Tiahleigh Palmer’s foster father Rick Thorburn has been charged with the murder of the 12-year-old schoolgirl, after he and his wife Julene were arrested by homicide detectives today, police say.
Thorburn arrived at Logan police station in handcuffs just before 11:30am.
His wife Julene Thorburn arrived at the police station separately a short time later.
A short time ago, Detective Inspector Damien Hansen emerged from the police station to tell the media Thorburn would be charged with murder.
He is being transported to the Beenleigh Police Station watch house.
Earlier today, homicide detectives arrested four people in connection with the murder investigation.
“A woman aged 54, as well as three men aged 19, 20 and 56 were taken into custody by officers attached to Operation North Mizzen — a joint Homicide and Logan District investigation,” a police statement said.
“All four are known to each other and were located at various addresses in Logan.”
The ABC understands the two younger men also arrested are related to the Thorburns.
The arrests came shortly after police confirmed Tiahleigh’s foster father was the former owner of a car seized by police last week.
The 12-year-old’s body was found on the banks of the Pimpama River last November, almost a week after she vanished.
A week ago, detectives seized a 2009 blue-coloured Ford XR6 sedan they believed was linked to Tiahleigh’s murder.
Police said last week the car’s current owner was not considered a suspect.
Top Comments
Does anyone know which NGO was managing the foster parents?
Ugh the whole foster family was involved it seems. Tragic. I hope she didn't suffer long poor girl.
I know there are truly amazing foster families out there, but at the other end of the spectrum, some people go into it for entirely the wrong reasons. Authorities need to be more vigilant about prior checks and checks during fostering.
A high school friend of mine back in the 1990s lived in foster care - in a male foster carer's home - with another teenage foster boy.
One day while the man was out, my friend and the other foster boy found a stash of unlabelled video tapes which they decided to check. It was full of images and footage of very young naked children. Needless to say they got the hell out of there and called the police. Sadly we lost touch after high school, and I heard he ended up taking his life a few years later. Goodness only knows what his young childhood had been like, or what he'd experienced in previous foster homes.