Man arrested for murder of mom who was found in Australian forest far from daughter's remains

Police say they have arrested a man for the murder of a woman whose skeletal remains were found in an Australian forest 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) from where her daughter's body was discovered dumped in a suitcase.

The arrest on Wednesday comes a week after police identified the remains of Karlie Jade Pearce-Stevenson and her 2-year-old daughter Khandalyce Pearce. The breakthrough came seven years after police say the pair were murdered at different times and in different locations.

A police statement said the 41-year-old suspect was arrested at the Cessnock Police Station, north of Sydney, on Wednesday afternoon and would appear in nearby Maitland Local Court on Thursday charged with the mother's murder.

Police say the investigation into her daughter's murder is continuing.