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

[they'll get you]

Can someone explain: "The friend said it was unlike Mr Hill to leave his camp unattended and believed the suspicious fire was set as a 'decoy' for an attack."

How would that go, exactly? I'm not trying to be funny, I'm genuinely puzzled.

A fire to be a decoy.
The whole thing is truly strange.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

Maybe a fire to get them back to their camp, and stop the drone possibly filming something they don't want anyone knowing about.

I'd say that a fire would be something that Russell and Carol would have to rush back to attend to.

A fire to be a decoy.
The whole thing is truly strange.

 

[they'll get you]

OR they both ran and hid in the bush and the perps threatened to light or lit the fire so they’d come out of hiding.

Dammit this is a brain****!

 

[SouthAussie]

Can someone explain: "The friend said it was unlike Mr Hill to leave his camp unattended and believed the suspicious fire was set as a 'decoy' for an attack."

How would that go, exactly? I'm not trying to be funny, I'm genuinely puzzled.

Well, one description of decoy is:

A decoy is usually a person, device, or event meant as a distraction, to hide what an individual or a group might be looking for. Decoys have been used for centuries most notably in game hunting, but also in wartime and in the committing or resolving of crimes.
Decoy - Wikipedia

So if we go by that description, the fire could be a distraction from what really happened.

Perhaps like cases where someone ransacks a house after they have killed the resident, to make it look like a robbery or that someone was looking for something specific, when in fact the person was killed for entirely another reason.
Or perhaps, in this case, the tent being set on fire to make people think Russell and Carol were harmed in the tent or at the campsite, when they weren't.

I wonder if Rob has a specific reason in mind for his thinking.


The friend said it was unlike Mr Hill to leave his camp unattended and believed the suspicious fire was set as a 'decoy' for an attack.
Missing camper's final conversation revealed: Best mate of married man who vanished with 'beauty queen' reveals chilling details of their last phone call - and how he KNOWS his friend was attacked

 

[SouthAussie]

AND knew everyone’s channels AND how to listen in when she needed. I wonder what she heard.

Actually, the more I hear about this Russell character the less I’m liking him and others might have felt the same as me but with motivated reason.
What did the wife say? ‘Silly old bugger’. Mmmmm that’s putting it mildly. IMO.

One thing we haven't seen in this case is any family pleading for info about this potential crime.

"He's my dad and I love him, he is the kindest, most caring person you'd ever know. Please help."

No 'Sarah Ristevski' holding up a photo of dad - or mum - and looking anxious in front of a media pack.

No 'Dickies' pleading for the public to help reunite their husband/dad with their family, or their mother with her family.

Only a friend who is convinced his mate and mate's girlfriend have been killed.
And another friend who says no-one would have thought anything bad would have befallen Carol ..... Carol, who would make a meal and bring it to your house, just because that's the kind of person she is.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

DBM

 

[Kemug]

Our WS community often rely on their gut or hinky which often turns out to be on the money with no rhyme or reason.

Yeah, but we're pretty special, aren't we?

 

[TootsieFootsie]

I was thinking that too

One thing we haven't seen in this case is any family pleading for info about this potential crime.

 

[they'll get you]

Yeah, but we're pretty special, aren't we?

That we are hon.

 

[TootsieFootsie]

We soitenly are!

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I just read that Rob said nothing was awry with that last transmission, despite what has been said. Let me see if I can find the link.

ETA:
He said contrary to reports, communication was good and “there was no indication of any problems”.
Mr Ashlin gave Mr Hill directions on how to get to Dargo through Wombat Spur and Talbotville from Wonnangatta.
“His plan was in the next day or so to come down and camp at Upper Dargo as more or less a final night, I believe, and return (home) to Drouin,” Mr Ashlin told the Advertiser.
“I think they’ve been murdered”

First reports indicated that the final transmission was beginning to get muddled. Staticy. Garbled. Whatever term was used. It was becoming less clear, maybe Hill said it was unclear and they signed off. Maybe Mr. Hill experienced the problems but not his friend? Did the others hear the static? But it was lack of any further communication that put Ashlin on notice that something was not right. PLUS he’d never leave his vehicle, PLUS he knew his way around, PLUS he wouldn’t venture far from camp PLUS PLUS PLUS. All of it did not add up. Ashlin knew there was something wrong.

 

[Midwestmom2019]

I was thinking that too

Getting lost in the bush is like falling overboard at sea. You’re a goner.

 

[they'll get you]

Getting lost in the bush is like falling overboard at sea. You’re a goner.

Imo they didn’t get lost as he knew the area and I think the fire was no accident.
He loved that truck and he loved her. Double whammy.
The truth set someone free.

“silly old bugger”

 

[they'll get you]

Robyn Hill, 71, said she was hoping for the best after the search for her husband and Pakenham woman Ms Clay was abandoned last Monday.
“I just wish they would find them both alive,” Mrs Hill said.
“I thought he was going alone, I can’t believe it.
“I’ve got a feeling they may have died.”
She said Russell and Carol had been friendly for decades.
Mrs Hill said her husband “knew the area well” as he used to work up there for his work in logging.

She said she had an inkling something had gone wrong when he stopped communicating on his radio system.
“I knew something was wrong because he wasn’t calling in on the radio,” Mrs Hill said.
“It is not a good place to be when the weather gets bad.”
She issued a message to her husband of 50 years.
“You silly bugger,” she said

HeraldSun April 13th.

 

[they'll get you]

Maybe they went for a sunset walk maybe and he had a heart attack and died and she was totally lost, not knowing the area ?

 

[srper2]

RH "knew" the area well enough to pull up and camp there. He did not know the area so well, because he had to get directions from his friend on how to get in and out on his planned route. Seems he knew the camp ground/drive in/out area of a few k's. Being a "meticulous" camper is very different to being a skilled wilderness survivalist. Driving in and sitting beside a tent having a few beers with mates is very different to walking into the bush where you worked ten plus years before and realizing you can't see any track and have no idea where you are or which direction you walked in from. There are numerous missing people who disappeared on walks, the area scoured, but were not found. Others were found later by accident in an area that was searched thoroughly many times over. We have seen several examples posted her, another is Prabdeep Srawn, Paddy Hilderbrand, both never found despite exhaustive searches. If this old couple walked off into the bush searching for the drone and got lost, they would have become very cold overnight. Being too cold can have a debilitating effect on a sick old person with a heart condition.

 

[SouthAussie]

RH "knew" the area well enough to pull up and camp there. He did not know the area so well, because he had to get directions from his friend on how to get in and out on his planned route. Seems he knew the camp ground/drive in/out area of a few k's. Being a "meticulous" camper is very different to being a skilled wilderness survivalist. Driving in and sitting beside a tent having a few beers with mates is very different to walking into the bush where you worked ten plus years before and realizing you can't see any track and have no idea where you are or which direction you walked in from. There are numerous missing people who disappeared on walks, the area scoured, but were not found. Others were found later by accident in an area that was searched thoroughly many times over. We have seen several examples posted her, another is Prabdeep Srawn, Paddy Hilderbrand, both never found despite exhaustive searches. If this old couple walked off into the bush searching for the drone and got lost, they would have become very cold overnight. Being too cold can have a debilitating effect on a sick old person with a heart condition.

I wonder how much time Russell would have had to fly his drone on the night of 20th March?

His ham radio call ended around 6:30pm. He stated he was at Wonnangatta Station at that time, and they were going then to set up camp. Presumaby that meant driving to where the burned tent and his vehicle where found.
Did they then have to pitch the tent? Or had they already pitched it and 'set up camp' meant sorting other things out.

Then sunset, according to this chart, was at 7:31pm on that day.

Sunrise and sunset times in Melbourne, March 2020

 

[they'll get you]

I didn’t realise the keys were in the ignition.

But sources say the pair would have had plenty of time to escape a fire, and Mr Hill's Toyota four-wheel drive - found at the scene with keys in the ignition - is drive-able.

Mystery of elderly 'friends' who vanished on remote camping trip | Daily Mail Online

 

[they'll get you]

I wonder how much time Russell would have had to fly his drone on the night of 20th March?

His ham radio call ended around 6:30pm. He stated he was at Wonnangatta Station at that time, and they were going then to set up camp. Presumaby that meant driving to where the burned tent and his vehicle where found.
Did they then have to pitch the tent? Or had they already pitched it and 'set up camp' meant sorting other things out.

Then sunset, according to this chart, was at 7:31pm on that day.

Sunrise and sunset times in Melbourne, March 2020

Any WS campers think that’s crazy setting up camp so late in the night.

 

[srper2]

I wonder how much time Russell would have had to fly his drone on the night of 20th March?

His ham radio call ended around 6:30pm. He stated he was at Wonnangatta Station at that time, and they were going then to set up camp. Presumaby that meant driving to where the burned tent and his vehicle where found.
Did they then have to pitch the tent? Or had they already pitched it and 'set up camp' meant sorting other things out.

Then sunset, according to this chart, was at 7:31pm on that day.

Sunrise and sunset times in Melbourne, March 2020

I would think that if he flew the drone, he would have done it the next morning, not in the dark.