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TRANSCRIPT
A renewed search has begun for fugitive Dezi Freeman, a man who has eluded Victoria Police for five months.
Mr Freeman is accused of killing two police officers and severely injuring a third after they executed a search warrant on a rural property near the Victorian town of Porepunkah in August last year.
In the early hours of Monday morning ((2 February)), tactical officers opened the fresh search, returning to rugged terrain close to where Mr Freeman allegedly shot the officers.
Victoria Police Detective Inspector Adam Tilley said the renewed efforts follow a months-long ground and air search operation.
“We've had Australia's and New Zealand's best here, to conduct extensive searches of the Mount Buffalo area in an attempt to locate Freeman. This is the largest manhunt we have seen in Victoria, and tactically is the largest that's occurred in Australia.”
This week's planned five-day operation will include more than 100 people, including police from the Search and Rescue Squad, Critical Incident Response Team, Dog Squad and Drone Units as well as volunteers who will work alongside local police and investigators.
The search is focused on a 1.3 square kilometer area of land in Mount Buffalo National Park, adjoining an area previously searched in December.
Detective Tilley said despite a forecast of favourable weather, the renewed search for Mr Freeman faces challenging conditions.
“It is steep. It is thick, dense bush. At parts you don't even know where you're stepping. You have to be extremely careful. We've got the state or the country's best here helping us on this occasion, I've spoken to one of my colleagues just prior to this interview and they said it's harder, and safety's an issue for everyone because of the terrain.”
After receiving more than 2,000 pieces of information, one clue is now guiding this new search.
Investigators are focusing on two crucial hours after officers executed a warrant at a property related to alleged historical sexual offences.
Thirty-four-year-old Senior Constable Vadim de Waart- Hottart and 59-year-old Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson were shot dead during the subsequent confrontation.
Their alleged gunman was last seen at 10.45 am on the western side of the Buckland River.
Police now say they've corroborated a witness account from local man Jude Wilson, who says he heard a single shot at 12.29pm.
“Cops were going past. I came out here with Nana (grandmother) and I heard a bang in the background. I was like 'what was that'. So I looked around, not too sure what it was. Over in the paddock there they do shooting but normally with a rifle you hear another bang. It sounded like some sort of homemade shotgun.”
Victoria Police say investigators believe if Mr Freeman is still in the area, the 56-year-old is most likely no longer alive.
But they are keeping other possibilities open, including that the alleged gunman has left the area, or is being harboured by others.
Criminologist at Macquarie University Dr Vince Hurley says if Mr Freeman did remain in the area, the rugged mountain terrain makes his survival unlikely.
“He would've been combatting with the weather for sure. Absolutely, hypothermia - even if he had food or water - the fact that the ADF were down there in the first place, would've been there to work out his survivability and how many calories he would need per day to survive in that environment. The fact that they took a New South Wales police dog down - a cadaver dog - would indicate that perhaps he's deceased, which would not surprise me.”
Police have vowed they will 'not stop' until Dezi Freeman is found.
