Search for missing campers on secret rendezvous continues
Friends of missing camper Russell Hill say it is unlike him to stray too far from his campsite, as the search for Mr Hill and his companion Carol Clay continues into its eighth week.
VIC News
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Friends who have gone bush with missing elderly man Russell Hill have told police he would not have strayed far from his campsite.
Mr Hill and his friend Carol Clay have been at the centre of a High Country mystery since disappearing on March 20, when they last made radio contact.
Their campsite, which had been damaged by fire, was discovered on March 21 near the Wonnangatta River in East Gippsland.
Search and rescue squad officers, local police and community members have combed the area for a total of 22 days but no trace of the pair has been found.
More searching is planned but the weather, forecast to be harsh in the next week, will determine when that goes ahead.
Investigators are keen to hear from anyone who sighted the couple in the area around the time of their disappearance.
Detective Insp Andrew Stamper of the Missing Persons Squad said the case was challenging.
“This is a real and traumatic mystery and we need all the help we can get via Crime Stoppers,” Insp Stamper said.
Detectives have been told by those who had previously camped with Mr Hill that he was unlikely to venture too far on foot from wherever he had set-up.
The 74-year-old Mr Hill, from Drouin, is an experienced and well-equipped bushman.
There is no mobile phone reception in the Wonnangatta Valley area but, in an emergency, they would have been able to get out of the area in Mr Hill’s Toyota four-wheel-drive.
Tests are still being made on Mr Hill’s radio to see whether it was operable.
Searchers have covered a vast expanse in an area north of Billabong.
They have scoured the Wonnangatta Station homestead, the surrounding plateau and stretches of the river.
Testing by arson and explosives squad investigators has not come up with a conclusive cause for the fire at their campsite.
It had incinerated a tent, a camp table and chairs and scorched the side of Mr Hill’s vehicle, which was still drivable.
Mr Hill did not tell his wife, Robyn, that he was camping with long-time friend Ms Clay, when they set off together from her Pakenham home.
Ms Clay did not explicitly tell her loved ones either, telling them she was going camping and would return no later than March 29.
Extensive searches into both of their finances, lifestyles and recent purchases has pulled up nothing suspicious.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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