It was a week that left Ballina on edge.

Human remains were recovered from the Richmond River in the early afternoon, with Fawcett Park busy nearby at lunchtime.

Days later, a mud-covered vehicle was hauled from the river and placed in the park as investigators examined it.

Ballina residents are still waiting for clear answers about what it all means.

Local woman Cicily Spiers was last seen in Ballina on October 18 last year.

Police did not issue their first public appeal for information until December 29.

At the time, Ms Spiers’ mother Carmen Watson said the delay had been her decision as senior next of kin.

She said she wanted to shield Ms Spiers’ teenage daughter from publicity during the school term and the lead-up to Christmas.

That explanation addressed part of the timeline.

But it did not end the questions.

On February 16, human remains were discovered on the banks of the Richmond River after a fisherman spotted them and alerted authorities.

The discovery was not part of any formal police search.

Three days later, police divers recovered a vehicle from the river that appeared to match the silver Honda CR-V Ms Spiers was believed to be driving.

The sequence of events immediately led to speculation that the remains may belong to the missing Ballina woman.

Weeks later, that speculation remains unresolved.

Police have not publicly confirmed whether the remains belong to Ms Spiers.

For many locals, the frustration is no longer only about what happened.

It is about how long each stage of the case appears to take.

The first debate centred on when the public was asked to help search for Ms Spiers.

The second involved questions about early discoveries near the river.

Main Image, the vehicle pulled from the river on February 19 and above, an image of Cicily Spiers’ Honda CRV released by police in late December, some two months after she was first reported missing.

The third is the continuing wait for forensic confirmation after remains were found and a vehicle linked to the case was pulled from the water.

People understand that forensic testing must be done carefully.

But in a regional community, long periods without clear information can begin to feel unsettling.

It also raises an uncomfortable question: if human remains had been found in a Sydney harbourside park, or if a car had been pulled from Sydney Harbour, would the answers still be taking this long?

Retired detective Damian Loone has vast experience in such matters and said at the time the results would normally be confirmed quickly.

So why hasn’t that happened?

From the very start, questions were being asked about the way police handled this case, including the adequacy of their early searches of the Richmond River after Ms Spiers disappeared.

In those circumstances, many residents believe authorities should be doing everything possible to keep the public informed.

If there is a reason why the state’s forensic unit is taking so long, the public deserves to know.

There are already strong concerns in the Ballina community about police staffing levels and the level of service the region receives.

Unexplained delays in a high-profile case such as this do little to build public confidence.