Greg Lynn’s family say in statement they are ‘completely traumatised’
The family of the man accused of murdering missing campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill has spoken out about their “distress”.
Victoria
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The family of the man accused of murdering missing campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill has broken their silence.
In a statement, Greg Lynn’s family said: “It has been distressing for our family and the families of the deceased and we are completely traumatised as well by these tragic events.
“We need to deal with the legal proceedings as they arise and try to restore some balance in our lives.
“We also acknowledge the suffering of Clay and Hill families at this difficult time.”
The family called for their privacy to be “preserved” amid the strong media interest in the case.
Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn has faced court after he was charged with two counts of murder over the deaths of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
Charge sheets allege Mr Hill and Ms Clay were murdered on March 20 last year, the same day they arrived at the campsite.
Dressed in a grey jumper and wearing a surgical facial mask, Mr Lynn sat silently with hands crossed throughout the brief hearing in Sale Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
He was represented by top criminal lawyer Chris McLennan and no application was made for bail.
Mr Lynn was remanded until May 31 for a committal mention.
“There are no custody management issues,” Chris McLennan told the court.
Mr Lynn’s wife Melanie watched the virtual court hearing. Mrs Lynn had her camera switched off throughout.
Mr McLennan recently represented Eastern Freeway driver Richard Pusey.
Victoria Police will commence a search of the Great Alpine region next week.
It is understood they will need time to assemble the squad and develop an intricate plan to search the difficult terrain.
On Friday afternoon, they released images of the preliminary search area they have cordoned off in the search.
The cordoned off section of bushland is located in the state’s Great Alpine region.
Police said new information about the location of the remains was provided to them on Thursday morning.
Missing Persons squad detectives will recommence the search on Monday next week.
They will be joined by the search and rescue squad.
Missing persons squad boss Detective Andrew Stamper will lead the search.
Mr Lynn was on Thursday night charged with two counts of murder after three days of questioning followed his dramatic arrest in bush in East Gippsland.
Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill said a crime scene was established on Thursday in the Great Alpine National Park.
It is there where police are hopeful of finding the missing friends’ bodies 20 months after they vanished. Mr Hill would not say if detectives zeroed in on that area because of information gleaned while Mr Lynn was interviewed.
“We have located a specific area and we will establish a search parameter. We are hopeful we will find the remains,” he said.
“Our efforts to find the remains of Russell and Carol will continue. We are committed to finding the deceased persons.”
Missing persons squad detectives will be assisted by forensic and search and rescue officers in coming days for the grim operation.
Mr Hill said the families of the camping companions had been told of the outcome and his thoughts were with them.
“The past 20 months has been a difficult time for them and I know their grief remains as raw as ever,” he said.
Mr Hill and Mrs Clay disappeared in the hours after arriving at Wonnangatta on the evening of March 20 last year.
Their tent and camp furniture was later found destroyed by fire in what may have been a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence.
Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper, the head of the missing persons squad, last month told the Herald Sun he was confident of getting a result.
The investigation’s lead detective, Acting Sergeant Brett Florence, has run one of the most intensive missing persons cases in the state’s history.
Mr Hill praised the squad’s dedication and professionalism throughout such a gruelling inquiry.
“The investigative efforts have been extraordinary. It’s quite remarkable,” he said.
“Investigators are relieved but they appreciate there is more work to be done. It has been a long haul.”
Neighbours said they were “shocked” by the double murder charge.
Amin Khandakar, who lives a few doors down from Mr Lynn, heard the news on Thursday night.
“You just don’t believe this has happened to you a couple of doors down,” he said.
“It’s like, damn, what is happening in the neighbourhood?”
Mr Khandakar described his neighbour as an “ordinary guy” living in a “quiet neighbourhood”.
“I spoke to my neighbour and he is as shocked as I am too,” he said.
“It’s just unbelievable.”
There has been little movement from the Caroline Springs home in recent days, with Mr Lynn’s wife and son keeping a low profile in the wake of his arrest.
On Friday, Brunton Ave in Caroline Springs was quiet with residents remaining tight-lipped about the murder charges levelled against their neighbour.
Mr Lynn’s teenage son refused to speak to media other than to say his mother wasn’t at the family’s residence.
The teen has been holed up inside the suburban home since his father’s arrest but there has been no sighting of Ms Lynn.
There was little police activity throughout the day, with just one unmarked police car seen passing the house on Friday afternoon.
Students from a nearby school strolled past the home oblivious to the murder allegations brought against the Jetstar pilot.
The Herald Sun can reveal specialist Australian Federal Police resources were used to look for fresh evidence following the Jetstar pilot’s sudden arrest on Monday.
Ground imaging equipment has been deployed at the 55-year-old father’s Caroline Springs property.
The ground-penetrating radar technology is capable of locating items buried deep underground and within concrete structures. It’s understood the technology has been used extensively at the residential property in a bid to uncover potential items of interest in the Wonnangatta inquiry.
Radar technology is a forensic tool which can detect disturbances in soil related to the burial of bodies. It sends pulses of electromagnetic energy into the ground which bounce back if changes in soil are detected.
Recently it has been used in the search for clues over the disappearance of NSW youngster William Tyrrell.
Police on Thursday revealed a trailer linked to Mr Lynn is yet to be located.
Earlier this month missing persons squad detectives released a roadside camera image of a dark blue Nissan Patrol towing a modified trailer in the Wonnangatta Valley on March 20, 2020 – the night Mr Hill and Mrs Clay mysteriously vanished.
Chief Commissioner Shane Patton on Thursday revealed the silver trailer is still outstanding and is urgently wanted for forensic analysis.
Detectives believe it could have been sold on Gumtree between March and July 2020.
“Anyone who has information about or purchased a silver trailer last year between March and July and they don’t absolutely know who it was they purchased it from or how they came into possession of it and that there might be something sus (sic) about it, if they could contact Crime Stoppers that would be fantastic,” Mr Patton said.
Det Insp Stamper earlier this month said investigators have considered the theory that the trailer captured on the roadside camera was used to relocate Mr Hill and Mrs Clay’s bodies from their campsite following a potential altercation.
Mr Lynn’s Nissan Patrol was seized by police near his remote campsite in Arbuckle Junction following his arrest on Monday afternoon.
It has since emerged that the vehicle had been spray-painted beige soon after the Wonnangatta disappearances.
There are suggestions the colour change could have been an attempt to disguise the vehicle.
It comes as the Herald Sun revealed Mr Lynn’s former wife died in tragic circumstances years earlier.
The Herald Sun understands Lisa Lynn’s death came outside the home she shared with her pilot husband in suburban Melbourne about 20 years ago.
Google street images have shown a blue 4WD parked outside Mr Lynn’s Caroline Springs home in July 2019.
But an image from this year showed a brown 4WD parked in the driveway.
Mr Lynn’s social media accounts were abruptly pulled down after his identity was revealed in media reports.
CCTV has emerged showing Mr Lynn talking to neighbours last Sunday afternoon, just one day before he made the journey to the high country. It is understood the trip was prompted by an argument with his wife, Melanie.
On Wednesday, Mr Lynn’s wife and son remained holed up in their Brunton Ave home in Caroline Springs. An Australian flag adorned the front window of the two-storey home.
Neighbours said they noticed Mr Lynn’s vehicle change from blue to a “sandy brown” colour about one year ago.
“When I first took notice of it, it was in need of a spray paint because the paint was all faded and there were rust spots,” neighbour John Vella said.
“He seemed to be very nice. Everyone here’s sort of very private.”
Amin Khandakar who lives several doors down said Mr Lynn was a “family person”. “It is actually shocking,” he said.
Another neighbour, who gave her name as Phamh, said Mr Lynn and his family were “very good neighbours”.
“I talked to him a couple of times. He said he likes going camping,” she said. “I hope he didn’t do it.”
A close friend said he was “incredulous” over the arrest.
POLICE SPOKE TO SUSPECT LAST YEAR
Police spoke to Jetstar pilot Mr Lynn last year over the suspected murders of Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
It comes as more details of Mr Lynn’s life emerge, including his marriage to Melanie Lynn, and his membership in the Melbourne International Shooting Club.
Ms Lynn is a highly respected Jetstar flight attendant.
Over the years she has, in a way, become the face of the airline, sharing her best in-flight “beauty hacks” and advice to parents about how to prepare kids for solo flights.
Mr Lynn, 55, is believed to have been asked about his presence in the vicinity of the Wonnangatta Valley earlier in the inquiry.
Police had become aware he had been in the area about March 20, 2020, when Mr Hill and Ms Clay disappeared.
The Caroline Springs dad was one of hundreds of people spoken to as part of the state’s biggest missing persons investigations.
He had been under close scrutiny for many months.
It can be revealed Mr Lynn was a long-term member of the Melbourne International Shooting club, whose headquarters are based in Port Melbourne.
One source told the Herald Sun he was an enthusiastic member who enjoyed recreational shooting and looked forward to his visits to the club.
It can also be revealed that Mr Lynn had a significant firearm collection consisting of rifles and shotguns.
THE MOMENT POLICE SWARMED CAMPSITE
Video has emerged of the moment heavily armed SOG police swarmed a remote East Gippsland campsite to arrest Mr Lynn.
Students camping at the Licola wilderness village captured the dramatic police operation on video on Monday night.
Mr Lynn was arrested at a remote campsite in Arbuckle Junction, 1.5 hours south of Wonnangatta over the disappearance of the campers.
A student from the group said they saw and heard, two helicopters from the air wing arrive near their school camp.
The group was told by police the situation was a training drill.
“They all felt a little overwhelmed and very confused as to what was going on,” one parent said of the operation.
“They were told it was a training session. Mind you, these are 14 and 15-year-olds, so they knew something was going down.”
DETAILS OF LIFE EMERGE
Mr Lynn appears online as a loving family man who enjoys camping.
In April, he uploaded photos on social media of a camping trip at Lake Cobbler in the state’s high country, approximately 65km by road from the Wonnangatta Valley.
According to his social media, he also took family camping trips to the Glenelg River and Walhalla in regional Victoria.
In January, Mr Lynn posted a video shot while travelling in a dark 4WD vehicle on the Thomson River in West Gippsland.
Mr Lynn was arrested at an East Gippsland campground on Monday night by members of the special operations group, who flew to the area in two helicopters.
Mr Hill’s wife, Robyn, on Tuesday welcomed news of the arrest in hopes it would lead police to the murder victims’ bodies.
Mr Lynn was stood down by Jetstar following his arrest.
A Jetstar spokeswoman said: “Jetstar has been advised by Victoria Police that one of its employees is under investigation for a serious crime and will work to assist in this due process any way we can. As a matter of course, the employee has been removed from duty as a result of their arrest”.
It came after he signed and shared a “No Bail for repeat offenders” petition in 2017 in the wake of the Bourke Street massacre.
A neighbour said he saw swarms of police cars outside of Mr Lynn’s home on Monday night.
“There was a forensic team they had vans … there were three of them … there were two undercover cars and ute as well.”
Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said he met Mr Lynn for the first time on Sunday afternoon.
“I was washing my car … I saw the guy coming … he just walked past and I said ‘hi’,” he recalls.
“He said ‘welcome to the street’ … we just had a chat we spoke about an incident where some kids got attacked occurred around here a few weeks ago.
“I said we will have a beer sometime and that was it. He said he doesn’t drink alcohol as he has heart problems — that’s what he told me.
“He said he used to fly for Jetstar but he has got a heart problem and he is waiting to be cleared so he can fly again.”
Neighbours said police were at Mr Lynn’s house until late Monday night.
“I saw them all inside, they were there until after 11pm they were going right through the place,” a neighbour said.
Mr Lynn has lived at his Caroline Springs residence for more that 10 years according to those who live in the area.
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