On Friday morning, NSW homicide detectives confirmed the worst. Michelle Leng seen in CCTV footage in Pitt Street earlier on the day in April 2016 that she was detained by her uncle, later to be murdered. Credit:NSW Police Ms Leng had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and her body dumped more than 100 kilometres away in the Snapper Point blowhole, on the NSW Central Coast. "We had a positive identification of the female today and we have informed family," Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin, who is leading the investigation, told reporters on Friday. Ms Leng, who is from Chengdu, China, had lived in Australia for five years and graduated from UTS two years ago.

She had been studying a translation course in Sydney and living with her aunt and cousin in Campsie. Michelle Leng, whose naked body was found floating in the Snapper Point blowhole. Credit:Facebook Her brother and mother, who live in China, were grappling with the news, Chief Inspector Jubelin said. "I don't think 'devastated' properly describes it. It's very difficult and even more traumatic for her family that they are so far away at this time." Police look for evidence after Michelle Leng's body was found at the blowhole at Snapper Point in the Central Coast. Credit:Marina Neil

Police released CCTV footage on Friday showing Ms Leng walking along Pitt Street about 3pm last Thursday. She then caught a train from St James railway station, arriving at Campsie station about 4.30pm. The computer-generated image of Michelle Leng that was released by police when they were seeking to identify her body. Credit:NSW Police I don't think devastated properly describes it. It's very difficult and even more traumatic for her family that are so far away at this time. Detective Chief Inspector Gary Jubelin But she never returned to her Campsie home. Her phone and social media accounts have not been active since late Thursday night.

"We know she was communicating with friends up until the late hours of Thursday evening," Detective Inspector Jubelin said. "So obviously it's from that period to the discovery of her body that's the time period we are interested in." Computer image released On Wednesday morning, the NSW Homicide Squad released a computer generated image of a young Asian woman whose body, three days earlier, had been found naked, floating face down in the blowhole. She had no jewellery, no personal items and no tattoos, and remained unidentified for three days.

The image and accompanying description - an Asian woman, aged 20-35, about 170 centimetres tall, with a medium build and shoulder-length dark hair - bore an unnerving resemblance to that of Ms Leng. Savvy social media users seized upon the two separate reports, joining the dots across the English language and Chinese language internet spheres. By Thursday afternoon, NSW Police had all but confirmed the connection and were awaiting final DNA results. On Thursday morning, Ms Leng's family revealed that detectives had begun gathering evidence for a DNA comparison. "Yesterday, New South Wales Police took away her toothbrush, collected hair and other personal items to do DNA comparison. Today the police took away Michelle's computer to find more effective clues," her family told an Australia-based Chinese-language news site. The quote has been translated.

Final moments mapped With one element of the mystery now resolved, homicide detectives have turned their focus to how Ms Leng's body came to be dumped more than 100 kilometres from Sydney's CBD. Chief Inspector Jubelin said detectives had thoroughly canvassed the area, including gathering CCTV footage from the surrounding Lake Munmorah State Conservation Area and were "mapping out her final moments". Police divers had recovered "certain items from the water" near where her body was found, but police would not publicly divulge what they were, or whether the murder weapon was recovered. He said there was "no clear or concise motive at this stage" and would not comment on speculation that Ms Leng had been communicating with a boyfriend or partner before she died.

The blowhole is about five kilometres from the entrance of the Lake Munmorah national park, which has a camping ground, and is accessible by a number of dirt roadways which are open between 5.30am and 6pm each day. "The post-mortem has come back with some results. We're working on a number of theories. Certainly by the condition of her body, we don't anticipate her body was in the water very long," Chief Inspector Jubelin said. When she failed to make contact over the Anzac Day long weekend, her family filed a missing persons report with the NSW Police on Monday. They told detectives her disappearance was very out of character.

"From all the information we've gathered in relation to the young lady, she was very responsible, would always stay in contact with her family, let them know where she was going, so there were concerns when she disappeared," Chief Inspector Jubelin said. Ms Leng's friends left messages on her Instagram page, imploring her to make contact and return safely. By Thursday afternoon, pre-empting the inevitable confirmation of her death by police, the messages changed from concern to grief. Hundreds of "RIP" messages flooded in beneath her final Instagram post - a photo of St Mary's Cathedral taken from within Sydney's Hyde Park, posted last Tuesday. With Philip Wen