Princess Anne honours slain Victoria Police officers as Mount Buffalo manhunt for Dezi Freeman intensifies

Princess Anne has paid tribute to two slain Victoria Police officers as investigators reveal a new high-tech tactic in the ongoing hunt for accused cop killer Desmond Freeman.

The Princess Royal, 75, laid a wreath at a Victoria Police memorial in Melbourne on Monday, honouring Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart, who were shot dead while executing a warrant in Porepunkah on August 26.

Her visit, part of a four-day Australian tour marking the centenary of the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, came as police intensified the manhunt for Freeman, also known as Dezi Freeman, who remains missing despite one of the largest search operations in Victorian history.

The royal tribute brought solemn recognition to a tragedy that has shaken Victoria’s police force and the Alpine community, still reeling from the killings.

In a renewed push to find Freeman, police fired test rounds through Victoria’s Alpine bushland.

The controlled firearms testing, conducted on November 5 near Barrett Lane and Rayner Track at the base of Mount Buffalo, was designed to trace the source of a single gunshot reportedly heard around 11.45am on August 26, the same day the two police officers were killed.

Police carried out the firearms testing within the red-shaded zone, while the white-marked area indicates the location of Freeman’s bus.

Freeman has been accused of opening fire as officers executed a warrant at his semi-rural Porepunkah property before fleeing into dense bushland with their service revolvers. Two officers were killed, a third seriously wounded, and a fourth narrowly escaped when Freeman allegedly aimed and pulled the trigger, but the weapon misfired.

The shooting stunned the nation and prompted a review of police warrant-serving procedures across Victoria.

Despite an extensive manhunt involving drones, helicopters and specialist units, Freeman remains missing.

“Police attended the Porepunkah area on Wednesday, 5 November to conduct firearms testing as part of the ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting of police and subsequent search for Desmond Freeman,” a Victoria Police spokesperson told The Nightly.

“Investigators are hopeful the firearms testing may assist police with the ongoing search.”

During the operation, officers fired dozens of varying calibres while acoustic devices recorded the echoes, a forensic technique designed to map how gunfire travels through the terrain and determine where the reported shot may have originated.

The exercise again rattled residents of Porepunkah and Bright, where grief still runs deep.

“They are trying to work out if that was a police pistol going off into Dezi’s person, or something else,” one local told The Age.

Locals say the royal recognition brought comfort to a community still haunted by the killings.

“I just wish it would finish. I wish they would find him somewhere, dead or alive, just so we have closure,” one neighbour said.

Back in Porepunkah, businesses continue to battle slow trade and fading tourism months after the tragedy. Some say takings remain down by as much as 40 per cent.

“Locals aren’t talking about it. It’s not that they don’t care — they do — but they’re just over it,” said Bright café owner Leanne Boyd.

Taskforce Summit continues to lead the search, with a $1 million reward, which is the largest ever offered in Victoria, still on the table for information leading to Freeman’s arrest.

Police urge anyone who sees Freeman to call 000 immediately and not approach him. Information can also be provided confidentially to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersvic.com.au.