Police in South Australia have arrested and charged a 34-year-old woman from Latvia in the alleged murder of an 83-year-old Adelaide area resident.

Angelika Gavare, a resident of the Christies Downs suburb of Adelaide, appeared Feb. 26 before the Adelaide Magistrates Court, according to Australian media reports. She is charged in the murder of pensioner Vonne McGlynn, who went missing in December from her home in the nearby suburb of Reynella.

Human remains were discovered Feb. 23 in the Christies Creek Reserve in Christies Downs, a South Australia Police spokesperson said. Two days later, police found a plastic bag containing a human torso.

“Police are still awaiting positive confirmation of the identity of the remains and it is expected that DNA results may be delivered soon,” the police spokesperson said. “However, preliminary identification of the remains indicates that they are those of the missing person Vonne McGlynn.”

Details of the charges against Gavare are still emerging. Although she apparently has lived in the area for about two years, she was not known in the local Latvian community, said Valdis Tomanis, Latvia’s honorary consul in Adelaide.

McGlynn was reported missing from her home on Dec. 2. Police on Dec. 29 declared her disappearance a major crime.

Detectives in the Major Crime unit are seeking information from members of the public who may have seen a person pushing a pram in early December in or near Christies Creek Reserve or on Scottsglade Street in Christies Downs. Anyone with further information is asked to telephone BankSA Crime
Stoppers on 1800 333 000.