Something else that occurred to me is that unless R & C were at the very entrance to Dry River Track, instead of any distance up it, a hypothetical perpetrator following the route you describe would not come across their campsite.
Found Deceased Australia - Russell Hill, 74, & Carol Clay, 72, Wonnangatta Valley, 20 March 2020 #3
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Monsoon
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I’m sure I read something that their campsite couldn’t be seen from the road, so if the perpetrator was specifically looking for them, they would have to already know that’s where they were.
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Oh that’s interesting. Had a quick look but the only references I can find is that the Olive Branch Mine is “10 miles from Harrietville” and that the manager of the North Biplane Mine (to the north/east of the Olive Branch Chain Bay) had reported favourably on the Olive Branch property, so my guess would be that it’s likely be between the Biplane and the Star Extended mines. But there are quite a few other mines in the area of that chain bay, both sides of the road, and north.
hi srper2
Did your mate skiing see his car ?.. I'm glad he had his wits about him saying he's not alone for long & expecting friends... This guy tried to coerce me away from others but I was one step ahead of him, he kept following me too so I made quick detours. He's not built like a lumberjack but fit , the gift of the gab and cunning . I pondered I must admit if his car could make it up there ? But as I haven't been that Valley i don't know.
They could have bumped in to each other in the valley before R & C reached their preferred camping spot.
srper2
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He was pretty scared and focused on calmly putting on his boots while not taking his eyes off the person, stuffing the tent back into his pack s he moved away and hightailed it out! Apparently the snow was around 50cm deep so digging a vehicle back out could have been an attempt to draw him into following him away from the hut area and he might have never been seen again! Police never got back to the skier who reported it, so he never knew if there really was a vehicle bogged there somewhere! Certainly seems like there may be some scary characters wandering around there.
There was also the case of the escaped sex offender from Vic that police apprehended in a NSW high country hut after weeks on the run, I expect if he had run into a lone skier/hiker, nobody would have ever heard from them again....Sex offender tracked down after six-week police manhunt
MissMarpleAU
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I wonder how the blackberry sprayer was so certain the annoying drone belonged to Russell...
SouthAussie
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Maybe he wasn't. It is possible that he didn't even see Russell and Carol. It is so hard to know the context with the little snippets we hear.
It could have been a case of the police and/or the searchers saying "did you see a man and lady, they could have been flying a drone"
And the blackberry sprayer may have related to them about being annoyed that a drone was flying over his campsite.
IIRC all it said on the show was that the blackberry sprayer was annoyed by the drone. Which (to my way of thinking) was the show pointing to a potentially annoyed person in the valley.
Did the police speak to the blackberry sprayer? On Under Investigation I had the impression the man who searched the area on horseback came across the blackberry sprayer during his search?
He might have had a lucky escape! It must have been pretty scary for your mate too report it.. they do brazen moves!... This guy cornered me at the town police station at night out the front, just pulled up in his car next too me & brazenly asked if I could prank his ph as he couldn't find it? I didn't think quick enough & obliged, next minute he has my number & saw that he's ph next too him on the seat . I think with my friends up the rd & the police station right in front of me I must have felt ok about it. Turned out the station was closed. he kept trying for convo & I wanted to leave, I did. He rang a few times private & a name he gave. One of those ph calls he asked if I'd pick up a van he bought for a friend & drive it somewhere. I said no I couldn't & knew he was trying to get me alone. He's story about the van kept chopping & changing. He followed me at least half a dozen times around town ..Came across quiet educated too , but underlying was something really uneasy... was this link you sent familiar with your skiing friend?.. whata monster
SouthAussie
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I would think that the police got a statement from everyone who was in the area during the time Russell and Carol were there.
But there wasn't an investigating officer on the show (understandably) so we only know what the people who were on the show wanted to reveal or speculate.
Poirot's niece
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The side mirror. Could it have been snapped off by someone elses car coming at them from the other direction? On a narrow 4WD track where both Driver's think they have right of way and don't give up ground.
If so, your traces of your car would be on theirs & vice versa. You'd likely want to retrieve that if you followed up on your grievance.
If so, your traces of your car would be on theirs & vice versa. You'd likely want to retrieve that if you followed up on your grievance.
srper2
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Sounds like you managed to get out of a dangerous situation there. The skier is a regular high country cross country skier/trekker. They didn't come across the criminal I mentioned in the link , but I was thinking that we would not know if a dangerous person was on the run and unfortunately they often run to quieter places to hide. If I find the link to the forum I will post it again here. The weirdest thing I have experienced myself with "campers" - I live just out of a small Vic town in a bushy area and one night my dog started going off, I opened the door and let him out (as it usually means his mate from next door is outside for a visit), that night he ran to the bushes nearby and I realised that he was barking at a guy who was in the process of taking a pack off and who was planning on settling down out the front of my house! He got really angry and started swearing and kicking at my dog, took his pack and started to walk away, I called my dog back and made sure all the doors were locked. Pretty strange stuff. I now have trail cams around, but a dog is the best intruder alarm for me! RH and CC must have been the victims of some dangerous people, who could still be a real risk to other remote campers until they are caught.
I was thinking tree , boot or letterbox. Or maybe someone was up that way that weekend and came back with driver side damage
I really believe i did avoid just that & geez..that look in his eyes when doing a air knife stabbing thing towards me. I hate to be putting someone innocent in a bad light, but can honestly say I'm glad I wasn't alone & isolated with this man. .. Lucky you have a good dog alarm! You wouldn't want to be out there questioning them in dark isolation either .. Yes , i think sadly some dark forces got them and could it be unknown dangerous ppl / person or could it be a dangerous drug induced person who's not normally dangerous
A former coworker and his mates all go up to Won at least once a year and happened to be there last year just before RH and CC dissappeared. I don't know the dates exactly but he and his mates all have dash cams and had to give all their footage to police and I don't think they got it back either / were told as it's an investigation they weren't getting their memory cards back from the trip. I'll try to ask him what they said to him about it and what he remembers.
I've always been curious (and not surprised they won't mention) about the gun shell casings or bullets from the rouge hunters. The cowboy on the crime investigation program mentioned about how close the carcasses were and how many yet no mention of any casings and I doubt the hunters were a perfect shot every time, ballistics ideally could be matched - IMO it's evidence they have but won't release publicly even if they weren't involved.
I don't know much about Mines in the area but when I have been camping and trekking on either side of the valley I have noticed the odd sink hole or fallen tree / earth shift which could be used for "disposal" as such? If I was to put something down a hole or similar I just need to push the top soil over and not necessarily dig or use a shovel for its intended purpose just to assist in filling in and covering it up slightly. Just speculating thoughts.. (I use mine for digging out a fire pit or the 4x4 - not like the ones recovered)
The time of drone use, blackberry sprayer and ute contents are all details I'd love to know more details about... Hopefully this case gets solved sooner rather than later.
I've always been curious (and not surprised they won't mention) about the gun shell casings or bullets from the rouge hunters. The cowboy on the crime investigation program mentioned about how close the carcasses were and how many yet no mention of any casings and I doubt the hunters were a perfect shot every time, ballistics ideally could be matched - IMO it's evidence they have but won't release publicly even if they weren't involved.
I don't know much about Mines in the area but when I have been camping and trekking on either side of the valley I have noticed the odd sink hole or fallen tree / earth shift which could be used for "disposal" as such? If I was to put something down a hole or similar I just need to push the top soil over and not necessarily dig or use a shovel for its intended purpose just to assist in filling in and covering it up slightly. Just speculating thoughts.. (I use mine for digging out a fire pit or the 4x4 - not like the ones recovered)
The time of drone use, blackberry sprayer and ute contents are all details I'd love to know more details about... Hopefully this case gets solved sooner rather than later.
I was under the opinion the blackberry sprayer was close to RH and CC depends on what paper you read I guess.
Who was employing him to spray the blackberries-would that be a Victoria government job. I found it odd that he was camping and not set-up in a more comfortable area.
I have been looking for a comment the Police made a few weeks back. They said they had spoken again to the 'button man' and cleared him and said 'we learned things' that statement jumped out at me 3 words only. I am impatient so maybe another sleuther can locate the story.
Things picked up speed since that comment was made. My guess is 'button man' knows all.
Who was employing him to spray the blackberries-would that be a Victoria government job. I found it odd that he was camping and not set-up in a more comfortable area.
I have been looking for a comment the Police made a few weeks back. They said they had spoken again to the 'button man' and cleared him and said 'we learned things' that statement jumped out at me 3 words only. I am impatient so maybe another sleuther can locate the story.
Things picked up speed since that comment was made. My guess is 'button man' knows all.
If true " button man knows all" makes you think it's started from up there .? What's the chances of two missing drones in the same area, one found . Was there a mix up of drones scenario that the better one was taken by mistake and a argument broke out... Far fetched I know
SouthAussie
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I wonder about the drone that the police have. They said the drone was "handed in". Handed in by who, and where exactly was it found?
The drone was handed in at East Gippsland police station several days after police renewed an appeal for information about the missing pair.
“Missing persons squad detectives have determined that a drone handed into an East Gippsland police station is not the DJI Mavic drone belonging to Russell Hill,” a spokeswoman said.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/...issing-camper-police-say-20210309-p5791p.html
March 9, 2021
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