Human remains found in search for Victorian missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay.
Police searching for the bodies of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay have located human remains in Victorian bushland.
Detectives announced the grisly find in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.
“Victoria Police has located human remains in bushland near Dargo as part of their ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Russell Hill and Carol Clay,” the statement read.
“The remains are yet to be formally identified and it is expected this process will take some time.
“As this matter is now before the courts, we will not be facilitating any interviews in relation to the investigation.”
A large contingent of police and forensic experts spent much of yesterday scouring dense bushland in Victoria’s east in search of the two bodies.
More to come.
EARLIER:
Victorian Police have entered their second day in the search for missing Victorian campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay but warn it could take “considerable time” to find the closure that both families ‘desperately deserve’.
A large contingent of police and forensic experts spent much of yesterday scouring dense bushland in Victoria’s east in search of the two bodies.
The search comes after the Missing Persons squad took a 55-year-old Caroline Springs man into custody on November 21 and later charged him with the alleged murders of the missing campers. Russell Hill and Carol Clay were last heard from on March 20, 2020 when they were camping in the Wonnangatta Valley in Victoria.
East Gippsland and Wellington police Inspector Matt Gleeson told ABC News “a considerable number of police specialist resources” are being utilised in the search.
“It is going to be a painstaking search that could take some considerable time,” he said.
“We have set up a crime scene up in Dargo in the great alpine area, so we were dependent on the weather.
“These are very remote locations and we will throw every resource we can into it.”
Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Hill recently told news.com.au that authorities were focusing search efforts on a region with the Victorian Alps.
“We have located a specific area and we will establish a search parameter. We are hopeful we will find the remains,” he said.
“Our efforts to find the remains of Russell and Carol will continue. We are committed to finding the deceased persons.”
Hill remains hopeful police will find the missing pair, telling reporters, “our efforts to locate the remains of Russell and Carol will continue”.
“Our heartfelt thoughts are with both the Hill and Clay families. The past 20 months have been an incredibly difficult time for them and their grief remains as raw as ever,” he said.
“We are hopeful that this arrest brings us closer to providing the answers the families have been desperately seeking and deserve.”