The former partner of slain Sydney woman Cheryl Ardler has been charged with her murder more than six years after she disappeared, in what her family has described as a "bittersweet moment".
Ms Ardler was last seen by neighbours near her Cranebrook home in the days leading up to Christmas in 2012.
Human remains were found in nearby bushland in May 2018 and tests later confirmed they belonged to Ms Ardler.
On Friday, her 39-year-old former partner Dennis Andrew French was arrested and charged with murder at Penrith Local Court.
Police will allege French assaulted the 41-year-old before killing her and burying her in bushland in December 2012.
Ms Ardler's mother Irene said the news was a "very bittersweet moment".
Ms Ardler was last seen by neighbours near her Cranebrook home in the days leading up to Christmas in 2012. Source: AAP
"It's very hard to know that our beautiful Cheryl will never be coming home and that she was so cruelly taken from us," she said in a statement on Friday.
"Cheryl's smile could light up the room and her love for life was infectious.
"She is so loved by all of us and without her here, our family just won't be the same."
In 2016, a coroner found that Ms Ardler died sometime between December 5 and 25, 2012 and that the manner of her death was most likely to have been homicide.
A $750,000 reward was announced for information into the suspected murder in July last year, with Ms Ardler's sister Josephine pleading for help from the community to help solve the case.
Detective Superintendent Scott Cook at the time issued a warning to Ms Ardler's killer that he was "coming for you".
French was charged with her murder on Friday while facing Penrith Local Court for other offences, including aggravated sexual assault, detaining a person and an apprehended violence order against another woman.
He was denied bail and ordered to reappear at the same court on June 7 for the murder charge and May 3 for the other charges.
