Victoria Police have ended its five-day search for fugitive Dezi Freeman in Mount Buffalo National Park, finding no trace of him.
The search began on Feb. 2, with police again focusing on steep, dense terrain in Victoria’s high country.
Victoria Police said they are now working with three possibilities about Freeman’s whereabouts: that he is still at large and alone, that he is at large with help from a specific person or people, or that he is deceased inside the park due to self-harm or misadventure.
When asked whether police planned to conduct more searches, Victoria Police responded to The Epoch Times: “In terms of any future searches, we will advise media where appropriate.”
Gunshot Intelligence Drove New Operation
Freeman has not been seen since Aug. 26, where police suspect he shot dead Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart who were attempting to serve a warrant at his Rayner Track property near Porepunkah.A third officer was also injured, suffering lower-body wounds.
After the shooting, police allege Freeman fled into nearby bushland carrying multiple firearms.
The Feb. 2 search was launched after a witness reported hearing a single gunshot in the area less than two hours after the two officers were killed — a report later corroborated by investigators.
The latest operation followed earlier searches in the same region.
In December, police conducted another five-day sweep of about 0.886 square kilometres, including cave checks and line-by-line searches, but found no trace of Freeman.
Freeman, described by police as a self-declared sovereign citizen, remains the subject of a $1 million reward—the first of its kind offered in Victoria—for information leading to his arrest.
