Found Deceased Australia - Russell Hill, 74, & Carol Clay, 72, Wonnangatta Valley, 20 Mar 2020 #4 *ARREST*

[SouthAussie]

This is the vehicle they want.

• a dark-blue four-wheel drive seen leaving a remote Wonnangatta Valley campsite on the day Carol Clay and Russell Hill vanished
• captured on roadside cameras driving on The Great Alpine Road that weekend
• matches the description of a car witnesses saw parked near Mr Hill and Ms Clay’s campsite on March 20 that was heard leaving the area about midnight.

Inspector Stamper said the unusual location of Mr Hill’s tent had prompted the theory that there might have been an altercation with another camper.
“One thing that’s always occurred to us is there could have been somebody else here at the same time.”

**********************

Speaking from Perth, Carol’s younger sister, Jill, revealed that Mr Hill and Ms Clay had visited the campsite often.

“I knew that she was going camping, not just on that occasion, but on other occasions. And I knew that she was having the relationship and that they were doing these trips.

“They had to keep it secret. And in some ways, I feel that that’s why they went to such a remote place.”

New clues in mystery of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay

 

[PrimeSuspect]

The vehicle that police are seeking is a mid to late ’90s model Nissan Patrol, dark blue, with roof racks, sidesteps and a bull bar. It was towing a trailer.

“My belief here is that this was random,” said Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper, head of Victoria Police’s missing persons squad. “Everything seems to point towards this being some sort of confrontation, which has started as an argument maybe.

“But my belief is that the person that carried out this is probably just an ordinary member of the community, who’s operating in a normal job, but carrying this significant load on their mind. And potentially, they’re the only one that knows about it as well.”

A photo of the car police are searching for, taken on the Great Alpine Road.

New clues in mystery of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay

I hope this person surrenders, it's only a matter of time before the police knock on their door.
It was heart wrenching watching RH's daughters speak of their anguish about not knowing what happened, there's no closure.
Someone out there must know who owns this vehicle and/or trailer, it has off road tyres. Imo, it wouldn't be in the perp's possession anymore, but once it's found, it will lead back to them.

 

[PrimeSuspect]

60 Minutes 2021 Ep 37 Breakthrough, Dirty Work, Party Time, Watch TV Online

 

[PingTheRouter]

This is the vehicle they want.

interesting that this is the only vehicle that hasn't come forward to talk to authorities

this also explains why the've kept harping on about whoever was in the area during the time to call them

it sucks though its a fairly common model in a fairly popular colour as well and the trailer is just a generic trailer

BUT the off-road tires that is interesting i haven't seen a lot of trailers with those getting around, it could help narrow down the search ( although now its all over the national tv stations they have probably destroyed them or they were destroyed or sold earlier)

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I just finished watching on catchup.

I seem to vaguely remember a car pulling a trailer being mentioned in this thread before, ages ago.

 

[PingTheRouter]

I seem to vaguely remember a car pulling a trailer being mentioned in this thread before, ages ago.

i remember them saying there was a 4WD spotted by other people near where they were camping, but i don't remember a trailer

you could be right though but i think this time its a few different things

* Road camera capture of the 4WD and trailer which could be the same one spotted at the campsite
* the fact they think it is possible that Russel and Carol have camped next to the 4WD as they were in the prime location camping spot
* off-road tires on the trailer
*colour and make of the 4WD they are interested in

 

[ddnsc]

WTH?! Why are they only telling us about the car now?!

My takeaway from the 60 minutes episode is that they have been going through all the cars on the 3 road cams and have finally come down to this one as the only one that they cannot identify. I would think that would take many months of investigation to track down all those vehicles.

 

[Skyboy90]

I’d imagine they would have spent much time investigating the car before releasing the image. With all the resources and intelligence they have, the fact they have found no more details around the car is quite interesting.

I think this is a move to put pressure on the said people. We are coming for you etc...

Don’t always rely on your friends, families, neighbors, colleagues to keep you protected. Someone will throw them under the bus, hopefully soon.

Question is how far away from Vic have they gone?

 

[PingTheRouter]

Question is how far away from Vic have they gone?

i think it could be 2 things

either they never lived here to begin with ( they were familiar with the area, maybe grew up camping there) and they have bolted back over the border either to SA/NSW

or they are a local and live somewhere fairly close by

its the country though.. how far is "Close by" it could be 150km

 

[SouthAussie]

“But my belief is that the person that carried out this is probably just an ordinary member of the community, who’s operating in a normal job, but carrying this significant load on their mind. And potentially, they’re the only one that knows about it as well.”

New clues in mystery of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay

 

[PingTheRouter]

“But my belief is that the person that carried out this is probably just an ordinary member of the community, who’s operating in a normal job, but carrying this significant load on their mind. And potentially, they’re the only one that knows about it as well.”

New clues in mystery of missing campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay

typical police wording, community could mean anything, town,city,state etc

hard to know but probably someone local who knows the area well

 

[SouthAussie]

Thinking back to the Ristevski case, VICPOL tracked down every registered vehicle like Karen's vehicle (IIRC there were 21 of them) so they could include/exclude them in the CCTV that they had of Karen's vehicle at a specific time at a specific place (railway crossing, at a time when it was supected Karen's remains were being moved from her home, judging by ping data).

Sometime with a one year period, VICPOL had the time and opportunity to do this tedious exercise in the Ristevski case.

I think it is probable that VICPOL have done similar in this case. They obviously have CCTV footage of the vehicle. So they can track down every registered vehicle of the same type and colour.

The question is, have they found every registered owner?
Do they have a satisfactory alibi from each registered owner?
How many registered owners are in a suspect pool?

You would think there would be a limited amount of people who were known to go to the Wonnangatta area ... although any owners of that type of vehicle might be regular outbackers (and/or hunters).

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I'm finding it a bit hard to get excited. Other times they were "close" too and had breakthroughs but nothing happened.

I'm getting The Boy Who Cried Wolf feeling.

But the getting the daughters and the sister out made me think that they're trying to appeal to anyone who may know something or who has suspicions.

I think the daughters and sisters speaking out is something that LE would have asked them to do.
To make the suffering the relatives are going through be seen.

 

[PingTheRouter]

I think it is probable that VICPOL have done similar in this case. They obviously have CCTV footage of the vehicle. So they can track down every registered vehicle of the same type and colour.

the only difference that i could see is, the route the killer took in the Ristevski case was he took a populated route with many cameras they could use, many towers they could access and they knew the mobiles they were looking for

this might be slightly harder because of the rural nature

but i agree.. VicRoad database has to have a search function for the model + colour + trailer+area and go from there?

 

[Monsoon]

Lots of questions.
1/ Where did the car do the 20-30 point turn when it couldn't leave the valley via the "Myrtleford Gate" ? Does anyone know where this spot would have been. It seems like it must have been near a camp site as other campers heard the car.
2/ The car was then captured by video "on Mount Hotham" - where was this - is there a location? Is it the road near Mount Hotham that leads north, into Bright, or actually on the road going right over Mount Hotham (heading east).
3/ Did those CCTV road cameras catch the car at any other times - e.g. going IN to the valley? if so, which direction did it come from?
4/ Less important - Russel's car was locked, yet it seemed that wallets had been run through and contents scattered. Where were his keys? I assume probably burnt in the tent fire?
5/ Less important - Why do you think a car would tow a trailer like that. Just for extra supplies? But there isn't much/anything on the car's roof racks. It seems like a lot of bother to tow on those roads. Would a likely reason be to bring back deer? And what is covering the trailer - it looks like a board?

 

[PingTheRouter]

5/ Less important - Why do you think a car would tow a trailer like that. Just for extra supplies?

iv seen these on camping trips before, mostly to take bulky items that won't fit in the 4WD, but iv never seen one covered the way the one in the CCTV is.. its very neatly wrapped up

 

[JerseyGirl]

Police searching for missing campers in Victorian high country release picture of blue vehicle

 

[TootsieFootsie]

A good place to keep things "out of sight"

iv seen these on camping trips before, mostly to take bulky items that won't fit in the 4WD, but iv never seen one covered the way the one in the CCTV is.. its very neatly wrapped up

 

[PingTheRouter]

A good place to keep things "out of sight"

indeed sherlock indeed

that is quite macabre if they were in that trailer when the photo was taken, where are they now is the question isn't it

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Hill-Clay disappearance - 99.5 & 99.9 Gippsland's TRFM - Local / National News

The largest illustration of the blue vehicle that I've seen so far, plus the largest pic of the actual vehicle.