Found Deceased Australia - Russell Hill, 74, & Carol Clay, 72, Wonnangatta Valley, 20 March 2020 #2

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Is this the culprit? A burnt car battery among the ruins.
A truck battery wouldn’t have wing-nuts.

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@ 1:45



The comments are interesting!
In our main reference picture of the scene, the battery doesn't seem to be in that location, but there is an object that looks like a battery beside the esky beneath the car. Do you think it's the same object?

Source: detail from picture here: Four people have gone missing within a 60km radius in the past year. Their fate remains a mystery
 

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Just a thought, but accidentally burning down one's campsite might be a pretty heavy blow to someone like RH, after a lifetime of experience in the bush and a pride in being 'meticulous'. Not just personally losing all his gear, expensive drone, etc, but imagining having to explain it to his buddies. And then, that it would probably expose his relationship with his secret camping companion, who herself might have reacted badly, and have potentially major consequences on his family life. In some unstable people, not really prepared to face the consequences, could it be the kind of blow that leads to rash action?

This theory is top of my list.
 
When police got to Russell’s camp they found the remains of a fire that had burnt so hot it had swallowed up his tent and left black stains down the side of his 4WD.

Was this cooler placed there later?
Why didn’t the plastic handles melt?
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Four people have gone missing within a 60km radius in the past year. Their fate remains a mystery
I think the media comment about the soot being the result of a hot fire is potentially ill-informed. I wish they would interview someone who understands fires.

I suspect the fire smouldered rather than burned hot, at least around the truck. That would be normal for plastic and metal, which almost everything is made of now.

Just a quick quote grabbed from google:

"Wet smoke damage comes from low-heat, smoldering fires. Both plastic and rubber produce this waste when they are burned. These especially smelly blazes usually have fewer flames but much more thick, black smoke than their dry counterparts.

Because wet smoke residue is sticky and dense, it has no problem completely covering your home or business’s surfaces"
How to Identify Different Types of Smoke Damage in Your Home or Business | Revive Restoration
The same source states that hot fires produce little smoke, since everything burns up.
 
Like leaving their families and friends and running off together ?
What would they be living on, not being able to touch their bank accounts etc.
I think if the fire happened and they didn't want Carol involved, the vehicle was still driveable.
Russell would have driven Carol to the nearest place where she could get a train home or where she could contact her family, without mentioning Russell.
Then most likely Russell would have driven to his home by himself. No need to mention the fire.

herself might have reacted badly, and have potentially major consequences on his family life. In some unstable people, not really prepared to face the consequences, could it be the kind of blow that leads to rash action?
 
Like leaving their families and friends and running off together ?
What would they be living on, not being able to touch their bank accounts etc.
I think if the fire happened and they didn't want Carol involved, the vehicle was still driveable.
Russell would have driven Carol to the nearest place where she could get a train home or where she could contact her family, without mentioning Russell.
Then most likely Russell would have driven to his home by himself. No need to mention the fire.
I was thinking 'rash', in the sense of violence or suicide.
 
Just a thought, but accidentally burning down one's campsite might be a pretty heavy blow to someone like RH, after a lifetime of experience in the bush and a pride in being 'meticulous'. Not just personally losing all his gear, expensive drone, etc, but imagining having to explain it to his buddies. And then, that it would probably expose his relationship with his secret camping companion, who herself might have reacted badly, and have potentially major consequences on his family life. In some unstable people, not really prepared to face the consequences, could it be the kind of blow that leads to rash action?

Come on. All his male buddies didn’t know about the other woman?
The wife is usually the last to know.
 
Quoting myself. Or they could both have just driven off and not contacted anyone about the fire seeing it was out.

Russell would have driven Carol to the nearest place where she could get a train home or where she could contact her family, without mentioning Russell.
Then most likely Russell would have driven to his home by himself. No need to mention the fire.
 
Does anyone know if Russell possessed a gun? Just wondering.
 
I'm looking at the black box beside the esky.

I've got another picture of the site which I think was taken by those who reported the burnt campsite. It shows the battery where your picture also has it. I don't want to post it unless I find the link.
Anyway it's this image here, could be a police photograph but it looks different from the others. Not just the lighting but more debris. Battery at right and something curious back left: possibly a folded up trolley?
Source: Fresh twist in disappearance of campers as human remains discovered high in Victoriaan Alps | Daily Mail Online
 

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Does anyone know if Russell possessed a gun? Just wondering.
Some months back someone was speculating whether Russell might have been opposed to hunting and got into a conflict over that, and someone else (Ramjet?) said no . . . I think he said that Russell had participated in pro-hunting forums. If so Russell may well have had guns. But you'd think if he did it would have been established whether any were missing.
 
When police got to Russell’s camp they found the remains of a fire that had burnt so hot it had swallowed up his tent and left black stains down the side of his 4WD.

Was this cooler placed there later?
Why didn’t the plastic handles melt?
View attachment 264602
Four people have gone missing within a 60km radius in the past year. Their fate remains a mystery
Esky definitely not there in one of the other pictures (with tarpaulin). It could be police equipment and the black thing likewise.
 
“When the weather allows, our investigators and specialist search teams will return to the area to conduct further searches in the hope of finding any clues about what has happened to Russell and Carol.”

“Things could have changed and things that were concealed previously, six months ago, may not be concealed now.”

Six months since Carol vanished | Pakenham Gazette
 
Come on. All his male buddies didn’t know about the other woman?
The wife is usually the last to know.
Sorry if I was not being sufficiently explicit, I will try to spell out a range of human emotions more carefully:
1. possible shame or anger at campsite burning and losing his stuff
2. possible shame at losing status in eyes of buddies for a stupid fire
3. possible wife and children finding out about other woman
4. possible other woman being upset, either blamed for fire, or blaming him for fire, and not going camping again
5. general sense of despair that camping trip is a royal *advertiser censored*-up.
 
What if the police have someone in mind and are waiting to see if they go back to the site for some reason, ie make sure something or someone is still hidden.

I'm not thinking this is the case but maybe they suspect someone and just need that bit more on them for an arrest.
 
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