Murdered or Lost - clarifying the missing?
(Three years down the track)
There have always been ‘lone wolf’ stories of mostly men who wander off into or frequent the wilderness. Sometimes they are seen camped on the banks of a river, or perhaps hidden in the depths of the forest. Most are harmless, but some are not, regardless of their individual psychology what is it that drives them away from the towns and cities and into the woods?
Three years ago, I wrote the above paragraph as the opener to my first article on this topic, since then I have been thrown into a current of related turbulence involving murder, intrigue and investigative thinking, which perhaps started with the Warren Meyer case and then exploded with the Wonnangatta river country disappearance and murder investigation involving Russell Hill and Carol Clay, and the subsequent charging of commercial airline pilot, Greg Lynn.
This article juxtaposes those cases and others such as the disappearance of Victorian Prison Governor David Prideaux, and the fringe area shooting of cyclist Kelvin Tennant, against the original article’s suggestion that, ‘…amongst these bush venturers there are others, a small number who are perhaps walking on the ‘hot coals’ of anger, and who with only the slight hint of another human invading their space will explode into a rage. Why does this happen, is it perhaps that their desperate need to escape ‘the madding crowd’ has been compromised by interlopers with a similar yet conflicting and encroaching mindset.’
Samantha Kiss and I, through our www.footprintsinthewilderness.com.au missing person research, cannot help noticing what appears to be an increasing number of mostly men who are disappearing in wilderness or bush areas. We know that many are venturing alone into the bush, often struggling with underlying mental health factors or other neurodivergent conditions. Some also have intent of suicide. However, we also know that in several cases there are suspicions of foul play or other forms of human intervention, such as perhaps an accidental shooting.
What is concerning to us (perhaps mostly anecdotal at this stage), is the recognition of those men who are disconnecting from some elements of society, and either becoming depressed, or angry and violent.
What is worthy of note, is if we transport that behaviour into wilderness areas in an example where a venturer may be seeking solitude and perhaps some form of primeval worthiness through hunting. That venturer is armed, and if confronted by another who in some way disturbs his purpose, the outcome could be disastrous, which to some degree has been suggested in the Wonnangatta case.
In the Wonnangatta case, a number of elements have been raised. Any one of them could be considered enough to ignite an incident, for example the use of guns, blaring radios, drones, or even that of close proximity camping in a vast area which is contrary to the fundamental desire for space.
When we examine the statistics regarding missing hikers and hunters in Australia, we find that most (78%) are found uninjured and 97% are found alive within the first 24 hours. The statistics also show that there is an almost 50% chance of being found alive after 96 hours. Although these statistics reveal that males are three times more likely to go missing than females, we do note that lone male hunter/hikers are greater represented, probably as there are more males hunting, fishing and lone hiking than females. When looking at the data as to how individuals became missing it is also universally noted that only about 1% of cases are investigative, i.e. (criminal/suspicious/unnatural). (The above statistics are from the International Search and Rescue Data Base to which Australia is a contributor and from the Australian National SAR Council Report of July 2006.)
There is always going to be a high degree of media and public attention to cases having an element of action, mystery and intrigue in the bush or perhaps anywhere in rural Australia. It doesn’t matter if it is ‘The High Country’ of Victoria or the Queensland/Northern Territory Outback, or for that matter anywhere that the media and the vast anonymous public can focus their attention on. Examples of this include the Ballarat case of Samantha Murphy, or Moe in the Jadyn Leskie case, both of which were coincidently, murders in rural Victorian centres. It is much easier to unwittingly malign a country town than the vast grey blur of the Metropolitan area.
It is also interesting to see how easy a tag is placed on an area, such as ‘The High Country’ or ‘The Outback’. The media, and most of the public refer to any hills East or North East of Melbourne as ‘The High Country’, and they seem to restrict it to being contained only within Victoria. When in fact, ‘The High Country’ also extends into New South Wales, with Victoria’s Yarra Ranges not technically part of ‘The High Country’. So if you are considering missing person cases in ‘The High Country’, then you must include those in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Alas, my comments in this regard are generally ignored by media, and not included in bulletins.
Putting aside a topographical point of order and focusing back on the topic, we can see that there is only a one per cent probability of a missing person being the victim of human intervention rather than natural misadventure. We also know that each year there are dozens, if not hundreds of cases of mostly males who are reported missing in bush or wilderness areas across the whole of Australia. By far the majority of these men are harmless to others and will mostly avoid human contact.
Several of these cases turn into long term missing person cases, that is missing for longer than three months. Some will likely never be found, instead remaining hidden or partially buried where they perished under a blanket of fallen forest debris.
As stated earlier, only a very small number of missing person cases in the bush involve some form of crime (with the exception of wanted criminals), where the missing person is the victim not the perpetrator. Also, in most cases where a crime is involved, the offender and the victim will most likely be visitors to the area and unknown to each other.
Victoria does however, seem to have a number of high-profile missing person cases in the North Eastern Ranges, including the High Country, starting with the case of Warren Meyer near Dom Dom Saddle Narbethong in 2008 and, at the time of this article ending with the Death of Russell Hill and the Murder of Carol Clay at Wonnongatta River in 2020. In between these two cases was the shooting/attempted murder of Kelvin Tennant at Burgoigee Creek, Myrtleford in 2017.
The elements of each of these shootings, including the locations, background circumstances, types of weapons, profiles of entities and activities being undertaken are different therefore, to form even a moderate opinion that these shootings are related is wildly speculative and without substance. Regarding connectivity, there is nothing to note other than a higher awareness only.
Returning to the bigger elephant in the room, is the research needed regarding the number of adult males crossing paths in the bush or wilderness areas, some of which are psychologically unwell. What we are perhaps seeing is an increase in wilderness users or frequenters, be they hikers or hunters, as well as others who are struggling with disconnection, mental disassociation or emotional dysregulation. The challenge for us all is to not only recognise who is at risk, but also identify the causes and influences.
There are an alarming number of cases that are worthy of mention, however, to do so could inflict unnecessary stress and pain on grieving families. Every individual deserves their own space and story at a time that is appropriate to the case.
Footprints in the wilderness is embarking upon a period of study into the field of long-term missing adult males in the Australian wilderness, with Samantha Kiss undertaking post-graduate research at the University of New England. If you are connected to such a case and have specific information that you would like to share with Samantha, please feel free to message her via her LinkedIn page
Written by Valentine Smith APM (Co-founder of Footprints in the Wilderness)
Footprintsinthewilderness.com.au – August 2024
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