Killer’s extraordinary effort to flee High Country

The killer who attacked missing campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill drove for hours on rugged alpine routes in an extraordinary effort to flee.

The killer of campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay may have spent all night on a desperate drive out of the High Country.

The friends are believed to have been attacked at Wonnangatta in a five-hour window of time after their last known contact, via amateur radio at about 6pm on March 20 last year.

Detectives are examining a series of unaccounted vehicle movements in the rugged region in the hours after that call which, if linked, show the extraordinary effort the driver was forced to make in exiting the region.

At about midnight, a motorist who witnesses believe was towing a trailer, was blocked by a closed gate on a stretch of road which follows the Buffalo River north to Myrtleford.

The gate had been locked because of bushfire danger, forcing its driver to perform a 20 to 30 point turn on the narrow road and go back.

After sunrise the next morning, a Nissan Patrol four-wheel-drive towing a trailer was snapped by a roadside camera on the Great Alpine Rd at Mount Hotham.

Carol Clay and Russell Hill.

This would have involved hours of tricky driving via routes like the Blue Rag Track before emerging somewhere near Dargo.

The distance from the gate to the Great Alpine Rd is about 60km as the crow flies but, one source said, would in the darkness probably require a high degree of expertise and a sound knowledge of the area’s maze of challenging tracks.

Police have previously said a blue four-wheel-drive station wagon was seen parked near where Mr Hill, 74, and Mrs Clay, 73, had set up near the Dry River Creek Track.

It left late that evening.

Mr Hill, of Drouin, and Mrs Clay, from Pakenham, disappeared and, despite a massive search effort in the vast wilderness area, no trace has been found.

One theory is that there was some kind of random confrontation which ended in fatal violence.

Mr Hill and Mrs Clay’s tent was set alight after a gas bottle was placed inside in what may have been an attempt to cause an explosion and destroy evidence.

Police have not publicly stated that the blue four-wheel-drive at Wonnangatta, the vehicle stopped at the gate and the Nissan Patrol captured on camera are the same.

But they said last week they had narrowed down more detail on the photographed Patrol, whose owner has not yet come forward.

It is a GU model, built between 1997 and 2001, and has roof racks, sidesteps and a bull bar.

Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit the website www.crimestoppers.com.au.