Still Missing Australia - Samah Baker, 30, Parramatta NSW, 4 Jan 2019 *arrest*

[Bohemian]

Detectives have conducted a forensic search in bushland about 16km south-west of Goulburn as part of the investigation into the suspicious disappearance of a Western Sydney woman.

Samah Baker, aged 30, was last seen after she was dropped off at her Early Street, Parramatta, home by a friend in the early hours of Friday 4 January 2019.

NSW Police Force

They must be on to something if they’re doing a site-specific search. I hope Samah’s family and friends have some answers soon.

 

[Morrisa]

Mysterious clues found in bushland 200km away

Yesterday the search took a sinister turn when detectives from Strike Force Boutcher — a team of investigators from Parramatta Police and the NSW Homicide Squad — found several objects in scrub in the NSW Southern Highlands.

 

[Abbstar007]

I don't know if it's because I'm in Melbourne but this case has only just seemed to be getting media coverage? She has been missing since January...

 

[Bohemian]

I don't know if it's because I'm in Melbourne but this case has only just seemed to be getting media coverage? She has been missing since January...

I’m in Sydney and Samah’s misper case seems only to have been getting any real traction here in MSM this week. I gathered from some of the older reports that it was believed she may have gone missing voluntarily as she was thought to be on the Gold Coast and her FB had been updated. Something must have happened recently that has brought more urgency to her case. Maybe agitation by her family and/or follow-up investigations by police which have raised grave concerns for her welfare.

 

[iulia]

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw...sydney-woman-samah-baker-20190309-p512wj.html

Following the bushland search, detectives arrested a 32-year-old man at a shopping centre in Hurstville at 10.30am on Friday.

He was charged with murder and refused bail to appear at Parramatta Bail Court via video link on Saturday.

 

[drsleuth]

Man, 32, is charged with murder of missing woman Samah Baker, 30, two months after she disappeared - but police still haven't found her body

A 32-year-old man was arrested at a shopping centre in Hurstville, in Sydney's south, about 10.30am on Friday morning.

He was taken to Kogarah Police Station, where he was later charged with murder.

It is understood the accused and Ms Baker knew one another.

The man was refused bail and will appear at Parramatta Bail Court via video link on Saturday.

RIP Samah..........the 13th women murdered this year

 

[Joolz1975]

Hi I'm from the UK and quite new to Websleuths but have just seen this case mentioned as have family and friends in Australia.

Is the guy under arrest the same guy on CCTV does anybody know?

 

[sleepinoz]

James Hatcham was arrested at a shopping centre in Hurstville about 10.30am yesterday

Missing Sydney woman's alleged murderer to front bail court

 

[IminSyd]

Oh I hope they find her body, sounds like she was super close with her mum, must be awful for her family not to know where she is.

 

[Bohemian]

Hi I'm from the UK and quite new to Websleuths but have just seen this case mentioned as have family and friends in Australia.

Is the guy under arrest the same guy on CCTV does anybody know?

I don’t know but it will probably be reported in MSM in the next couple of days if it is.

 

[Joolz1975]

I don’t know but it will probably be reported in MSM in the next couple of days if it is.

Ok thank you.

Will keep watching.

 

[IminSyd]

Hi I'm from the UK and quite new to Websleuths but have just seen this case mentioned as have family and friends in Australia.

Is the guy under arrest the same guy on CCTV does anybody know?

I don’t think they have named the “friend” in the lift. To me there are physical similarities between the man arrested and the “friend” in the lift but it may well be completely coincidental. MOO

 

[Joolz1975]

I don’t think they have named the “friend” in the lift. To me there are physical similarities between the man arrested and the “friend” in the lift. MOO

Yes I was just looking and there are definite similarities!

We have a missing persons case in the UK at the moment that is baffling (well actually we have 3 high profile ones all young women).

Each one is strange in its own way.

 

[Bohemian]

I don’t think they have named the “friend” in the lift. To me there are physical similarities between the man arrested and the “friend” in the lift but it may well be completely coincidental. MOO

I thought so too but, like you, wondered if it may be coincidental. It wouldn’t be the first time the last person to see someone alive was their alleged murderer.

 

[sleepinoz]

James Hatcham was arrested at a shopping centre in Hurstville about 10.30am yesterday

Missing Sydney woman's alleged murderer to front bail court

Since posting this article they have changed the spelling of his name.

James Hachem was arrested at a shopping centre in Hurstville about 10.30am yesterday.

 

[Via Marple]

Sydney Morning Herald: Man charged with murder of missing Sydney woman Samah Baker. https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/man-charged-with-murder-of-missing-sydney-woman-samah-baker-20190309-p512wj.html

The man accused of murdering Parramatta woman Samah Baker has been "cooperating" with police and is likely to apply for bail when the case returns to court, his defence lawyer has revealed.

James Hachem, 32, has been described by police as an "acquaintance" of Ms Baker. CCTV captured the pair in an elevator together at the Vibe Hotel in North Sydney, two days before the 30-year-old vanished.

The developments came as police appealed for information about a 2014 silver Mitsubishi Lancer sedan that may lead to the recovery of Ms Baker's body.

So it is the same guy in the lift with her. He must have been questioned by police since they had obtained that cctv. I wonder what other evidence police have, to lead to the arrest.

 

[Bohemian]

Sydney Morning Herald: Man charged with murder of missing Sydney woman Samah Baker.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/man-charged-with-murder-of-missing-sydney-woman-samah-baker-20190309-p512wj.html

So it is the same guy in the lift with her. He must have been questioned by police since they had obtained that cctv. I wonder what other evidence police have, to lead to the arrest.

Well, they know something to be searching around Goulburn. For example, police must suspect Samah (or her remains) and, perhaps, Hachem were at the French VC rest stop not long before, or after, her death:

‘Detectives have also appealed for anybody who was driving on the Hume Highway near the French VC rest stop between 9pm and midnight on January 4 to come forward.

Officers are particularly interested in those who possess dash-cam footage of their route.’
Missing Sydney woman's alleged murderer to front bail court

 

[Bohemian]

‘Any information about a 2014 model silver Mitsubishi Lancer sedan, possibly seen in Early Street, Parramatta between 1:00am and 4:00am on the day Ms Baker went missing, could be crucial, police said.

"Police are very keen for anyone from the public to come forward with information about this silver Mitsubishi Lancer because we want to bring Samah home to her family," Superintendent Julie Boon said.

"Police believe a person of interest was in the Lancer and it is related to the disappearance of Samah."’
Man charged over the alleged murder of missing Western Sydney woman Samah Baker - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

 

[Morrisa]

On again, off again boyfriend according to nine news.
Again and again.

 

[Bohemian]

On again, off again boyfriend according to nine news.
Again and again.

Shocking. So tired of this outcome.