Meaghan Louise Rose was just 25 when she tragically lost her life. For nearly 30 years, the truth behind her loss was unknown.
Found at the base of the Point Cartwright Cliffs on Queensland's Sunshine Coast on July 18, 1997, her death was ruled a suicide.
Meaghan had only just moved to Queensland, originally from Victoria, with a man named Keith Lees, who was more than 20 years her senior.
She was a dedicated disability and aged care nursing assistant.
Despite the initial suicide ruling, investigators reopened the case in 2009 and a $500,000 reward for information was announced in June 2023.
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In their new investigation, Queensland detectives travelled to Victoria and spoke to Lees, before his car was found abandoned the following day, prompting a major land and air search.
He allegedly gave a false name to other officers at Port Fairy, before being picked up on CCTV buying new clothes in Geelong and was last sighted at Shepparton train station. He was finally arrested in Dural in NSW on Thursday, January 2.
Since then, NSW Police have charged Lees with murder, also alleging he spent about 18 months evading an arrest warrant by using a fake identity.
He is alleged to have used fake documentation including a driver's licence, pensioner concession card, bank card and bank accounts.
Lees was allegedly receiving government welfare payments and subsidised housing under the alias, court documents revealed.
Keith Lees was arrested on January 2 and has since been extradited to Queensland. Image: AAP.
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