The prison inmate accused of murdering a Melbourne teenager 20 years ago will appear in court as a search for her remains in dense bushland continues.
Police are intensifying their probe into the disappearance of Prudence Bird, who vanished in 1992 and is now believed to have been killed and dumped in East Gippsland.
A search crew, assisted by cadaver dogs, completed a day of searching and digging on Tuesday near Flat Rock Creek and the Monaro Highway, not far from the NSW-Victoria border.
Detective-Inspector John Potter, head of Victoria's homicide squad, said the search was a bit problematic because of wet weather, but officers remain hopeful they will find the 13-year-old girl's remains buried somewhere at the site in the coming days.
"We'll be starting again tomorrow," he said.
"We hope for the best on the second day."
While Prue's disappearance remained a cold case file for nearly 20 years, detectives achieved a major breakthrough last week when they charged a 42-year-old man with her murder.
Leslie Camilleri is expected to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday to face the murder charge.
A court has heard police believe the motive for her disappearance and presumed murder dates back over several years.
Police have previously probed links between the girl's disappearance and Melbourne's 1986 Russell street bombing, which killed a police officer and injured 21 others.
Prue's step-grandfather, Paul Hetzel, was a key prosecution witness and detectives have previously examined one theory that she was kidnapped and killed as payback for his testimony.
But police have not commented on what led to the murder charge and on what alleged connections, if any, Camilleri may have with those associated with the Russell Street case.
Prue was last seen through the rear window of a car as it sped off from her Glenroy home in northern Melbourne.
The site of the current police search for her remains, about 380km east of Melbourne, has been the scene of gruesome discoveries before.
In 1997, the bodies of schoolgirls Lauren Barry and Nichole Collins were found nearby.
Both girls were kidnapped in Bega, NSW, and driven across the border to the isolated region where they were repeatedly raped and killed.
Two men were convicted of the killings.
Det Insp Potter said police are hoping to find witnesses who are familiar with the removal of telephone poles and lines in the area in the early 1990s.
He also called on witnesses who have information on Prue's disappearance to finally spill the story.
"There are people that know what happened to Prue and they can help us, and they know they can help us, and they know who they are and it's time now to come forward," he said.
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