Nina Belomesoff clutches a scrunched-up tissue and wipes away the tears on her cheeks. It’s been just over nine weeks since her 18-year-old daughter, Nona, was found dead, and the tears won’t stop falling. “It’s very hard,” she says quietly, before Nona’s big brother Gary adds, “It brings us all to tears when we think of how much we miss her.”
This week, 20-year-old Christopher Dannevig will face court, charged with the murder of the teenager from Cecil Hills in Sydney’s south-west – he is yet to enter a plea. “We hope that justice will be served,” says Gary.
Animal-lover Nona went missing in May after arranging to meet a man who had contacted her through Facebook. He allegedly set up a false profile page, claiming to be part of animal rescue group WIRES, and invited her to go camping for an overnight training session with the promise he’d help her get a job.
“She was at TAFE doing animal studies and loved it so much,” says Gary with a sad smile. “She’d get home at the end of the day with blisters on her feet because she’d been working so hard.”
Two months after Nona’s death, the family wants to warn people about staying safe online. “You never know who’s on the other end of a computer,” says Gary. “Anyone can pretend to be someone.”
