Victoria Police complete targeted search to find body of wanted fugitive Dezi Freeman
Police have revealed a huge update on their search for wanted fugitive and alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman.
Police have revealed they focused their latest search for fugitive and alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman on finding his body.
Freeman has not been seen since the fatal shooting of two police officers, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, while they executed a search warrant inPorepunkah on August 26.
A third officer was seriously injured in the shooting.
Freeman, 56, is believed to have fled on foot into the dense bushlandarmed with gunsand has not been seen since.
A $1m reward has been offered for anyone who provides information thatleads to the arrest of the self-described “sovereign citizen”.
On Friday morning, Victoria Police confirmed they completed an extensive search of Mount Buffalo National Park last week as the search continues.
The targeted search is now focused on trying to find Freeman’s remains, police said.
Police said previous searches had been conducted in the area on September 12 “with the purpose of locating an active armed offender”.
“However on this occasion, search teams were focused on identifying and locating evidence or the body of Freeman,” police said.
The search included crews from the Eastern Region, Search and Rescue, Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT), drone unit and the dog squad as well as two NSW Police Force cadaver dogs.
The search spanned five days, encompassing 0.8862 sqm of thick bush and heavy terrain.
As part of the targeted search, police conducted line searches and cleared caves.
Extensive air searches of the park have also been undertaken by police.
Since the shooting, police have investigated 1950 pieces of intelligence, including information from the public.
Assistant commissioner Martin O’Brien said the new targeted search was conducted based on intelligence received.
“The devastating loss of Neal and Vadim has struck at the heart of Victoria Police and had an enormous impact on the Porepunkah community,” he said.
“I want to reaffirm to the community that Victoria Police remains committed to doing everything we can – using every available resource and the necessary capabilities – to locate Desmond Freeman.
“We will continue to conduct targeted searches such as this one based on intelligence.
“We will maintain a presence in the community, and we are determined we will see this to resolution.
“Once again, I would strongly urge anyone with any information at all to come forward and contact Crime Stoppers.”
Anyone who sees Freeman has been urged to not approach him and call triple-0 immediately.
Originally published as Victoria Police complete targeted search to find body of wanted fugitive Dezi Freeman
