Man charged with murdering his mother as police desperately search for her body

The relationship between a man and the woman he allegedly killed has been revealed by investigators.

Police have charged a man with murdering his mother after tracking him down to an isolated patch of bushland on the NSW South Coast just four days after the woman went missing from her home in northwestern Sydney.

On Tuesday, officers from Paramatta Police Area Command were told a 58-year-old woman had not returned home after leaving to go meet a relative in Winston Hills about 4.50pm on Monday.

That woman has since been identified as 58-year-old Sandra Popovic.

Police revealed on Friday afternoon she had been going to meet her estranged son, Ante Popovic, 33, at the John Curtain Reserve near Dodson Crescent.

Sandra Popovic, 58, did not return home after going to meet a relative in Winston Hills about 4.50pm on Monday. Picture: Supplied

Her son Ante Ivan Popovic has since been charged with murder. Picture: Supplied
Loved ones who went out to look for the woman eventually located her vehicle on Dodson Crescent in Winston Hills, but the driver was nowhere to be found.

Speaking to reporters in front of Parramatta Police Station on Friday afternoon, Superintendent Barry Vincent said Mr Popovic and his mother had been discussing money issues in heated text exchanges prior to the meet-up.

“We have alleged they were meeting there to talk about borrowing some money, but then ultimately we don’t know whether that exchange occurred … we will allege that communications directed towards our missing lady were hostile in nature prior to that meeting,” he said.

The woman’s car was found on Dodson Crescent, where police say she had organised to meet her estranged son. Picture: Google
After police were notified of the strange find, the matter was handed over to detectives attached to Strike Force Dizek.

On Thursday afternoon, detectives made their way to the Parnell Fire Trail in Tomerong, about 20km south of Nowra on the South Coast.

Superintendent Vincent said investigators believed there was “sufficient evidence” to lodge a murder charge. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard
“A search warrant was later executed at an address in Sanctuary Point. The man was taken to Nowra Police Station, where he was charged with murder,” a police spokesman said.

Mr Popovic was refused bail in court on Friday morning.

His mother’s body has not been located, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Superintendent Vincent said the family had been “really shocked” by the murder charge.

“She’s obviously a mother with a number of children. She is estranged from her son, the one that she (allegedly) met (at Winston Hills). As I understand it, she cares for her elderly parents,” he said.

“The fact that nobody has been able to contact her is significant for family and for investigators.”

The Parnell Fire Trail is a small access road southeast of Tomerong that is surrounded by heavily forested rural properties. Picture: Google
Superintendent Vincent said forensic investigators identified the woman’s phone travelling west of the Blue Mountains along with Mr Popovic’s phone shortly after she was last seen.

Mr Popovic is due to appear in Parramatta Local Court on August 13.

CRE: https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/man-charged-with-murder-200km-away-from-spot-where-woman-went-missing/news-story/837c228e1f5baef262b6235c8068ee98