Bid to bring Ellie home
Family seeks slain Tassie woman’s body
THE family of slain woman Ellie Price is raising money to fly her body home to Tasmania, amid fresh pleas for her boyfriend Ricardo Barbaro to hand himself in.
Mr Barbardo remained on the run last night after his girlfriend was found murdered in her South Melbourne apartment on May 4.
Police believe Ms Price’s body may have been at the home for up to a week.
Ms Price’s cousin Rebecca Lehner, has started a GoFundMe page to raise $3000 to repatriate her body to Tasmania where she was raised.
“Ellie was my cousin and a loving mother to her fouryear-old son, who now faces growing up without her, although his loving family will ensure he knows just how much his mum loved and adored him,’’ she wrote.
Ms Lehner also detailed the family heartbreak at Ms Price’s “terrible and tragic” death.
“Ellie was living in Melbourne pursuing her dreams but her heart was in Tasmania with her friends and family,’’ Ms Lehner wrote.
“This is a terrible and tragic event that should never have happened and now here I am trying to raise funds to ensure my cousin makes her way back home and is laid to rest surrounded by the people who love her.’’
Prior to her death, Ms Price allegedly told her mother that
Mr Barbaro had bashed her, leaving her in hospital.
A nationwide manhunt for Mr Barbaro – whose extended family include mafia, gangsters, and an outlaw bikie member – was launched last week and he remained on the run last night.
The 33-year-old had been released from prison weeks before becoming a fugitive.
A Barbaro family member told News Corp Australia yesterday that his nephew should stop running. “Hand yourself in,’’ his uncle, Frank Barbaro, said.
“Why would you hide?’’ Mr Barbaro said his nephew’s actions were also hurting the family name, declaring that none of his relatives would give him refuge.
‘’No, he would have to do it alone,’’ he said. ‘’No one would shelter him after something like that.’’
He said his brother, Joe Barbaro, was ‘’worried sick’’.