Two years ago, John Wallace Edwards fronted a wall of cameras to launch a tearful appeal about his missing wife.
"We had plans for the future," he said while embracing his sons outside Grafton Police Station on the NSW North Coast in 2015.
"It is really out of character, really out of character for Sharon to disappear like this."
On Tuesday evening, the 61-year-old was sitting in a cell in a Queensland watch house with detectives alleging he was the reason for Mrs Edwards' disappearance.
Mr Edwards was arrested at his new girlfriend's home in Redcliffe in south-east Queensland after a lengthy homicide investigation.
Detectives expect to charge the former school teacher with murder and extradite him back to NSW on Wednesday.
It was a major breakthrough in the two-year-old missing persons mystery that has rattled the regional NSW town of Grafton.
Mrs Edwards, a primary school teacher at Coutts Crossing Public School, was last seen after leaving the Good Intent Hotel at 10.30pm on March 14, 2015.
The 55-year-old grandmother made it back to her home on Riverdale Court, where police found her car and clothing a few days later.
Detectives allege Mrs Edwards and Mr Edwards had an argument before she died.
"We are satisfied that an altercation has taken place that has led to the death of Mrs Edwards," Coffs Clarence Local Area Command Detective Inspector Darren Jameson said.
"And that is the reason why that arrest warrant has been issued."
Her phone data was traced hours later, in the morning of March 15, to the Lawrence area, about half an hour's drive from Grafton.
John Edwards to be extradited from Queensland over the murder of his wife Sharon Edwards. @RobertOvadia's report on 7 News at 6pm. pic.twitter.com/VXgfVq2nri
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) June 20, 2017
That area is home to the couple's other property, where they brought up their three sons.
The property has been searched extensively over the past two years. However, police returned with a crime scene warrant on Tuesday in the hope of uncovering further evidence, including Mrs Edwards' body.
Detective Jameson said recovering Mrs Edwards' remains was "still unresolved for us".
"We would desperately like to see some conclusion for the family and the recovery of Sharon's remains is at the top of that list," he said.
Detective Jameson said he expected the search at Lawrence to stretch into Wednesday.
"This will be an extremely thorough, painstaking process as we would see this as one of our last opportunities," he said.
Mr Edwards has long been pinned as a suspect in his wife's disappearance but denied any involvement.
It is understood the pair had separated before Mrs Edwards disappeared and were living separately most of the time.
Mrs Edwards was reported missing on Tuesday March 17, 2016, a day after she failed to turn up to class at Coutts Crossing Public School.
Less than a month later, after intense police attention, Mr Edwards fronted his local police station with an admission.
He had got rid of four guns, including a shortened rifle and pump action shotgun, because he thought officers were going to search his house again.
According to facts tendered in court, Mr Edwards was paranoid that the police had bugged his house with cameras.
When Mr Edwards saw some police cars on the road and thought his house was going to be searched again, he bundled up his guns and "threw them all around the place".
"I've driven around, just tossed them off the side of the road," he told police.
After turning up at the police station, Mr Edwards pointed officers to one gun in the back of his son's car and another on a riverbank behind an ice-cream factory.
Fairfax Media understands a school-issued laptop was also found by police divers as they searched a waterway for Mr Edwards' firearms.
Mr Edwards pleaded guilty to possessing unregistered firearms and was sentenced to 12 months' jail with a non-parole period of three months.
It is expected Mr Edwards will front Brisbane Magistrates Court on Wednesday when detectives will seek his extradition to NSW.