Sinister schoolgirl killer Les Camilleri, who is of Maltese descent, has emerged as prime suspect in one of Melbourne’s most haunting cold case murders, the Australian Daily Telegraph reported.

Camilleri is under scrutiny over the baffling 1992 disappearance of Prue Bird, 13, who disappeared five years before the murders of Bega schoolgirls Lauren Barry, 14, and Nichole Collins, 16, in October, 1997.

Camilleri is serving two life sentences after he and his accomplice Lindsay Beckett abducted the girls at Bega, then raped and murdered them by a creek in eastern Victoria.

Investigators have been trying to piece together the movements of Camilleri at the time Ms Bird went missing.

She was last seen alive preparing lunch in the kitchen of her mother’s house on 2 February, 1992.

A family friend who had been packing boxes in a garage returned to find the front door open and the television on.

Earlier this year, police publicly appealed for anyone who knew Camilleri’s whereabouts or could place him in Melbourne in the 1990s to come forward but did not specify why.

A $500,000 reward is in place for anyone able to help find Ms Bird’s killer.

Victoria Police would not comment on any link between Camilleri and the Bird case last night.

“The investigation into the murder of Prue Bird remains unsolved and police urge any person with information in relation to the homicide to contact Crime Stoppers,” a police spokesman said.

Victorian Supreme Court Judge Frank Vincent in 1999 sentenced Camilleri to become one of a small number of Victorian prisoners to be given life in jail with no minimum term.

“Through your own acts, you have forfeited your right to ever walk among us again,” Justice Vincent said.

Camilleri, 39, is serving his term in Victoria’s most secure jail, Barwon Prison near Geelong.

Beckett was sentenced to life in jail with a minimum of 35 years before he can be considered for parole.