An MP has revealed that teenager Isla Bell took to social media to discuss violence against women before she was allegedly murdered herself.
Ms Bell was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick, Melbourne, about 6pm on October 4, just days before her 20th birthday.
Her remains were found at a Dandenong landfill on Tuesday evening and two men are in custody on suspicion of her alleged murder.
On Thursday, Victorian MP Georgie Purcell revealed Ms Bell had been a passionate advocate for ending violence against women.
“I didn’t know Isla personally, but I did see her get engaged on my own Instagram page,” Ms Purcell said.
‘She joked and offered solidarity. And she also liked my posts about ending femicide and attending the national rallies against violence.
“But the reality is that women are devastated when this happens, but we are not shocked.”
Ms Purcell, who represents the Animal Justice Party in the Victorian Parliament, added: “Isla turned 20 in the time she went missing.”
Isla Bell (pictured) was last seen leaving her home in Brunswick, Melbourne, about 6pm on October 4, just days before her 20th birthday.
On Thursday, Victorian MP Georgie Purcell (pictured) revealed Ms Bell had been a passionate advocate for ending violence against women
“She had a family trip planned to the Great Barrier Reef – and she was so excited,” she wrote.
“I want to say more about the person I was told was a friend, a daughter, an aunt – but that really shouldn’t matter.”
On Wednesday, Marat Ganiev, 53, from St Kilda, appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court charged with Ms Bell’s murder.
His co-defendant, Eyal Yaffe, 57, of Hampton, is charged with assisting an offender in murder.
Daily Mail Australia revealed police will allege the 19-year-old texted her friend just hours before her alleged murder, expressing her happiness at finding the man of her dreams.
In a Snapchat message sent on October 7, Ms Bell, who last left her Brunswick home in Melbourne three days earlier on October 4, told her friend she had “found the best sugar daddy”, the release said. court documents.
Ms. Bell told her friend that this “sugar daddy” had showered her with gifts and “saved her from sex traffickers.”
She is said to have been with Ganiev just two days earlier – a day after her frantic mother reported Mrs Bell missing to police.
Ms Purcell, who represents the Animal Justice Party in the Victorian Parliament, posted the post on Instagram
Marat Ganiev, 53, from St Kilda appeared in the Melbourne District Court on Wednesday charged with the murder of Isla Bell
Eyal Yaffe (pictured) is accused of helping the man who allegedly killed Isla Bell to cover up his alleged crime
Police allege Ganiev killed Ms Bell just after midnight on October 7. Why he would have done that remains a mystery for now.
Her remains were found six weeks later on November 19 at a tip in Dandenong and have yet to be formally identified.
On Wednesday, Ms Bell’s heartbroken mother, Justine Spokes, issued a heartbreaking statement in memory of her daughter as Ganiev appeared in court.
“I am so very sorry, my dear daughter,” she said.
‘I couldn’t protect you from your complex diseases and this cruel world.
“I was so proud of your choices this year, of your strength to persevere despite your suffering.
“All you ever wanted was to create life, to create and cherish it, to love and be loved.
‘We were so looking forward to being reunited as a family; my heart aches and I can’t bear to think that won’t happen.’
She said her daughter was “the gentlest soul, the kindest person and free-spirited.”
“I will connect with you in my mind, my care bear, and no one can take that connection away from us,” she added.
During the six weeks Ms Bell was missing, lampposts and walls across Melbourne were plastered with missing persons posters calling on her to come home.
Her mother told The Age that she had “the deepest empathy for all life forms.”
“An extraordinarily beautiful soul, it is an unspeakable agony to know that despite my daughter’s love for the world, I felt the depth and breadth of its cruelty,” Mrs. Spokes said.
“I have two beloved daughters, one in the flesh and one in the spirit, both living in my heart and always walking by my side.”