Updated at 5.14pm

The sister of a missing woman whose remains police believe they found on Saturday says she “can hardly bear the tragedy” of the news.    

Noemi Farrugia spent years campaigning to find out what happened to her sister Charlene after she mysteriously disappeared 11 years ago. 

On Saturday, John Paul Charles Woods, 39, led police to the Valletta site where human remains he claims belong to Charlene were hidden following her disappearance back in November 2008.  

Mr Woods reportedly spoke about the missing person case while being held in detention at Mount Carmel Hospital after he was arrested following a botched hold-up attempt last week.

Mr Woods will serve seven years in prison for that crime and is currently being investigated as a murder suspect. 

On Monday, sources told Times of Malta police investigators believe Charlene was murdered in her own apartment, with the killer then hiding her body in Valletta. 

'Too painful for me'

Contacted on Monday, Charlene’s sister Noemi told Times of Malta it was just too soon to speak out about the ordeal. 

“I can't give any interviews as it’s too painful for me. I can hardly bear the tragedy myself right now,” she said.  

Writing on Facebook, Ms Farrugia thanked all those who had reached out to her and her family after news of the discovery over the weekend.  

“My family and I want to show our appreciation for all those who reached out and expressed solidarity, and offered help and prayers in these difficult times we are going through,” she wrote on her social media account. 

Ms Farrugia gave a special thank you to her parish priest Daniel Cardona and to police investigators who are looking into the matter.  

Forensic investigators are now working to confirm that the human remains Mr Woods led police to are those of Charlene Farrugia. 

Charlene Farrugia was last seen in Valletta in November 2008

Charlene, who lived in Qawra, was last seen wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and white jogging shoes. She was driving a Toyota Platz at the time.

Her car was recorded entering Valletta on CCTV around the capital, but it never appeared to leave.

Police had issued several public appeals urging anyone to come forward with information about her disappearance, but Ms Farrugia was never found.

'We were inseparable'

In an interview back in 2010, Noemi had told Style on Sunday magazine that she and Charlene, a former a carer at residential home Dar tal-Providenza, had been inseparable.  

Noemi, right, and her sister were inseparable. Photo: Style on Sunday.

“We were always together. We did everything together, I loved her truly and still do; she is my younger sister and I was always very protective of her.”

[attach id=743641 size="large" align="left" type="image"]Noemi, right, and her sister were inseparable. Photo: Style on Sunday. [/attach]

A criminal boyfriend

In the interview, which was distributed with The Sunday Times of Malta, Ms Farrugia said her and Charlene had drifted apart when her younger sister had started dating a man with a long criminal record.

“My parents and I felt that he wasn’t trustworthy but Charlene couldn’t accept this. She left my parents’ home and moved in with him,” she had told the magazine. 

Ms Farrugia also recounts how her sister had once ended up in hospital after getting into a heated argument with this unnamed boyfriend.  

From that incident on, contact between Charlene and her parents became sporadic. 

A few days before her disappearance, Charlene’s car was taken by the police but she managed to get it back. It was the last time that she was seen.