Dezi Freeman: Porepunkah reopens as historic manhunt for accused cop killer enters third week
The town at the centre of Australia’s biggest manhunt is preparing to return to a sense of normalcy as police lift movement restrictions around the area.
A strong police presence in Porepunkah and surrounding areas, including Myrtleford and Bright, is expected to continue as authorities enter their third week in search of accused cop killer Dezi Freeman.
Freeman, 56, is accused of fatally shooting policemen Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart at a property in Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, on August 26 before escaping into bushland.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Police on Sunday lifted travel warnings in the area, allowing the community to return to normalcy ahead of school holidays.
Mount Buffalo National Park will remain closed.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett said lifting some of the restrictions was a “difficult decision to make” but it was important to find a balance between the need to find Freeman and the needs of the local community.
“We’re incredibly conscious of the impact the operation has on the local community and we’re talking to them about that all the time,” he told reporters on Sunday.
“It’s really important for us to understand if they see anything unusual when they return. Really important for us to know immediately if a burglary has occurred at a house that’s normally vacant.”
Locals have celebrated the news, with the local chamber of commerce declaring the area open for business.
“I think it certainly lifts the shackles off the tourist crowd that we’ve been missing over the last few weeks,” Bright and district Chamber of Commerce president Marcus Warner told AAP.
“We’re ready to go. We’re open for business and there’s plenty of vacancies.”
Mr Warner said the chamber was meeting regularly with police and was pushing to reopen the national park as soon as possible.
The news comes days after Victoria Police conducted the largest tactical police operation in Australia’s history, with more than 125 specialist police called in to join the search from interstate and New Zealand.
Police refused to say whether the search uncovered any sign of Freeman or evidence he had been in the area since the shootings.
Victoria Police previously offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his capture, the largest financial offer in the state’s history for aiding an arrest.
