Wife of man, 74, who vanished while camping with female friend, 73, speaks out

It has been more than one month since Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, were last heard from, after the companions seemingly vanished without a trace while camping in Victoria’s Wonnangatta Valley last month.

Hill, who has been married to wife Robyn for 50 years, and Clay were last heard from on March 20, one day after they set off on their trip. It has been claimed that Hill’s wife had no idea he was taking another woman camping, with the ABC reporting that their respective families thought each of them was camping alone.

Now, Robyn has told Daily Mail Australia that she does not believe her missing husband is likely to be found alive. She told the news outlet: “I don’t think that he will still be alive.”

Robyn’s comments come after the pair’s mysterious disappearance featured on Tuesday night’s episode of A Current Affair, with friends of Carol and Russell telling the Channel Nine program they believe that something has “gone awry”.

“She would never not communicate with her family,” Clay’s longtime friend Dorothy Coombe told reporter Sam Cucchiara. “Something clearly has gone awry. We know that something has gone awry.”

What happened to Russell Hill and Carol Clay? #9ACA pic.twitter.com/cDnbfCjCMd

— A Current Affair (@ACurrentAffair9) April 21, 2020

Russell set off from his Drouin home on March 19 and picked up Carol from her unit in Pakenham. The pair, who regularly went away together according to ACA, travelled to Wonnangatta Valley, which is around six hours away from Melbourne.

Hill made contact with his wife using a high frequency radio on March 20, however that is the last time that anyone heard from either of them. One week later, on March 27, a group of campers discovered the missing pair’s burnt-out campsite and a police investigation was launched.

“Did they stage their disappearance to start a new life together, simply get lost, or come face to face with a killer?” journalist Cucchiara said during last night’s report.

Victoria Police hunted for their pair from the ground and air, before calling off the search. Russell’s slightly-singed car was also searched and forensically tested, before being returned to the Hill’s home.

According to the program, it is also now believed that Russell had a drone in his possession on the trip. However the device is missing, creating a further twist in the baffling missing persons case.

“It’s the role of the police, and missing persons in particular, to try and give the families answers,” former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina told the program.”But at the end of the day there may not be any.”

The case is now in the hands of Victoria Police Missing Persons Squad.