Mother, partner charged over toddler mystery

A MOTHER and her partner charged over the alleged murder and torture of a Chinchilla toddler have been remanded in custody.

Sinitta Tammy Dawita, 28, and Tane Saul Desatge, 40, were charged by police on Sunday night in relation to the disappearance of Kaydence Dawita Mills, who has been missing since 2016.

Kaydence’s biological father resides in Far North Queensland.

Magistrate Tracy Mossop excused the pair’s appearance for the initial mention in Dalby Magistrates Court yesterday afternoon.

Dawita and Desatge, who were also charged with interfering with the child’s corpse, will attend court at 9am on June 30 where a committal mention will be heard. No application for bail was lodged and they were remanded in custody.

Kaydence, then aged 2, was reported missing by her biological father in 2016, her family told News Corp yesterday.

A relative said detectives had ramped up their investigation when Kaydence’s older sister, aged 12, told a school counsellor in Mackay about her little sister’s disappearance last September.

“The rest is confidential,” the family member said.

“It all ended up coming out in the end over the next few weeks that Kaydence was gone. If nothing was said, we’d still be in the dark.

“It’s been a rollercoaster alright – up and down. Dealing with something like this has been unthinkable.”

Dawita – who has five other children – has always maintained she gave Kaydence up and did not know her whereabouts, a relative said.

News Corp understands Kaydence’s four sisters and baby brother moved to Mackay following Kaydence’s vanishing.

Those children now live in Toowoomba, a family member said.

On Sunday, officers declared a crime scene at the Chinchilla Weir.