But to a few people, and possibly even more, a small chunk of bushland just a few metres off the bitumen near Owens Gap has held a horrifically dark and sinister secret.

For 678 days, it is where the body of mother-of-two Carly McBride lay after being murdered and dumped, most probably on the same day she was reported to be last seen nearly 50 kilometres away at Muswellbrook.

The Belmont woman, 31, had vanished on a day she had planned to visit one of her children, setting off a heartbreaking search and prompted harrowing pleas from her desperate family.

Strike Force Karabi detectives suspected foul play almost immediately, and as the weeks turned into months their gut instincts got stronger as Carly’s relative’s hopes faded.

But it was not before a mysterious tip-off did they get the big break which led them to this nondescript area outside of Scone where Carly’s skeletal remains were discovered.

The origin of the tip-off, and much of the evidence at the crime scene including how she was found, has remained “under wraps” as the Hunter Valley detectives work towards bringing her killer to justice.

In fact, it took police four days to announce the massive breakthrough as experts spent days painstakingly gathering evidence at the scene.

The only hint at where the investigation was heading – and has remained a common thread throughout the hunt – was that Carly’s disappearance was not some impulsive abduction.

“We don’t believe that this was a random act so we are looking into her past and as many people as we can find,’’ Hunter Valley local area commander Superintendent Guy Guiana told reporters on Thursday.

And when asked about suspects, the senior cop replied that it was “too fresh” to speculate on individuals before adding: “We believe that somebody that knew Carly has some information for us and we want that person or persons to come forward.’’

Sunday’s discovery was a heartbreaking end of hope for Carly’s parents, Steve McBride and Lorraine Williams, who have fought through private trepidation and nerves to thrust themselves into the public spotlight in a desperate bid to find out what happened to their daughter.

“I have got to say it is a fantastic result so far, and something I didn’t expect to be honest,’’ Mr McBride told Fairfax Media.

“After two years I thought it could have gone on forever.’’

A highly-emotional Mrs Williams told Fairfax Media that the next step was to bring the killer to justice.

“It was so important that her daughters had a place where they could go and pay their respects, and there was a place where she could rest in peace,’’ Mrs Williams said.

“We wanted Carly home for her babies – at least we will have that now.

“But we obviously need to find out who did this to my baby.’’

Carly had left Newcastle on the morning of September 30, 2014 with her new boyfriend Sayle Newson to head to Muswellbrook to see one of her children at an ex-partner’s house.

Mr Newson told Fairfax Media a few weeks after Carly’s disappearance that he had dropped her off at the Calgaroo Avenue house about 12.30pm and had only returned at 4pm when calls and messages to her phone were not returned.

He said he was told his girlfriend had left and not returned and her phone had continued to ring until about noon the following day.

"I believe she is dead, but I need the truth," Mr Newson told Fairfax Media about six weeks after she went missing.

Detectives were also told by Carly’s ex-partner that she had left the Calgaroo Avenue home about 2pm on her way to a nearby McDonalds.

The house was searched and nothing found to suggest a hint of foul play.

They believe she was last seen on Calgaroo Avenue, but she never got to McDonalds, and have worked on that theory ever since.

There were suggestions of further witnesses, and police conducted large air, land and water searches near the Ironbark Creek, not far from where she was last seen.

They were not to know that she had been taken almost 50km north and dumped.

“We have put a lot of work into this in the past two years, the team here is pretty keen to solve this for Carly’s family and we have got so much new evidence now that it is going to take a lot of work but we are well into it,’’ Superintendent Guiana told reporters on Thursday.

“We don’t believe that this was a random act so we are looking into her past and as many people as we can find,’’ he said outside Scone police station.

But he stopped short of identifying any suspects in the case as “it is all too fresh”.

“It has taken us two years to get this breakthrough and we have a fairly vast volume of fresh evidence that we need to evaluate and until we have done that in a thorough fashion,’’ he said.

Superintendent Guiana later added: “A range of new evidence we have taken from the scene that will certainly strengthen the investigation.

“...we have put a lot of work into this in the past two years, the team here is pretty keen to solve this for Carly’s family and we have got so much new evidence now that it is going to take a lot of work but we are well into it.’’

Mr McBride was also confident that the discovery was a huge kick-along for the investigation, and a massive blow to those who killed “our beautiful Carly”.

“Obviously the police have not been twiddling their thumbs,’’ he said.

“They have been just so great and we will never be able to thank them enough.

“The ball appears to be rolling fairly quickly now.’’

And that could be a reason why senior police were reluctant to be expansive about the breakthrough.

When asked specifically about the fresh information, Superintendent Guiana replied: “Once again, we received a tip-off and attended a location and start our investigation from there.’’

It is understood forensic pathologists have made a preliminary finding into the cause of Carly’s death, but officer-in-charge Detective Sergeant Ian Wright would not be drawn on what it could be.

Detective Sergeant Wright said the evidence taken from the Bunnan Road scene would be crucial as they continue the hunt for the killer.

That was backed up by Superintendent Guiana, who reported “a range of new evidence we have taken from the scene that will certainly strengthen the investigation’’.

Detective Sergeant Wright said police werewere still awaiting information from the US Department of Justice in relation to Carly’s Facebook account, which was suspiciously deleted in the 48 hours before the reporting of her disappearance.

Fairfax Media revealed a year ago that investigators had turned to American authorities to help them access information about the social media account, and who may have shut it down.

Strike Force Karabi detectives still wish to speak with anyone who may have been corresponding with Carly on Facebook, or any other medium, to contact police.

But as police zero in on their hunt, Carly’s mother was to start preparing some “cultural healing’’ to help with the grief.

“We need to say goodbye, and we will now be able to say goodbye,’’ Mrs Williams said.

“That is what I have been waiting for the last 23 months for.

“Every single second she has been away I have been hurting, her babies have been hurting.’’

As they begin planning that goodbye, Superintendent Guiana vowed: “Carly has two young children, four and eight years old, they are going to want to know what happened to mum, and obviously her parents and all the people who knew her as well.

Information can be forwarded to Strike Force Karabi investigators on 6542 6999 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

The Herald, Newcastle