It was a wintry Thursday night when the police alert reached the news desk: model and mum-of-twoShereen Kumar had vanished from herSydneyhome.
According to the press release, Shereen, 43, had last been seen leaving her Dural property about 24 hours earlier - around 9pm on Wednesday, July 20, 2022 - wearing only pyjamas and a dressing gown.
Her boyfriend Vincent Carlino, 39, claimed she had left the property on foot and did not take her phone.
He insisted that he'd looked everywhere he could for her - and just couldn't find her. But the words didn't sound right coming out of his mouth.
I should know - he spoke them to me, as a journalist seeking more information on the crime, hours after police launched a massive search for Shereen.
That chilling conversation will haunt me forever.
Shereen Kumar, 42, is pictured with Vincent Carlino, 39. She was the director of Mad Dogs & Englishmen in Chatswood, while he was the franchisee of the company's Hornsby chain
Unusual 'disappearance'
Shereen was a strikingly beautiful mother of two young children who was a model and the director of a dog walking chain, Mad Dogs & Englishmen.
She was divorced from her ex-husband and in a new relationship with Carlino, who was also a franchisee for the same company.
It sounded bizarre for someone to march out into a cold, dark winter life, without her phone, car, or - at the very least - a torch and not return.
In Dural, an affluent semi-rural suburb on the city's northwestern outskirts, sprawling houses sit on acreages, far from neighbours.
The landscape is pitch black at night and public transport is limited.
When I called Carlino's mobile number, seeking more information, he was cold and defensive, and only expressed his worries for Shereen as an afterthought.
Shereen, a beloved mother of two, was a part-time model and businesswoman
Pictured: The Dural property where Shereen was killed in July 2022
'Yeah, I am at the police station right now,' Carlino said.
'I have told the police all of the places I think she could be!'
Me: 'So she left the house at 9pm in her pyjamas and you have not seen her since?'
Carlino: 'Yeah, she didn't take her phone or the van.'
Me: 'That is very concerning. You must be worried.'
Carlino: 'Yeah. I'm extremely worried.'
The conversation ended with me telling Carlino to reach out if anything further came to mind that may help with the public appeal to find her.
Unsurprisingly, he never did.
Just two days later, Carlino was arrested and charged with murder after detectives found Shereen's body in nearby bushland, wrapped in plastic.
While legal issues prevented media from disclosing Carlino's previous criminal record at the time, it can now be revealed he had a history of violence against women.
Carlino (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia he was 'extremely worried' about his partner. In reality, he had murdered her hours earlier and dumped her body in bushland
'One step above the devil'
Last month, Carlino pleaded guilty to murdering Shereen on the night he claimed she disappeared.
The court heard the pair had been in a tumultuous on-again off-again relationship for 17 months.
According to agreed facts, the couple been arguing on WhatsApp in the weeks preceding Shereen's death, with Carlino describing himself as a 'manipulative a**hole that doesn’t deserve love or cannot give love'.
During one of their arguments, he told Shereen that he was 'just one step above the devil'.
On the day she died, the pair fought about dog walking and their relationship.
Shereen attended an online video therapy session that afternoon, with her therapist later telling police she appeared distracted and concerned.
It was the last time she was seen alive by someone other than Carlino.
Carlino later bombarded her with 123 calls in 42 minutes. Sometime between 7.19pm and 9.38pm that evening, he killed her at her home by hitting, then choking her.
He then shoved her body in his work van and dumped her in nearby bushland, wrapped in plastic.
He then attempted to hide her by covering her with branches.
Carlino then called police the next morning and claimed Shereen had left the house to go for a walk in her pyjamas to 'get fresh air', but had never returned.
Detectives discovered hours into the investigation that Shereen had been living in fear.
He also claimed he had searched for her after she went missing, but the route he provided did not match his phone's location data.
That was the discrepancy which led detectives to Shereen's body.
Carlino has been in custody since his arrest. He is due to be sentenced on December 9 and could face life in prison.
Devastated friends and loved ones gathered in Kenthurst Park, in Sydney's north-west, (pictured) on July 24, 2022 for a candlelit vigil in honour of Shereen
Friend Erica Wadlow-Smith (pictured at the vigil) recalled her fond memories with Shereen as she described the mother-of-two's 'wide smile, enthusiasm and can-do attitude'
Mind-games then murder
As Carlino awaits his fate in court, Shereen continues to be remembered as a strong woman, loving mother, and great friend by her heartbroken loved ones.
Friend Erika Wadlow-Smith described Shereen as a 'stunning, intelligent creature' with the best laugh in the world.
'She would throw her head back, and it would just fall out of her,' Ms Wadlow-Smith told the Sydney Morning Herald last month.
Ms Wadlow-Smith said she was baffled as to why Shereen chose to date Carlino, but believes he took advantage of her kind-hearted nature and playing mind-games with her.
Ms Wadlow-Smith said politicians need to do more to combat coercive control, an insidious form of domestic violence.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, as of 2024,23 per cent of Australian women (2.3 million) and 14 per cent of men (1.3 million) have experienced emotional abuse by a current or previous partner.
'I really want people to know is, don’t think domestic violence only happens to weak or easily led, vulnerable women,' Ms Wadlow-Smith said.
'Because Shereen Kumar was astute and intelligent. She was nobody’s fool.'
Shereen's ex-husband Gurpreet Beehan described her as a devoted and adoring mother to their two children.
He vowed to ensure she would get justice.
'She was an incredible mother to our kids and she will be missed forever,' Mr Beehan previously told Daily Mail Australia.
'This crime has left us all devastated.
'No one can replace a mother.'
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