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

[Kemug]

I've just thought of something that we haven't yet considered - perhaps Carol and Russell did leave a note saying goodbye for whichever reason. And they left it in the tent?!

 

[Black-Cat]

When I saw all the pics in the link I posted of tents on fire I let my imagination run wild and hoped that Russell and Carol's tent was not set alight with them in it.

Mostly because I had read this comment ...


In one particularly terrifying story, a wildlife photographer explained that he had stayed in the area .......
When he got home to download pictures from his camera, he found an unexplained picture of himself asleep - with no idea who took it or when.
Fresh twist in disappearance of campers as human remains discovered high in Victoriaan Alps | Daily Mail Online

Just read the ‘Fresh Twist’ article .... so Does this mean that three other people have gone missing in the high country and not found in separate cases in the last couple of years??? This is so weird and spooky!

 

[SouthAussie]

Just read the ‘Fresh Twist’ article .... so Does this mean that three other people have gone missing in the high country and not found in separate cases in the last couple of years??? This is so weird and spooky!

Could even be more than that.


Ms Clay and Mr Hill are just two of many people who have gone missing in the area over the past decade, four of them within just nine months.
Fresh twist in disappearance of campers as human remains discovered high in Victoriaan Alps | Daily Mail Online

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Like Picnic at Hanging Rock.

 

[Black-Cat]

Could even be more than that.


Ms Clay and Mr Hill are just two of many people who have gone missing in the area over the past decade, four of them within just nine months.
Fresh twist in disappearance of campers as human remains discovered high in Victoriaan Alps | Daily Mail Online

Woah

 

[SouthAussie]

I've just thought of something that we haven't yet considered - perhaps Carol and Russell did leave a note saying goodbye for whichever reason. And they left it in the tent?!

Or even if they didn't leave a note, they might have tried to leave a sign of whatever was going wrong ... but it was burned up in the fire.

 

[Panda]

View attachment 254452

Do we know what this thing is on the top of Carol's roof? The thing that is showing between the two joins in the roof. Sort of looks like a wind sock?

It can be seen more clearly at about 4:15 in this video.

Missing

It looks like a TV antenna to me, angled for the best reception. You can see very faintly the horizontal bars, in the Current Affair clip.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Or it could be one of those air ventilation things that pop up.
But really to me it does look like an airsock. Maybe someone was into flying.

 

[Tinker Taylor]

I've just thought of something that we haven't yet considered - perhaps Carol and Russell did leave a note saying goodbye for whichever reason. And they left it in the tent?!

And then what? Set fire to the tent??

 

[neesaki]

Some strange things about this case, that don’t add up.

1. Two people camping, male and female, who aren’t a couple. I’m aware of claims that they are.
2. The wife of the missing man didn’t know that the two were camping together. Most observers find that astonishing.
3. The fire. I believe it’s a red herring.
4. Police didn’t inform the wife that they suspect a double homicide has occurred. She found out via family, who found out via media*
5. The defensive comments in the article*

*Investigator says married man and female friend who vanished without a trace were likely MURDERED | Brinkwire

Could it be that Carol’s new home was going to also be the home of the other missing person?
If so, could this have been too much to bear, for others?

I really appreciate your insight on this case. And also agree with you on some of your points. It’s hard to say, given the lack of clues in this case, but still, IMO, you might very well be on the right track.

 

[Kemug]

I've just thought of something that we haven't yet considered - perhaps Carol and Russell did leave a note saying goodbye for whichever reason. And they left it in the tent?!

And then what? Set fire to the tent??

No, not them.

 

[Tinker Taylor]

No, not them.

I've tried to think of two unrelated things that could have happened, but it seems very unlikely. I can't help but think the fire and them missing are related. Someone coming upon a tent with a vehicle alongside and randomly setting it alight (without touching the vehicle) is a real stretch of the imagination. Maybe the tent catching fire in the night and them leaving the camp to look for help is more likely, but with the discovery of a spare set of keys hidden on the vehicle, that seems to rule that out.

 

[TrawlwoolwayTracker]

I’m not big on the hunting accident angle.
That would imply that hunters accidentally shot one, then “had to shoot the other.”
Makes for a good Netflix show, but real life is different.

I believe that this was either someone driven by money/revenge, or a random attack.

Given the lack of clues or evidence, it seems well planned, rather than opportunistic.

The drone will never be found.

I cannot believe that with a car that works, these two people “got lost.” If they did, they would have been found, and from all reports, it’s simply not in their nature to take such a big risk, wandering off a big distance. You would just drive.

 

[Kemug]

How's this for a theory? Someone has long suspected that Carol and Russell go camping together. Is not happy, and decides to find out for sure. Either follows them, or has a pretty good idea where to find them. Arrives during the night, or very early the next morning. Unzips the tent, and finds them gone. Then sees a note, saying they are leaving to start a new life together. In a rage, this person sets fire to the tent, either burning the note with it, or possibly keeping the note. Then goes home. No-one is dead, and the only crime committed is arson/property damage.

 

[SouthAussie]

I’m not big on the hunting accident angle.
That would imply that hunters accidentally shot one, then “had to shoot the other.”
Makes for a good Netflix show, but real life is different.

I believe that this was either someone driven by money/revenge, or a random attack.

Given the lack of clues or evidence, it seems well planned, rather than opportunistic.

The drone will never be found.

I cannot believe that with a car that works, these two people “got lost.” If they did, they would have been found, and from all reports, it’s simply not in their nature to take such a big risk, wandering off a big distance. You would just drive.

I tend to agree.
I think it could have been planned by someone they know .... or could have been random or planned by someone they don't know.

Is it odd that the police have not stated what type/model of mobile phone they both had? In case someone finds one or both of them.

 

[TrawlwoolwayTracker]

I tend to agree.
I think it could have been planned by someone they know .... or could have been random or planned by someone they don't know.

Is it odd that the police have not stated what type/model of mobile phone they both had? In case someone finds one or both of them.

Not sure about the phones, but the fact they had their phones on them is strange, isn’t it?
No reception, never wander far from camp.
To me that says murder, as phones would be potential evidence, to be discarded by a killer.

Love and money. I strongly believe it’s someone they know. Perhaps someone who was set to lose out on an inheritance.

Otherwise, the person/s who did this may be responsible for the multiple disappearances in that region over the past few years.
When you think about it, it’s the perfect murder field. For the sake of ruling that out, I’d like to see someone speak on the multiple cases, looking for similarities. That man Niels Becker who went missing sounded like a pro hiker.
How did he just disappear?

Fit hiker may have succumbed to hypothermia in Victoria's high country, police say

 

[TrawlwoolwayTracker]

No drone, no phones, no bodies.

Car that works. Spare keys accessible.

Cars and keys don’t hold evidence, drones, phones and bodies do.

unless both were mentally unwell, there’s only one result that makes sense.

 

[TrawlwoolwayTracker]

I cannot move past this...

Mrs Hill said she was unaware police were now effectively running her husband's disappearance as a homicide investigation.

'I've got no idea. You know as much as I do,' she said.

Mrs Hill said while news of the developments screened on television last night, she was unaware until a family member alerted her.

'I did find out from my daughter, but I've got nothing more to say about anything,' she said.

It is understood police are now probing what happened in the 18 hours between Mr Hill making a chilling last radio call and their campsite being discovered abandoned the next day.

- So anyone who heard Russell on the HAM radio would have had up to 18 hours to get to them, and it’s six hours from the area they come from.

 

[SouthAussie]

I wonder if Russell ever took anyone else to where he camps. Someone else who might know exactly where that is, and how to get there.
Although anyone who was listening to the last ham radio transmission he made would know where they were setting up camp ... and I have seen plenty of maps on the internet explaining how to get there.

 

[TrawlwoolwayTracker]

I wonder if Russell ever took anyone else to where he camps. Someone else who might know exactly where that is, and how to get there.
Although anyone who was listening to the last ham radio transmission he made would know where they were setting up camp ... and I have seen plenty of maps on the internet explaining how to get there.

Exactly, if you’d been to that camping area with Russell, and/or if you knew to tune into the HAM radio, you’d know where to locate him/them.
You’d be a sitting duck for an enemy.