“At this point in time we have not located Allecha’s body and that is our sole objective,” Wagga Crime Manager Detective Inspector Darren Cloake said.

Police charged Anthony Shane Hagan, 19, on Tuesday night with Ms Boyd’s murder after he was arrested that day at a Gurwood Street address about 5.20pm. The Wagga man’s case was mentioned in court on Wednesday. 

“We will allege that he was involved in Allecha’s disappearance and subsequent murder,” Detective Inspector Cloake said.

Police allege Hagan murdered the 27-year-old at Coolamon between 2pm and 11.59pm on Thursday, August 10, the day she was last seen alive.

In addition to the murder charge, Hagan was charged with possessing an unauthorised prohibited firearm, possessing ammunition without a permit, not keeping a prohibited firearm safe and breach of bail.

He was remanded in custody to reappear in court on January 24.

“This is very much an ongoing investigation. There is still a number of inquiries to be made and more people to speak with,” Detective Inspector Cloake said.

Hagan’s arrest at a house on Gurwood Street also saw a number of items seized.

“We did locate a sawn-off .22 rifle. Certainly the rifle had been modified to the point where it looked more like a pistol,” Detective Inspector Cloake said.

Police refused to say whether the firearm is linked to the disappearance of Ms Boyd or the murder charge.

The news was relayed to Ms Boyd’s family via a teleconference call hours before the charges were made public.

“If we had located Allecha it probably would have brought them a little bit closer to knowing the full extent of what’s taken place, but unfortunately for us at this point we were unable to do that,” Detective Inspector Cloake said.

A Facebook page for family and friends was overwhelmed with tributes and an outpouring of grief as news of the development filtered through.

“They’re holding up. They’re a strong family,” Detective Inspector Cloake said.

Police are once again appealing for the public’s help in finding Ms Boyd.

“It’s still the case that we believe that there are members of the public that do have information in respect to Allecha’s disappearance and the circumstances relating to her death,” Detective Inspector Cloake said.

“We call upon those to come forward and contact our local detectives, or go through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”