CAMPERS CASE IN COURT

A TRIAL OVER THE DEATHS OF TWO LOVERS IN RURAL VICTORIA HAS BEGUN

- Kylie Walters

The daughter of a woman who was allegedly murdered alongside her married lover in Victoria's High Country has told a court that the pair shared a "very caring and very loving" relationship.

Carol Clay, 73, went missing following a camping trip at a remote site in the Wonnangatta Valley in 2020 with Russell Hill, 74. Her daughter, Emma Davies, revealed she found this out after receiving a phone call from a police officer who said the campsite had been found abandoned and burnt.

While authorities were seeking permission to put out a media release about her mother's disappearance, Davies was initially reluctant to do so due to some "concerns" over their privacy.

"I wasn't sure if I knew at that time she had been away with Russell, but I knew she had previously," Davies told the Victorian Supreme Court on May 15. "Russell was married and so I was concerned about the media release going out and showing them camping together."