More than 13 years after a vibrant and "fiercely free-spirited" young woman disappeared without a trace, a coroner has concluded she was killed by her controlling lover.

Leisl Smith, 23, was last seen alive on CCTV getting into a white ute at Tuggerah railway station on the NSW Central Coast in August 2012.

The vehicle belonged to her accused killer, James Church, who was charged with her murder and faced trial 10 years later.

But the trial verdict has been sealed after Church died by suicide on the eve of it being delivered in the NSW Supreme Court in July 2022.

Smith's family finally received answers to painful questions about the fate of the vibrant 23-year-old on Monday as inquest findings were handed down.

Coroner Harriet Grahame determined Smith had been killed by Church before

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