Hilary Bonnell disappeared from the Esgenoopetitj First Nation on Sept. 5, 2009. Her body was found two months later in a wooded area near Tracadie-Sheila. (RCMP)

A Miramichi judged has adjourned the first-degree murder trial of Curtis Bonnell until September.

Bonnell is accused of murdering his 16-year-old cousin Hilary Bonnell from Esgenoôpetitj First Nation, also known as Burnt Church, in 2009.

Hilary Bonnell went missing on Sept. 5. 2009. She was last seen walking along Highway 11 at about 7:30 a.m.

Her body was discovered in a wooded area near Tracadie-Sheila after more than two months of searching.

Curtis Bonnell was charged with her murder that December, and has been waiting for his trial since then. The trial has been pushed back repeatedly since 2010.

At its current start date the trial will begin three years after the teen first went missing.

"It's like forever having a knot in your stomach that never goes away," said Hilary's mother, Pamela Fillier.

"Every time it comes up, you have to swallow it back down. Because you have to be strong. Because the fight's not over; she's not even buried yet."

Justice Fred Ferguson allowed the latest adjournment to give both the defence and Crown more time to prepare.

Curtis Bonnell's lawyer, Gilles Lemieux, said that the case is incredibly complex and requires the extra time.

Bonnell faced charges of unlawful confinement, sexual assault and resisting arrest involving a 17-year-old female victim prior to being charged in Hillary Bonnell's death.