Found after three years

by Bonnie Collings
Three years to the day after she went missing, police located human remains in the renewed search for Lucinda Miller last Thursday.
Acting inspector Paula Linford said the remains, clothing and a vodka bottle that were located 80 metres off the roadside were "consistent" with Lucinda.
"We think that everything is consistent with it being Lucinda, but we have to have that confirmed forensically to make sure that it is actually Lucinda," she said.
"We were able to find the bottle that we were looking for and some of the clothing that Lucinda was wearing has also been found."
Acting insp Linford said the remains were found "down a hill and in quite thick bushland."

Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) staff head into dense bushland during the search at Neerim South last week.

"The searchers worked really, really hard. They were at times pretty much on their hands and knees searching through some of the bushland to make sure that they were looking at everything that they needed to look at.
"It was really very hard going for them, but to actually find Lucinda has been extremely rewarding for all of our people who've been involved."
 

Lucinda Miller was presented with the Beth Delzoppo Neerim District Community Bank Scholarship in 2016.

Lucinda, 24, went missing in bushland near Neerim South in October 2022. It is believed she caught a rideshare from Melbourne and after leaving the vehicle at 11:30am, was walking towards her home when she went missing.
A renewed search for Lucinda began last Tuesday in bushland area around McDougal Rd and Whitelaw Track in Neerim South, about three kilometres from the original search area.
Acting insp Linford said new data obtained from rideshare company Uber and information from a community member gave police "a different point to start" the renewed search.
"We (got) some information from a community member that gave us a new place to start.
"From that, our detectives went back to the original investigation and had another look at it, and then they were able to get this new information from the Uber data."
About 60 volunteers from agencies including the CFA, SES, personnel from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and the Australian Federal Police with technology detection dogs supported Victoria Police during the search.

Australian Federal Police technology detection dogs Koby (front) and Doris (back) were on the group on day two of the search.

Acting insp Linford said the AFP's technology detection dogs played a major role in uncovering the remains on the third day of the search.
"The dogs were fantastic," she said.
"They were in the area and one of the dogs started to have some indications that something was going on. One of our detectives came back to where they were, located one of the vodka bottles, and from there they've looked a bit closer and they've found the remains."

Baw Baw CIU detectives leading the new search (from left) detective leading senior constable Brian Cook, detective senior constable Michael Fowler and detective sergeant Chris Skurrie.

Speaking to the Gazette on day two of the search, Baw Baw CIU detective sergeant Chris Skurrie described the search as "methodical," and explained the difficult conditions searchers were working in.
"The area is quite dense bushland with quite a lot of leaf litter, which is not easily accessible," he said. "I wouldn't consider it an easy area to search. It's quite dense and it takes quite an amount of time, but we're lucky to have lots of people actively searching."

DEECA staff make their way into the dense bushland to continue searching on Wednesday.  

Det sgt Skurrie described the support and collaboration from all agencies involved as "overwhelming."
"It's obvious how much Lucinda meant to the community," he said.
"There are people here that know her through various degrees of separation or know the family or knew her in the area, and that's not lost on the people that are searching.
"It's great to see everybody working collaboratively, with agencies that we might not have worked with in the past, we can all come together for a common purpose."
Acting insp Linford said Lucinda would be released to her family after a coronial examination.
Lucinda's death is not being treated as suspicious.
"In these types of investigations detectives routinely make thorough enquiries to ensure they are satisfied no suspicious circumstances exist and in this instance there was no evidence to suggest this," det sgt Skurrie said.

If you have been impacted by this story, support can be found by contacting: Beyond Blue 1300 224 636; SANE 1800 187 263; Headspace 1800 650 890