Police plead for public’s help to solve murder of Lakes Entrance man Dalibor Pantic
Police hunting for answers over the death of Lakes Entrance man Dalibor Panic believe child car seats and a pram from his car were dumped in a Gippsland waterway.
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Child car seats and a pram from a murder victim’s car were dumped in a Gippsland waterway, police believe.
Detectives from the Missing Persons Squad and water police officers have been searching the Avon and Thomson rivers at Sale recently in a fresh effort to get answers over the death of Lakes Entrance man Dalibor Pantic.
Their efforts have been concentrated on an area downstream from a bridge above a channel on Myrtlebank Rd.
Mr Pantic disappeared in 2019 and investigators have never been able to find his remains or his car.
In November 2021, Sale man Sam Gordon Blake, 33, was charged with his murder and he later pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Blake was uncooperative with police trying to find the victim’s body.
The 38-year-old Mr Pantic was last seen alive by an associate at a farm in Perry Bridge on the night of April 10, 2019.
The subsequent investigation has been long and convoluted.
Detectives retrieved CCTV of Mr Pantic’s 2005 silver Ford Falcon leaving a Sale property at night two days after the Perry Bridge sighting.
A silver Ford was found 13 months later in the Bunyip State Forest but, after forensic examination, was found not to be Mr Pantic’s vehicle.
It is now believed items from his Falcon were discarded in the Sale area and police have urged anyone who found them to come forward.
Investigators suspect three children’s car seats and a double pram were thrown off a bridge at Myrtlebank Rd around April 11.
One theory is that they floated away and were recovered by someone in waterways further downstream.
Detective Insp Dave Dunstan of the Missing Persons Squad appealed for anyone who had come across such items in the past four years to come forward.
Insp Dunstan said investigators remained committed to finding Mr Pantic’s remains.
“If you do know something or might have seen or found the car seats or the pram in the river, then I urge you to come forward and hopefully we can continue to fill in all the pieces of this puzzle until we get the result and answers Dale’s family deserve,” he said.
Anyone who has seen the Ford sedan, the pram or the children’s car seats can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or visit www.crimestoppers.com.au
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