The family of a missing teenager whose ‘decomposed’ body was found in a muddy creek had to take out a restraining order to protect themselves as her life fell apart in the days before she vanished.
A body believed to be that of 18-year-old Merna Kasha was found about 2pm on Saturday afternoon in the Green Valley Creek in Canley Heights – a month after she mysteriously disappeared.
Ms Kasha vanished on April 28 but police believe she communicated with family for several days after she was last seen.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal Ms Kasha had been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, destroying property, stalking and breaching an AVO and fronted court over the matters just two days before she went missing.
The 18-year-old had no criminal history until March 2022, but in the six weeks prior to her disappearance she fronted up to court on seven occasions as her life spiralled out of control.
In that period, Ms Kasha was also hit with apprehended violence orders against two people – including a close relative – and charged with drug possession.
She was convicted over the matters and sentenced to a seven month community corrections order.
Her matters last appeared in court on May 11, where she was convicted in absence for drug possession.
Ms Kasha was ordered not to be anywhere near the relative’s home and told she must undertake drug and alcohol counselling as part of her community corrections order.
The teenager’s distressed parents were comforted by loved ones as detectives sifted through her belongings at the family home in Fairfield on Monday afternoon.
‘They’re devastated. Their baby is dead, how do you go on after that?’ one family friend, who did not want to be named, said as she left the home.
‘We’re all mourning. What has happened with Merna is a tragedy.’
Police are still working to piece together her final days as they investigate how she came to be found in the muddy, isolated creek on Saturday afternoon.
Detectives wearing blue gloves and holding huge binders left her family home about 1.45pm as investigations into Ms Kasha’s death continue.
Several brown paper bags of evidence were removed from the scene as distraught relatives watched on.
Family and friends arrived at the home on Monday afternoon, many bringing dishes and bags brimming with supplies.
Police were simultaneously scouring the creek where Ms Kasha’s body was found. Specialist divers spent the morning in the muddy waters looking for clues.
A police source said the police was ‘pretty decomposed’ after an extended period in the elements.
‘The body was found in a creek after some pretty harsh weather conditions,’ the source said.
‘It’s a really sad situation.’
Neighbours told Daily Mail Australia their quiet dead end street was overrun by police on Saturday as the creek became the centre of the investigation into Ms Kasha’s disappearance.
‘It was chaos, but I knew nothing,’ one resident, Mr Tai, said. ‘My wife heard the commotion but we didn’t know it was a body, we thought a house must be on fire.’
Mr Tai was shocked to learn – via a group of young tradesmen working next door – that a body had been discovered in the creek behind his house.
‘It’s so shallow down there. All mud and rubbish like trolleys. It goes to dirt in no rain,’ he said.
But significant rainfall in recent weeks has helped to fill the creek, and police divers were required at the scene on Monday morning to aid in the investigation.
Police made a last ditch appeal for information into Ms Kasha’s disappearance just last week. It’s unclear if new information came to light on the back of that appeal that led to this development.
Ms Kasha was last seen when a family member dropped her off on Kihilla St in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield Heights around 8pm on Thursday, April 28.
Her family was informed the discovery was likely the teenager. The body was found at the end of a dead end street and on the opposite side of a walking track that follows the water’s edge.
It is lined by dense bush and trees which significantly reduce visibility.