The sister of Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy, whose body was found dumped in a suitcase, has said that prior to the "unthinkable event" her family had never seen her so happy.
The 32-year-old's body was found in her parked car in Kingsford, in the city's east, on Tuesday night.
She had been stabbed multiple times.
Her ex-boyfriend, Harsh Narde, was suspected of murdering her before killing himself in a fiery car crash on Monday, near Tamworth.
He was reportedly seen on CCTV getting into Dr Reddy's car on Sunday outside the Swissotel on Market Street in Sydney's CBD.
Police said Dr Reddy stayed in a hotel with "a man known to her" on Saturday night.
Dr Reddy's sister, Nithya Reddy, said in a statement that her family was heartbroken and still trying to understand her final movements.
"Words cannot capture the pain we are feeling with the passing of my beautiful big sister," she said.
"While we now know that Preethi is no longer with us, the certainty of her movements on Saturday night and Sunday morning are not yet fully known, and we will stay in touch with detectives as they work it all out."
Ms Reddy said her sister had been "living her best life".
"She had been the happiest I'd ever seen her," she said.
Dr Reddy's parents and current boyfriend were enduring the toughest time of their lives, she said.
The family reported her missing on Sunday after she failed to return home.
She had spoken to them about 11:00am that day.
On Saturday, she took part in a dental conference at Hotel Urbane in St Leonard's that Dr Narde also attended.
She was last seen on CCTV footage at a McDonald's in the CBD at 2:15am on Sunday buying two bottles of water.
Police interviewed Dr Narde as part of their missing persons investigation before his death.
Police said Dr Narde hit a truck head-on on the New England Highway near Willow Tree on Monday night after swerving into the opposite lane of traffic.
