Woman charged over alleged fatal beating of daughter 30 years ago

A woman has been charged over the alleged fatal beating of her two-year-old daughter in the New South Wales Central West nearly 30 years ago.

A police investigation started in 2019 after they were tipped off that two-year-old Tillie Craig was allegedly fatally assaulted by her mother, Ellen Craig, at a rural property at Porters Retreat, near Oberon, in 1987.

Detective Superintendent Danny Doherty claimed the property was a "headquarters for the Ministry of God cult" and Tillie and her mother were residing there.

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Doherty said Craig returned to New Zealand without her daughter, sparking concerns for Tillie's biological father.

Craig allegedly told Tillie's biological father she had been given away.

He then spent more than three decades searching for Tillie.

Police searched the Porters Retreat property in November 2021, when police divers found the remains of a barrel but no human remains, Doherty said.

The 70-year-old cult leader, Alexander Wilon, was arrested at the rural property and charged as an accessory to the alleged murder of Tillie. He remains before the courts.

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New Zealand police arrested 59-year-old Craig at a home in Palmerston North City after NSW Police issued an arrest warrant.

Craig has been in custody as police sought to extradite her back to NSW.

She was extradited from New Zealand earlier today and taken to Surry Hills Police Station.

She has been charged with an outstanding warrant for murder.

Craig was refused bail to appear at Central Local Court on Friday.