Camp Site Mystery Where Are Russell & Carol?

One year after two campers vanished in rural victoria, police are still connecting the dots

It’s not unusual for people to get lost in Victoria’s high country. With its rugged terrain, it makes for difficult conditions. But it is unusual for two people to disappear without a trace for an entire year.

This week marks 12 months since Melbourne businessman Russell Hill and his secret lover Carol Clay went missing after going on a camping trip to Wonnangatta Valley, a remote region with a dark past.

Police are still desperately searching for clues that could lead to the pair’s whereabouts.

“One year on from the disappearance of Wonnangatta campers Russell Hill and Carol Clay, detectives from the Missing Persons Squad are continuing their appeal for information,” says Detective Inspector Andrew Stamper of the Missing Persons Squad.

It’s believed that Russell, 74, picked up Carol, 73, from her home on the outskirts of Melbourne in his Toyota Landcruiser on March 19, 2020, before the pair headed towards the remote valley.

They spent a night at Howitt High Plains before pushing on to the valley the following day.

Russell had told his wife and family that he was camping alone, which he’d been known to do since he retired two years earlier.

But it was only on his disappearance did those close to him learn that Carol, a former Country Women’s Association president, accompanied him on some of those getaways.