‘Alarming for a young kid’: What a father and son found at missing campers’ abandoned site

A father has described his fear after he and his young son came across the burnt campsite of Russell Hill and Carol Clay in the remote High Country.

Farmer Nicholas Linden told a Supreme Court jury he was spending a night away with his 11-year-old in the Wonnangatta Valley before parts of the state were locked down in the coronavirus pandemic.

Linden described unrolling swags and fishing for trout with his son on March 25, 2020, before taking a walk downstream, where they came across the abandoned campsite.

Linden said he called out, but when there was no response, he feared there may have been someone inside the camp at the time of the fire.

“Lots of things go through your mind,” he told the jury. “A concern that goes through your mind, ‘Is there anyone in it?’

“I kept my son pretty close to me and we walked up to the ... remains of the fire.

Russell Hill and Carol Clay.

“My intent there was to look to make sure there’s no one in it.

“It was probably a little alarming for a young kid. There was definitely something a bit different [about it].”

Civil engineer Andrew James Marquardt told the jury he visited the valley with his family and came across an unusual scene on March 21, 2020 – the day after airline pilot Gregory Lynn is accused of killing Hill and Clay.

Marquardt said his family looked at the burnt scene from their car before returning to investigate further the following day.

It was then, the father said, he saw burnt tent poles and camping material that extended towards a white Toyota LandCruiser ute.

Marquardt said he then noticed a small yellow Esky, as well as a small shower tent and toilet which appeared undamaged.

“I came closer to the ute and there was an Esky ... right next to the ute on the passenger side of the cab. I looked inside; there was some food in there. It did not look like it was old or foul,” he recalled.

“I looked at the [ute cabin]. The passenger-side rear mirror was damaged [and] there was a handbag on the passenger seat.

The yellow esky and burnt battery found at Bucks Camp in March 2020.Credit: Victoria Police

“The battery next to the vehicle had burnt as well.”

Lynn, 57, is on trial after pleading not guilty to murdering Clay, 73, and Hill, 74, at Bucks Camp on the evening of March 20, 2020.

Lynn’s legal team has told the jury both Hill and Clay died accidentally, while the prosecution alleges Lynn, a hunter, killed the pair with murderous intent.

Hill and Clay’s campsite, including Hill’s white ute, were torched by Lynn, who bundled their bodies into his trailer and drove them out of the valley.

The missing pair’s burnt remains were later found at a second site off the remote Union Spur Track, near the small township of Dargo.

Both Linden and Marquardt said they contacted police with information about what they had seen.

Camper Tom Matthews said he was inside his tent near the river crossing on the Wonnangatta Track when he heard a 4WD towing a trailer driving past about midnight on March 20, 2020.

The court heard the crossing had been closed on the other side.

Greg Lynn (pictured) is accused of killing Carol Clay and Russell Hill at Bucks Camp (right).

Matthews said he heard what he thought was a “ratty old trailer” hitting potholes on the rough track as it reversed repeatedly in an effort to turn around.

“It took a few attempts to get it turned around,” Matthews said. “The brake lights of the vehicle kept coming on and off on the side of our tent.”

The river crossing Matthews says he heard an older style 4WD u-turn at as it was closed.Credit: Tom Matthews

The trial also heard from Leading Senior Constable Christopher Skiba, the first police officer to enter the valley in response to the missing persons report for Hill and Clay.

He said he drove into the valley on March 27 – seven days after the pair were last heard from – but only spent an hour inside the Wonnangatta Valley before returning to Maffra police station.

The following day, police received reports of the burnt campsite and he returned, this time via a different route, and came across the scene.

Skiba said he and a colleague surveyed the scene, but other than the site being burnt, he didn’t believe anything else seemed unusual.

“I could see through the windows; there was a wallet and whole heaps of cards taken out [and the] same thing on the passenger side. I think there was a bag as well in the passenger footwell, a female’s handbag,” he said.

The trial continues.

A new podcast from 9News, The Age and 9Podcasts will follow the court case as it unfolds. The Missing Campers Trial is the first podcast to follow a jury trial in real time in Victoria. It’s presented by Nine reporter Penelope Liersch and Age reporter Erin Pearson.