Police ‘never been closer’ to solving missing campers mystery

Police “never been closer” to solving the mystery disappearance of Russell Hill and Carol Clay thanks to a breakthrough with this clue.

Police investigating the High Country campers mystery have zeroed-in closer on a four-wheel-drive seen in the area at the time they disappeared.

Missing persons squad detectives working on the disappearance of friends Russell Hill and Carol Clay last week released images of a blue Nissan Patrol towing a modified trailer.

It was captured on a roadside camera on the night of March 20 last year, hours after Mr Hill, 74, and Ms Clay, 73, made camp at Wonnangatta.

Detectives have now positively identified the vehicle as a “GU” model Nissan Patrol Series 1 built between 1997 – 2001.

The five-door model was narrowed down with the help of Australia’s Nissan Patrol community following last week’s information appeal.

The four-wheel-drive was photographed near Mount Hotham in the early hours of March 21, 2020.

Missing campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill.

Police released images of a dark blue four-wheel drive they believe pivotal to their investigation.

Detectives are investigating a separate witness account of a petrol-driven vehicle, believed to be towing a trailer, which had hours earlier been forced to turn back on the road from Wonnangatta to Myrtleford because a gate had been shut to keep people out of a bushfire zone.

One theory being looked at by investigators is that Mr Hill and Ms Clay were killed in an altercation at Wonnangatta after they arrived there.

Their camp was set up about 100m from a “prime” location near the water, giving rise to the theory someone else was camped at that location.

It is possible a fire which had destroyed their tent and some camp furniture and scorched Mr Hill’s Toyota four-wheel-drive was lit to destroy evidence.

An intact gas cylinder was found inside the tent.

The damaged campsite.

Investigators are considering the theory the Patrol’s trailer was used to relocate the bodies of Mr Hill and Ms Clay in the wider Wonnangatta region.

It is the only vehicle sighted in the area around the time the pair vanished that is yet to be identified by police.

Detective Inspector ­Andrew Stamper, who is leading the investigation, suspects the killer is an ordinary person working a normal job who has spent the past 20 months hiding a very dark secret.

He said police have never been closer to solving the mystery.

“We believe there is someone out there that could identify that car or lead us to someone who could provide us answers,” Insp Stamper said last week.

“I think we are getting pretty close.”