I hope they find her, one way or another,' she said.