Victoria Police have said they “strongly” believe Dezi Freeman is dead, hours after commencing a fresh search effort for the fugitive in Victoria’s Mount Buffalo National Park.
“We don’t believe that he is still in the area alive,” Detective Inspector Adam Tilley told reporters. “We have done extensive searching of the caves, the mines, the huts, the rivers.”
“We do believe strongly that he is in this area deceased.”
He said police were, however, “keeping an open mind” to the possibility that Freeman was alive, and were continuing to explore three scenarios — that Freeman had died, was being harboured or had left the area.
Police had announced the five-day search operation for Freeman, or his remains, would begin at daybreak on Monday using cadaver dogs and specialist officers from around the country — the latest operation in a five-month manhunt for the 56-year-old.
The new search operation was based on intelligence linked to a gunshot reported in the area after the fatal shootings of police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart on 26 August, police said.
The pair were among a team of officers serving a warrant at Freeman’s home in the small north-east Victorian town of Porepunkah in late August.
Police allege Freeman fled into dense bushland near the property after the incident.
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More than 400 police were deployed in the days after the shooting but failed to uncover any trace of the 56-year-old.
Detective Senior Constable Thompson, 59, was just a week away from retiring, while Senior Constable de Waart-Hottart, 34, was on temporary assignment to the area.
Police said firearms testing previously undertaken by police had shaped their renewed search area.
Fresh search of Mount Buffalo National Park
Police are searching the remote location about 300km north-east of Melbourne.
Officers from Taskforce Summit, formed in October, have investigated thousands of pieces of intelligence including numerous tip-offs from the public.
The renewed search will include more than 100 people, including police from the Search and Rescue Squad, Critical Incident Response Team, Dog Squad and Drone Units who will work alongside local police and Taskforce Summit investigators.
A NSW Police cadaver dog will also be used.
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In December last year, police spent five days systematically searching an area just shy of a square kilometre in thick bush and heavy terrain conducting line searches and clearing caves. This week’s search focuses on an area adjoining the location of that previous search.
Investigators in December revealed they had shifted their search efforts to locating the body of the self-described “sovereign citizen”, however, a five-day effort to scour the bush with cadaver dogs and drones yielded nothing.
Earlier, Detective Inspector Tilley said locating Freeman remains the taskforce’s number one priority.
“There is no doubt that everyone involved wants an answer and I want to reaffirm that Victoria Police remains committed to doing everything we can to locate Desmond Freeman and get that answer.”
$1 million reward and possible indemnity
People in the area had been advised to remain vigilant and not approach the fugitive, who is considered armed and dangerous, in the event of a sighting.
Victoria Police have offered a $1 million reward and the possibility of indemnity for information leading to his capture — the largest reward in the state’s history for facilitating an arrest.
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Tilley had said police believe information from the community will be crucial in resolving the matter, and urged people to come forward with any information.
“What we want most is to see this through to resolution and hopefully provide answers and some level of comfort to Neal and Vadim’s families, the other police impacted and the wider community.”
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