Victorian couple die in suspected suicide pact

A Victorian couple in their seventies are thought to have died in a suicide pact after their bodies were found at a beauty spot.

An elderly couple are thought to have died in a suicide pact after their bodies were found in a Victorian beauty spot.

Bart Wissink, 78, and his partner Kaye Salisbury, 74, who were noted philanthropists to the arts, are thought to have died of gunshot wounds.

The pair were described as quiet but kind.

They were found last Friday on a walking track near Wreck Beach, about 230km south west of Melbourne, in The Otways.

Bart Wissink and his partner Kaye Salisbury died at the Victorian beauty spot. Picture: Alan Barber

The couple’s bodies was found on Friday. Picture: Alan Barber.

The bodies were discovered by passers-by, near the small community of Gellibrand Lower, at around 10.45am on Friday. A gun was also found.

TheHerald Sunreported that there are indications the two agreed to take their own lives together. The gun is thought to have been licensed to Mr Wissink.

The couple split their time between Mr Wissink’s property in Buckley, in a rural area close to Geelong, and Ms Salisbury’s home in Windsor in inner city Melbourne.

Two cars were found close by to the where the bodies were found suggesting the pair may have come from each other’s homes to Wreck Beach.

Mr Wissink, a retired mechanical engineer, was South African but had lived in Australia for many years.

Together they donated to the arts in Victoria including the National Gallery of Victoria, Victorian Opera, the Geelong Chamber Music Society and RSL Care.

Scott Worland who sheared sheep for Mr Wissink, said the pair were “very simple and plain”.

“He was the most gentle and kind hearted person, he never spoke ill of anyone,” the Herald Sun reported him as saying.

Another neighbour said Mr Wissink was “quiet” but the couple would always wave as locals bumped into them.

“It is quite sad, something has gone astray somehow,” said Buckley alpaca farmer Ron Condon.

“I look at the property and it has been ploughed, it has pasture growing as if they were preparing to do what they normally would.”

Victoria Police has said it is not treating either death as suspicious. A report will be prepared for the coroner.