Coolalinga leg found: Two people arrested after Aboriginal woman died in alleged hit and run

The body of an Aboriginal woman has been found days after a severed leg was discovered on a highway in an alleged hit and run.

Motorists discovered the lower section of a leg on Stuart Highway in Coolalinga, 30km south of Darwin, around 10.30am on Tuesday. 

The leg belongs to a ‘dark-skinned human being,’ according to police.

On Thursday, NT Police Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey confirmed a 23-year-old man and 50-year-old woman had been arrested on Wednesday evening following a collision with a car and a pedestrian on Monday night.

Just before midnight police found the body of a woman at Jenkins Road in Virginia, which police believe is the victim of the crash.  

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The body of an Aboriginal woman has been found days after a severed leg was discovered on the Stuart Highway in Coolalinga, 30km south of Darwin (pictured police at the scene)

‘It will be alleged that the 23-year-old male was a driver involved in the collision, impacting the victim,’ Mr Morrissey said.

‘We further allege the 50-year-old female has assisted him in removing the deceased to another location in an attempt to conceal the crime.’

‘They (victim) were partially concealed and the condition of the body was consistent with being struck by a vehicle.’ 

The man and woman were taken into custody with charges including driving causing death and attempting to pervert the course of justice expected to be laid later on Thursday.

Mr Morrissey said an autopsy would determine the injuries and cause of death, adding the body was found ‘a number of kilometres’ away from the site of the collision.

On Thursday, NT Police Senior Sergeant Paul Morrissey confirmed a 23-year-old man and 50-year-old woman had been arrested on Wednesday evening following a collision with a car and a pedestrian on Monday night

It’s unclear if the man and woman are related. 

‘It is very concerning. It is one thing not to render assistance and report the matter but to go further and attempt to conceal the crime is quite terrible,’ the sergeant said.

Inquiries had led police to identify a suspect vehicle which was later found at a home where the 23-year-old man was.

His car was seized and home searched before officers arrived at the home of the 50-year-old where another vehicle was taken for examination.

The remains were first discovered by a motorist after 9pm on Monday – not long after police estimated that the collision occurred.

The motorist, who did not report the leg to police at the time, relayed their shock after seeing it on the road.

‘I saw what looked to me like most of a leg and foot,’ they told the NT News. 

The unnamed individual found the limb ‘laying crossways on the road’ and saw the ‘sole of the foot and toes’.  

‘I thought for sure that I didn’t just see part of a human leg and didn’t actually believe myself until this morning, when I saw they found human remains on the highway.’

Mr Morrissey said an autopsy would determine the injuries and cause of death, adding the body was found ‘a number of kilometres’ away from the site of the collision