In 2007, a 3yo girl was found abandoned at a train station. Her mother had been murdered 4 days earlier.

Content warning: This story details domestic violence and may be distressing to some readers.

It was a September day in 2007, when a three-year-old girl in a bright red jacket was spotted at Melbourne train station. 

The girl appeared distressed as she stood alone on the concourse at the Southern Cross station. 

Staff later came across the girl and notified authorities. 

But when police arrived, they were unable to identify who she is or how she got there.

With a string of unanswered questions, they gave her the nickname "Pumpkin" after the Pumpkin Patch brand of clothing she was wearing - a name that would go on to make headlines around the world.

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Earlier that morning, Pumpkin had been dropped off at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station by a man with luggage. 

Footage from security cameras at the time shows a man "coming down the escalators" at the station before "he goes around to the side of the escalator [and] gestures to the little girl to stay there," former Detective Simon Scott, who was involved in the case, told the Crimes NZ podcast. 

"He leaves her and goes out to the airport and boards a flight."

Authorities, would soon identify the man as Pumpkin's father, Nai Yin Xue, a magazine publisher from China who had lived in Auckland since 2002. 

Image: AAP.

The story quickly gained media attention, as police launched an international manhunt to find Pumpkin's father. 

Meanwhile, Pumpkin, whose real name was Qian Xun Xue, was placed into the care of a foster family in Melbourne. 

"The girl remains calm and composed," Victorian state police inspector Brad Shallies told media at the time. 

"Sometimes she spikes in emotions when she wakes up and Mum’s not there but the carers settle her back into a routine."

The discovery of Pumpkin's mother.

Two days after Pumpkin was abandoned, police visited Xue's home in Auckland, where they found his 1993 Honda Rafaga parked out the front. 

Inside the house, they found a note and a handbag with a driver's licence belonging to Pumpkin's mother, Anan Liu. 

"The note [said]... 'We have gone to Wellington to pick up my wife'," Scott told Crimes NZ.

Officers eventually looked in the boot of Xue's car two days later and found 27-year-old Liu dead inside. 

At the time, the delay in searching the car saw the police heavily criticised. 

"We had to get a search warrant for the house and a search warrant for the car that was on the road outside the address," Scott said in a media statement at the time. 

"There's a lot of work to do to ensure we preserve as much forensic evidence pertaining to the woman's death as possible."

It would later come out that Xue had killed his wife, who he had been convicted of assaulting in the past, on the evening of September 11, 2007. 

After strangling her with a necktie, Xue dumped her body in the body in the boot and fled to Australia with Pumpkin. 

Nai Yin Xue's trial.

After abandoning Pumpkin at the train station, Xue boarded a flight to New Zealand before fleeing to the US.

He was later caught in Georgia in February 2008, after group of Chinese-Americans recognised him from the TV show America's Most Wanted, and was flown back to Melbourne. 

There, he was charged with the murder of his 27-year-old wife.

In court, Xue claimed he was innocent. But an all-female jury found him guilty of murder in June 2009.

As they delivered their verdict, Xue was seen throwing his fist in the air and shouting "unfair". 

Image: Phil Walter/Getty.

Xue was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 12 years. 

He later admitted to murdering his wife while he was in jail. 

Almost 16 years on, the little girl at the train station, is now living with her maternal grandmother in China. 

"She's still living with family," said Scott. "I think she will continue to thrive in China."

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. 

Feature Image: AAP/Victoria Police.