The death of Jill Meagher has been confirmed. ABC posted this message today: “On behalf of Local Radio Victoria, we are deeply saddened and pained by the tragic news of the death of our friend and colleague Jill Meagher.”

The message continues:

“Our thoughts go out to Jill’s family and friends, so devastated by the passing of this wonderful young woman. Jill was a much loved member of the Local Radio family. She was witty, intelligent and great company. Her friends and workmates at the ABC will miss her greatly…”

Just yesterday, Job Faine spoke to Linda Mottram about his colleague, and how difficult it has been to report on her disappearance.

“You come to work everyday and you walk past someone’s desk and they’re not there….It’s been very hard…But we’ve got to do our job.”

“It’s hard. It’s what all of us in the media do, talking about these sort of cases all the time [but] it’s so different when it’s someone you know and work with, when you’re experiencing it almost simultaneously from both sides. You try and cover it with professional distance, while at the same time you’re emotionally engaged,” Faine told Mottram.

Faine said ABC Melbourne staff found it “deeply distressing” when people speculate about what happened, “even at some stages making thing up, pushing various theories with little evidence and substance.”

“You come to work everyday and you walk past someone’s desk and they’re not there….It’s been very hard…But we’ve got to do our job, we’ve still got to provide programs, and we desperately hope along with Jill’s family, that somehow there’s a happy ending to this. And soon,” said Faine.