Dezi Freeman: Porepunkah locals believe suspected cop killer is using bush tunnels to evade police hunt

Porepunkah residents believe suspected cop killer Dezi Freeman may be using old gold mining tunnels and caves in Victoria’s remote alpine wilderness to stay one step ahead of police, as the massive manhunt to capture him stretches into its third day.

Mark Bartolic, a long-time local, says the 56-year-old knows the terrain around Mount Buffalo exceptionally well and could be exploiting its hidden bush networks to avoid detection.

“There are a lot of caves here and a lot of dugouts that have been (left) from gold mining,” Mr Bartolic told the Daily Mail.

“I know caves. People know caves. I’m not even sure the police have looked under the tunnel that goes straight under Porepunkah here.”

Mr Freeman, an experienced bushman, fled into the wilderness after allegedly gunning down two police officers “in cold blood” while they were executing a search warrant at his remote property on Tuesday morning.

The fallen officers have been identified as 59-year-old Senior Constable Neal Thompson, who was nearing retirement, and 35-year-old Senior Constable Vadim De Waart.

“He is obviously a very dangerous person, and he needs to be caught,” Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush told reporters on Wednesday.

“He knows that area, even though we have experts in the area, he will know that area better than us,” he added.

“So, that’s why we’re putting in every expert and supported by local knowledge as well. We must find him.”

Senior Constable Paul Hogan told ABC Radio on Thursday that there had been no confirmed sighting of Mr Freeman since Tuesday.

“To give you an idea of the resources that we’ve deployed to the area, we’ve got Homicide Squad, Armed Crime Squad, Fugitive Squad, Special Operations Group, Critical Incident Response team – they all remain in the Porepunkah area,” he said.

Mr Bartolic says it will take an “experienced policeman, maybe even a tracker or something to do the job”.

“He knows the area. He’s a very experienced bushman, and I think it will be very hard to find him,” he added.

He made the shocking admission that Mr Freeman could survive alone out in the wilderness “for weeks”.

“I feel it’s going to linger for a while.”

He believes that the accused killer could be using one of the many abandoned shafts across the rugged area.

“I know of two myself, and I know there are more. A lot more,” he added.

Mr Freeman was last seen wearing dark green/khaki tracksuit pants, a dark green rain jacket, brown Blundstone boots and reading glasses.