A married couple has been charged with murdering young mother Amber Haigh, who disappeared from regional New South Wales 20 years ago and whose body has never been found.
The couple, Robert Samuel Geeves and Anne Margaret Geeves, both aged 61, were arrested at a property at Harden, in Central West NSW, this morning.
This afternoon they were both charged with the murder of 19-year-old Ms Haigh who, along with her six-month-old son, had been living with the couple at their home in Kingsvale, near Young, when she disappeared in June 2002.
Robert Geeves is also facing an additional charge of aggravated sexual assault of a victim with a serious intellectual disability.
The couple reported Ms Haigh as missing on June 19, 2002, after she failed to return from a supposed trip to Sydney.
At the time, the couple told police they dropped off Ms Haigh at Campbelltown train station in Sydney earlier that month.
A 2011 inquest found Ms Haigh likely died by murder or misadventure soon after she was last seen.
The Geeves are expected to face the Cowra Local Court on Thursday.
Ms Haigh's case was reviewed by the Homicide Squad in 2020.
Speaking to the media earlier today, Homicide Squad Commander Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty said inquiries were "still going on at the police station".
"Forensic testing is going to take place and they will be expected to be charged with murder today and bail refused," he said.
"Police will allege in the facts Amber met her demise in the Harden-Young area and never made it to Sydney.
Reward increased to $1m last week
Last week the reward for information about Ms Haigh's disappearance was increased from $100,000 to $1 million.
Detective Superintendent Doherty said the award was still on offer.
He said investigators spoke to Ms Haigh's mother, Rosalind Wright, today.
"She obviously held hope out that one day she'd have some answers," Detective Superintendent Doherty said.
'She would have never left her son'
In a video released by NSW Police last week, a visibly distraught Ms Wright described her daughter as a warm and happy person.
"Amber loved her son and I know in my heart she would have never left her son," Ms Wright said.
"I feel like I've lost part of myself when Amber went missing, not knowing where she is or what happened to her."
In the same video, Ms Haigh's sister, Melissa Millar-Hodder, said she also felt incomplete not knowing what had happened.
"Her son never got to grow up with a caring, loving mum," Ms Millar-Hodder said.
Police said they seized a car at Thurgoona, near Albury on the NSW-Victoria border, last week.
'Shock-waves' after loss
Chris Manchester was the mayor of the former Harden Shire Council when police first began investigating Ms Haigh's disappearance.
He said Ms Haigh was a "lovely person".
"You've only got to turn on the news every morning and something drastic is happening around Sydney and Melbourne, but the feeling in the community doesn't extend as great as what it does in a rural community, where people know them more personally."
