Just read the article. It is by noted crime journalist John Silvester, who in my opinion gave a somewhat less than impress radio interview. He does have contacts in the police, to be sure. But, this article contains so much conjecture and few attributed quotations. That is always a warning sign. He also attributes to Mr Lynn beliefs an states of mind, Mr Silvester has absolutely no way of knowing Mr Lynn felt, believed or knew: "A practical man, Lynn knew police..."
Nevertheless, it does contain some things of interest, if only to confirm speculation here.
1. The police are likely to have built a psychological profile of the accused. [Comment: This is hardly not surprising. It is standard practice. You can also bet the police trawled the accused's social media as well, interviewed family and friends and associates and reached back in time, too.]
2. The accused's alleged personality and prior family life and relations with others are described, but not in detail, but cohere with comments made here by Alicia__elizabeth
3. The Mt Hotham photograph of 4WD and trailer provided crucial and focused attention on the accused.
4. Police arrested the accused because they feared destruction of evidence and self-harm.
5. Mobile phone data is speculated by the journalist as being important. [Again: Doh! that was clear to anyone who watched the 60mins and Ch9 documentary. You could see the map of the data points in the background and they were posted on WS.]
6. police seemed to be confident they would solve the case. [My police friends said this from the very beginning.]
7. the article does give a list of people who have disappeared recently in the high country. However, one name on that list, Mr Conrad Whitlock, who disappeared in July, 2019, is anomalous. see stories
here,
here and
here. The night before he went missing, the 72-year-old went to bed at 8:30pm and told his wife he probably would not see her in the morning because he was going to get some tests. This medical appointment was scheduled for about 10.00 in the morning he disappeared. He woke up about 3.00 am, reportedly from an alarm he set, and drove into the high country. Mr Whitlock left his white BMW on the side of Mount Buller Road along with his jacket, mobile phone and keys on the front seat. He has not been seen again and despite extensive searching of the area, no trace has been found. Police believe he may have been disoriented by strong pain medication he was taking and "fell off the mountain". In my view, Mr Whitlock should not be on this list.
One significant departure: the location of the gate that thwarted the exit from the valley.
8. On WS the belief has been the "locked gate" was the Myrtleford gate. That belief came from the press, for instance
here and
here,
quoting the police. For instance, from the
ABC link provided: ""Detectives have also been given information that a vehicle attempted to leave the valley late at night on the evening of Friday, March 20, but the Myrtleford gate was closed because of the bushfires, meaning that the driver had to make a complicated turn back in the direction from which they had come."" The Silvester article says the locked gate was on or near the Wonnangatta River Crossing. Silvester does not give the source of that information. I have looked at youtube videos, maps of the area and thanks to Brumby Jack, the road closures. I have not seen reference to a gate on the river at this location. Perhaps people on WS familiar with the area can provide an opinion. But at this juncture, I'm inclined to say the article is wrong on this point.
My overall rating for the Silvester article is a 2/10, but I am a hard marker.
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