Police on Friday released chilling photographs of a glittery tutu, a pink shoe and and a mottled T-shirt and shorts found inside the suitcase. The suitcase found with the body of a child at Wynarka. Credit:South Australia Police But the photographs do not necessarily mean the child was a girl, police say. Officers said they believed the child had died elsewhere and the body was left near the side of the road. Police also released images of the blue, older-style canvas suitcase with the label 'Lanza'.

Mr Bray, the officer in charge of major crime investigation branch, said an autopsy was conducted on Friday but the child's sex and age would not be known until early next week. The crime scene where a little girl's remains were found in a suitcase at Wynarka, South Australia. Credit:Murray Valley Standard "Police emphasise that while it's possible that the victim is female, the presence of female clothes should not be taken as confirmation of that, or that the clothes belonged to the child," he said. "We are hoping that someone recognises the clothes and then can help us identify the child." The mottled clothes and suitcase label found with a child's body in South Australia. Credit:South Australia Police

A DNA profile is expected to take longer due to the degradation of the remains. Drivers with dashcam vision of Karoonda Highway are urged to contact police as they may have inadvertently recorded information in their trucks and cars that may assist with the investigation. Police have released more details about the man seen walking along the road carrying a dark suitcase about 60cm long and 40cm wide, at about 8am one morning about six to eight weeks ago. He is described as being aged about 60, of Caucasian appearance, average height, lightly built, clean cut and neatly dressed. He was not known to locals. Mr Bray said on Thursday that the man was seen by some local women as he walked towards the highway, across the railway line, carrying a suitcase.

"He was carrying a dark-coloured suitcase in one hand and he was carrying it as opposed to wheeling it," he said. The man did not "engage" with them, which they found unusual in the small town. "They (the women) didn't recognise this person as a local and they haven't seen him since," he said. Calls to Crime Stoppers have revealed the man was also seen on the highway walking with a suitcase west of Wynarka heading towards Murray Bridge. Mr Bray said it was unknown how long the "considerably faded" suitcase had lain by the roadside but it is believed to have been there for up to two months.

"The importance of the suitcase and when it was on the road is critical to the investigation," he said. "There are a lot of people who travel that road, a lot of people who have dashcams in their cars, and certainly a lot of trucks with dashcam. "We would ask anybody that uses that road and has a dashcam fitted to the front of the car to make contact with Crime Stoppers if they've travelled that road as their dashcam may have images of people connected with the case or may help us to determine when that suitcase was in a particular position and when it was moved." Wynarka is about 130 kilometres from the Victorian border via Karoonda-Lameroo Road and Mallee Highway. Police said there had been 93 calls to Crime Stoppers, including five from interstate, since the child's body was found.

A number of calls were from members of the public who had concerns for the welfare of children. To date, all reports relating to concerns for children have been investigated and police are satisfied they are not connected to the case. Police said several factors made it unlikely the victim was missing NSW boy William Tyrrell. Police have established Taskforce Mallee to investigate the crime, with 15 police officers and a "significant" forensic team working on the investigation. Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at https://sa.crimestoppers.com.au.