Man arrested in relation to Meagher disappearance

Updated

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Man arrested over disappearance of Jill Meagher (ABC News)

Victorian Homicide Squad Missing Persons Unit detectives have arrested a man in relation to the disappearance of ABC worker Jill Meagher.

A 41-year-old Coburg man was arrested this afternoon and is currently in custody assisting police with their enquiries at St Kilda Road station. No charges have been laid.

Coburg is a suburb just north of Brunswick, where Ms Meagher was last seen in the early hours of Saturday morning after a night out with work mates.

She had declined an offer for a lift home from a colleague, saying she could make the five-minute walk from Bar Etiquette to her home alone.

On Wednesday police released CCTV footage showing Ms Meagher walking along Sydney Road, just south of Hope Street, at 1:41am (AEST) on Saturday.

Six other people can also be seen in the footage, including a man wearing a blue hooded jumper who can be seen several times in the footage before he is shown speaking to Ms Meagher.

Police had been particularly interested in talking to the man and had called for others in the footage to come forward.

Earlier today Dan Gregson came forward after he identified himself as one of the other people seen in the CCTV footage.

Mr Gregson told police he did not recall seeing Ms Meagher or the man in the blue hoodie, but he urged others shown in the footage to come forward.

Handbag planted?

Police had been examining Ms Meagher's bank accounts and phone records but said they had not been used since she disappeared.

On Monday a passer by found her handbag in an alley off Hope Street, not far from where she was last seen.

But on Tuesday police said the bag had not been seen during an earlier police search and they were investigating whether the bag was planted by someone involved in her disappearance.

Later on Tuesday police conducted several searches of the apartment Ms Meagher shares with her husband Tom and took a number of items away in sealed brown paper bags.

Tom Meagher made several appeals over the weekend for information on his wife's whereabouts and said he was going through "hell".

"Just hope, just hope that somebody saw or heard something or she just walks through the door," he said.

Ms Meagher is an Irish national who has been living in Australia for the past three years.

Earlier this week, her brother Michael flew to Melbourne to support Mr Meagher during the search.

Police have boosted their presence in Brunswick amid rising concerns from local residents in the wake of Ms Meagher's disappearance.

Mr Gregson, who lives not far from Sydney Road, said it just seemed like a normal Friday night when Ms Meagher disappeared, with plenty of people heading to and from the local bars.

But he said the disappearance of Ms Meagher had rattled locals.

"Pretty horrible, pretty difficult watching the footage. That may have been the last time that someone saw her and it's at that point you start wracking your brain, did I miss anything, did I hear anything?" he said.

Anybody with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Map: Disappearance of Jill Meagher

Topics: missing-person, law-crime-and-justice, brunswick-3056, vic

First posted