The family of a teenage girl found dead in bushland one year ago has spoken out about their grief and heartbreak after she was taken from them.
Emily Thompson was allegedly stabbed to death and her body dumped by her ex-boyfriend on October 22, 2022.
Ms Thompson had turned 18 two weeks beforehand and was about to graduate from Pine Rivers State High School in Strathpine, Queensland, 21km north of Brisbane.
She was allegedly killed by Aaron Mitchelson Huckel, then aged 19, hours after police said they met at a carpark. He has been charged with her murder.
Her family said Ms Thompson’s death was ‘horrendous’. ‘The reality of waking up every day knowing she was no longer with us was, and continues to be completely numbing,’ they told the Sunday Mail.
Emily Thompson (pictured) was allegedly stabbed to death and her body dumped by her ex-boyfriend on October 22, 2022
Ms Thompson had turned 18 two weeks beforehand and was about to graduate from Pine Rivers State High School in Strathpine, Queensland, 21km north of Brisbane
Following a phone call from Ms Thompson’s distressed parents, police tracked down Mitchelson Huckel to a service station 80km away in Nambour on the Sunshine Coast, before locating her body in nearby bushland the following day.
At the time of her death, the family said ‘She is not “an 18 year old woman” she is Emily. A much loved daughter, sister, grand-daughter, cousin, niece and friend. Emily was taken from the family in the worst of circumstances.’
‘Emily was a school girl about to complete year 12 exams and had her whole life ahead of her. She had bought a beautiful dress ready to attend her formal in a vintage car driven by her beloved Pa. Her friend group were preparing to celebrate the end of school and the start of their adult lives.
‘Emily was a smart, kind-hearted and loving girl. It was never about Emily, it was always about her family and friends. Her family is devastated and in shock trying to comprehend how their lives will be without their Emily.’
One year on, the family said ‘as time moves on, the numbing subsides and you are left with the raw pain of knowing you will never get to hug your daughter again, hear her laugh, or experience her experiencing new things.
‘There is a dreadful sense of loss for all the “things” that she was, but also for all the “things” that she could have been and could have done.’
The grieving family said their house now feels ’emptier than it ever has before’, that they are surrounded by friends and family that support them, but that those people have to get on with their lives.
Like many people who suffer a terrible, violent loss, they said ‘it seems incomprehensible that in the outside world nothing has really changed’.
Ms Thompson’s mother Melissa said she was excited to finish high school and start a new chapter in her life and had already booked and paid for her schoolies trip after the exams.
Aaron Mitchelson Huckel (pictured) has been charged with Emily Thompson’s murder
She had six grandparents who were all closely involved in her life, including taking her clothes shopping on her birthday, teaching her how to drive and bringing her and her brother to Gold Coast theme parks during school holidays.
The family said they would like people to ‘think of Emily often’.
‘Smile at the memory of her. We do. Cry over the loss of her. We do. Share stories with each other. We do. But, most importantly, say her name. #hernameisEmily.’
Mitchelson Huckel, who is in jail on remand, will appear in Pine Rivers Magistrates Court on November 20.