The most callous and cruel ruse imaginable was concocted to fool the family of Karlie Pearce-Stevenson into believing she and her daughter were alive years after their deaths.

Ms Pearce-Stevenson and her daughter Khandalyce were last seen in late 2008, but until mid-2011, the people who police believe were their killers sent family members text messages from the victim’s phone.

Her identity was also brazenly stolen, along with almost $100,000 spent or withdrawn from Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s account between November 2008 and March 2012, by the same people.

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Some of the money was wired by family to Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s account. Family had received text messages from her phone sent by those acting as her, allegedly after she died.

The chilling developments came in a press conference from Detective Superintendent Des Bray of the Major Crime Investigation Branch.

“We believe that the phone was kept by the offenders and used to provide some proof of life and to mislead family, friends, law enforcement by suggesting that Karlie was still alive because of activity on her phone,” Det Supt Bray said on Tuesday.

“We know … some of the SMSs were sent to family members, again to suggest Karlie was still alive and that on at least a couple of occasions that we know of … a female falsely represented herself to be Karlie in communication with family.”

Ms Pearce-Stevenson’s remains were found in the Belanglo State Forest in New South Wales in 2010.

Her daughter Khandalyce’s remains were found near the side of a highway at Wynarka in South Australia earlier this year.

The relationship between both grizzly finds was only revealed by police last week after DNA testing.

“People we believe may be the offenders and others have taken over Karlie’s identity, her telephone, her bank accounts, her Centrelink and family payments,” Det Supt Bray said.

“In respect to what we know about the suspects involved in the financial aspects of the bank account transactions, Centrelink fraud and the use of the phone, I can say that we know that at least one offender was a male.

“There may have been more, and at least two are females.”

(Click the owl to see the time and locations where her bank account was used   )

It also emerged a woman impersonated Ms Pearce-Stevenson in a credit union branch and a Centrelink office after her death.

During the visit to the credit union, the woman arrived in a wheelchair.

“It appears that in June 2010 a woman in a wheelchair impersonating Ms Pearce-Stevenson attended Australian Central Credit Union at Elizabeth [Adelaide] to update banking records,” police said in a statement.

Then, according to Det Supt Bray, a woman showed up at Centrelink in Salisbury [Adelaide], on December 15, 2010, and posed as Ms Pearce-Stevenson, complete with identity papers.

“Detectives are investigating if it was the same woman on both occasions,” Det Supt Bray said. 

“Suspects either resided at, or are associated with or were listed in connection with, properties at Davoren Park, Hillbank, Holden Hill and Charnwood in Canberra.”

The last confirmed sighting of the woman before her death was in Canberra.

“We believe Karlie and Khandalyce were killed at different times and different locations but we can’t say any more about that at the moment,” he said.

“They were both violent and deliberate deaths.”

Police believe the mother was killed in or close to the Belanglo Forest some time around December 2008.

The circumstances around the deaths are unclear, along with when a suitcase containing clothing was dumped about two kilometres from Wynarka in South Australia.

It had not been revealed when police thought Khandalyce died.

A death notice was printed on Tuesday in the Northern Territory News for the two murder victims.

“It is clear that some of the people involved in the frauds knew without doubt that Karlie and Khandalyce were dead and continued with their role,” Det Supt Bray said.

“The focus of the financial investigation is around determining the role of the people that were involved in those frauds and to see whether they were involved before the deaths, during the deaths, or after the deaths.”

Det Supt Bray said there was no solid evidence to suggest a serial killer was responsible for the pair’s deaths, however given the brutal nature of the crimes he it was something he would “keep in the back of your mind”.

See the full press conference below:

-with ABC