A national park extensively searched during the hunt for Dezi Freeman will partially reopen to the public, as police admit the alleged cop killer may have left the area.Â
Freeman, 56, has not been seen since August 26 when he allegedly gunned down officers Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart and injured a third inside a makeshift bus in Porepunkah, in Victoria’s high country.Â
Believing he may have fled into surrounding bushland on foot following the shooting, police closed large parts of Mount Buffalo National Park to the public. Â
Hundreds of officers spent weeks scouring the national park with the help of the Victoria Police Air Wing and other specialist support.Â
Now, seven weeks later and with no trace of Freeman, investigators are confident the park can be partly reopened to visitors from Tuesday.
‘The reopening of the park does not signify the end of the search for Freeman, and Victoria Police will continue to maintain a strong presence in the area,’ police said.Â
Freeman’s brother James Filby suspects he may have perished in the Mount Buffalo wilderness, adding Freeman would hope police never find his body.Â
‘I hope he has peace now. I imagine his last hours… were cold, lonely, fearful,’ Mr Filby wrote.
Dezi Freeman(pictured) has been at large for nearly two months, since he allegedly shot and killed two police officers in Porepunkah on August 26
Police have reopened parts of Mount Buffalo National Park to the public as the search for the alleged killer (pictured) continues
‘What Dez did was wrong, but he’s my brother and I miss him. I know he would want to be buried on Mount Buffalo and never found by police. But we need closure.’
Hundreds of Victoria Police officers and specialist resources from across Australia and New Zealand have been involved in the search for Freeman.Â
Police have spoken to more than 800 people, searched hundreds of properties and investigated over 1,600 pieces of intelligence, including public tips.Â
Daily Mail previously reported the search is estimated to have cost taxpayers up to $100million, with hundreds of heavily-armed officers remaining in the area.Â
Despite nearly two months of fruitless searching, Commissioner Mike Bush said finding Freeman remained one of the force’s top priorities.Â
‘Is he still alive? We don’t know. Is he alive and still in the area? We have no real information to suggest that,’ he told reporters on Monday.Â
‘Or has he been unable to leave the area and is being looked after by others?
‘We don’t know – all of those are assumptions, possibilities, and we plan a resource for those three.’Â
Police spent weeks searching the national park, including assistance from the Air WingÂ
He said there had been 1,400 tips to police with ‘every one of those pursued twice’.
‘We encourage anyone who believes they have any information that could help us find this person, please don’t hesitate to let us know.’
Parts of Mount Buffalo park will remain closed and police are urging anyone with hunting or trail cameras to check their video and share any information that might help investigators.
A dangerous person alert remains in force at the park and surrounding areas on the Vic Emergency website, warning locals and visitors to ‘remain vigilant’.Â
Parks Victoria confirmed the update, stating most of the popular sites, trails and roads would reopen and police would continue to maintain a presence in the area.Â
Police offered a $1million reward for information leading to Freeman’s capture, which is the largest financial offer in Victoria’s history for facilitating an arrest.
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Police make shock admission about the search for Dezi Freeman – as search marks a grim milestone