The grieving mother of a Frankston North mother-of-four whose remains are believed to have been found beside a freeway has described her as a compassionate woman who never stopped caring for others.
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Hours after a man was charged with the murder of Karen Rae, her mother, Christina Boyle, said she knew her daughter was in trouble because she would never have left her four boys without saying goodbye.
"We knew something awful must have happened, as she would never, ever leave her children like that," said Ms Boyle, who was devastated to learn at the weekend that her only child was dead.
Ms Rae, 48, went missing in April last year. On Sunday, a 49-year-old Langwarrin man was charged with murdering the single mother, after investigators found human remains in scrub alongside the Frankston Freeway in Frankston North on Saturday.
Ms Boyle said while her daughter was not perfect and had made some wrong choices at times, she was an adorable child who grew into a rebellious teenager and then a loving mother to her four boys.
Karen Rae, aged 21, with her mother, Christina Boyle. Photo: Supplied
She said that although Ms Rae did it tough as a single mother and struggled to give her own children a happy Christmas some years, she would still take a plate of Christmas food to lonely elderly people living nearby.
"I loved her sense of cheeky humour, her hearty laugh and her compassion for others, always," she said.
"She was the kind of person that would pick up an elderly person on the street and drive them home with their shopping."
Ms Rae was last seen leaving her home in Adib Court on April 15 last year at 7pm.
At the time of her disappearance, police would neither rule out foul play nor the possibility she did not want to be found.
Ms Rae's alleged killer, Tony Smith, appeared briefly in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday.
He told the court he had a heart condition and had spent the previous two nights in the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Smith was remanded in custody until Friday, when he will return to court for a filing hearing.
