Homicide Squad detectives have arrested and charged a man with the murder of Jodie Fesus 16 years ago. FOR 15 years the children of murdered teenage mother Jodie Fesus had been living and sharing their lives with her alleged killer. Too young to remember their mother, who disappeared in 1997, Kimberley and Dylan Fesus were in court yesterday as their father Steven was charged with murdering his young bride and dumping her body in a shallow grave. The 42-year-old security guard from Lake Illawarra was arrested at a hotel in The Rocks in Sydney on Monday night - a week after daughter Kimberley, now 18, made a public appeal for fresh information about her mother's suspected murder. Fesus and his wife Jodie had only recently returned from their honeymoon when she was reported missing from their home at Mt Warrigal, near Wollongong, in August 1997. About a month later her partially buried body, still clad in a nightdress, was unearthed at Seven Mile Beach near Gerroa, south of Kiama, after an anonymous caller directed police to her remains. But according to court documents, police now believe Fesus killed the young mother between 8.40pm and 11pm on the night before authorities were first alerted. Fesus has repeatedly denied killing his wife, who he described as the "love of my life" shortly after her body was found, and a 2005 coronial inquest into the death failed to uncover who committed the murder. He wasn't brought up from the cells at Central Local Court yesterday and didn't make an application for bail or enter a plea to the murder charge. Police last week said they were using new forensic procedures to re-examine evidence collected in the case and they were still trying to track down the unidentified person who tipped off investigators in 1997. Kimberley said she was left with only a few treasured possessions of the mother she can't remember as she made an emotional plea for justice.. I want someone to be held accountable for my mother's death," she said. Yesterday Detective Chief Inspector Pamela Young, from the unsolved homicide squad, said investigators were glad to "finally" be able to bring the case to court - although it had been a very difficult period for the victim's family. "They are definitely in shock, some mixed emotions, but there's some pleasure in some resolution for them," Insp Young said. Kimberley and Dylan Fesus left the court side by side surrounded by police without making any comment. Kimberley will be 18 this week, the same age as Jodie. Fesus's friends reacted with disbelief to news of his arrest, with several placing messages of support on his Facebook page. His young daughter from another relationship posted: "All I want are thing (sic) to go back to normal. And I want my Daddy, I miss him lots. Fesus is due to reappear in Wollongong Local Court in September.