Nearly eight years after Nadire Sensoy vanished from her western Sydney home, police say suspected human remains have been found in a shallow grave at Seven Hills.
The discovery came on Thursday as investigators searched an area off Powers Road, about 100 metres from a creek bed. The remains are yet to be formally identified by the coroner, but police believe they are those of Ms Sensoy, who was 71 when she disappeared from Prospect in December 2018.
It is the kind of break cold-case families wait for and dread in equal measure. A search area becomes an excavation site. A missing person case becomes something heavier, more final. For Ms Sensoy’s family, police said the find brought some comfort, but also the blunt pain of being dragged back through the worst days of their lives.
Superintendent Darrin Batchelor said a 50-year-old man remains before the courts, with police alleging the murder was domestic violence-related. The case had already wound its way through years of public appeals, a $350,000 reward and a coronial inquest, which was suspended in 2023 after the arrest of Ms Sensoy’s son, Selim Sensoy.
Police allege Ms Sensoy was murdered somewhere in the Blacktown area between December 6 and December 11, 2018. Her body was not found at the time, leaving the case suspended in that grim space between grief and uncertainty.
Investigators have not closed the file. Police say the remains will now be examined by the coroner, the cause of death is still to be determined, and further charges may follow depending on what that process finds.
The reward for information remains in place. Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.