The entrance to Wangaratta police station is filled with flowers. The trestle tables set up in the foyer had overflowed by Thursday afternoon, the third day of the search for Dezi Freeman, so there were bouquets on the floor.
Friends, colleagues and strangers had left written messages paying tribute to the two police officers Freeman allegedly shot and killed in nearby Porepunkah on Tuesday.
On a table covered in a white cloth were framed photos of the two dead men: detective leading senior constable Neal Thompson, 59, a local detective who had been planning his retirement, and senior constable Vadim De Waart, 35, who was on temporary assignment in Victoria’s alpine region.
Outside that station, the Victoria police deputy commissioner of regional operations, Russell Barrett, held a press conference. He said the officers’ deaths were devastating and thanked the community for its support.
“This is one of the more or the most difficult matters that I’ve dealt with and one of the most difficult matters in Victoria Police’s history,” he said.
Thompson was loved by the community and only a week or two from stopping work, while De Waart was a young man looking forward to his future, Barrett said. A third officer who Freeman allegedly shot and injured was recovering from surgery in hospital.
Barrett said “every available asset” was being used in the search for Freeman, who had not been seen since he ran into the bush surrounding the base of Mt Buffalo on Tuesday, and that police would not rest until they found him.
But he provided scant “operational detail” of the search and how it was going, only conceding it would be “protracted” and police were navigating “really difficult terrain”.
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“It’s complex terrain, and it’s not something that we, even with our specialist resources, can move through quickly, because it is dangerous terrain as well,” Barrett said.
The third day of the search for Freeman was marred by bad weather and heavy rain. Low cloud cover hung over Porepunkah most of the day, and the police helicopter had to land several times. Snow was forecast for the Alpine region.
The bushland Freeman vanished into is thick and dangerous – filled with sheer cliffs, granite tors and, locals say, plenty of old mine shafts.
Barrett said police were still working on the theory that Freeman, a “sovereign citizen” who knew the land well and understood bushcraft, remained in the local area. He said police were “continuing to speak to” Freeman’s wife, but he would not say anything more about her.
He would not confirm whether police believed anyone was harbouring Freeman or knew where he might be, whether he had shelters or booby traps set up in the forest, or how many homes in the area the officers looking for him had left to search.
A local man, Glen, who did not give his last name, said he had known Freeman for 20 years and expected the search could go on for days. He said Freeman was a remarkable bushman and knew the area better than anyone.
“Look around, this is his back yard,” he said. “And he knows it better than the cops know their own back yards.”
At least two raids were conducted on local properties on Thursday.
One of those was listed online as holiday accommodation for those “wanting the peace and quiet of a rural homestead”, sleeping up to six people across three bedrooms. According to its website, it was booked out all month and remains occupied until this weekend. A fleet of seven police cars entered it on Thursday, before officers, dressed completely in black and carrying guns, searched the area.
The person listed as the contact for the property could not be reached for comment.
The media were asked to move on, and the police provided no information as to why some properties were being searched.
Via text message, police again warned those in the area to avoid “non-essential travel”, but some locals were trying to embrace a semblance of normalcy. The local primary school opened, with two police officers standing outside with teachers to greet pupils.
Local cafes were also starting to open up. The owner of one, who asked not to be identified, said they spoke to their staff before reopening. “We’ve got to pay rent,” the owner said. “People have got to eat, have a warm place to go. We made sure our staff were comfortable.”
Police had been searching the area near the property where Freeman was living on Wednesday night, but by Thursday morning, the roads were cleared.
Another apparent resident on the property, who identified himself as Fabio, said he lived there, and had been trying to get in on Wednesday morning when police stopped him. He said he could not say any more and did not own the property, but that he had tried to get in to get his belongings and been blocked by police.
On Thursday afternoon, police had reinstated a roadblock nearby. The search ended about 6pm, as hail and rain swept over the town.
At the press conference at the Wangaratta police station, Brett Kahan, a local superintendent, directly addressed Freeman, as though – or in case – he was watching.
“If Dezi Freeman is watching this, ring triple zero, and we will support a surrender plan – that option is absolutely open to him,” Kahan said.
But asked by a reporter what this “surrender plan” would look like, Kahan would not say.
