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| Karen Chetcuti case: police search lake in hunt for missing Victorian woman | Karen Chetcuti case: police search lake in hunt for missing Victorian woman |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police have begun searching Lake Buffalo in north-eastern Victoria and a 48-year-old Whorouly man remains in custody for questioning in the fifth day of the investigation into the disappearance of Karen Chetcuti. | Police have begun searching Lake Buffalo in north-eastern Victoria and a 48-year-old Whorouly man remains in custody for questioning in the fifth day of the investigation into the disappearance of Karen Chetcuti. |
| The 49-year-old mother of two, who lived in the small town of Whorouly, 273km north-east of Melbourne, was seen leaving the Whorouly Hotel at 7.20pm on 12 January. | The 49-year-old mother of two, who lived in the small town of Whorouly, 273km north-east of Melbourne, was seen leaving the Whorouly Hotel at 7.20pm on 12 January. |
| Related: Karen Chetcuti case: police arrest man over missing Victorian woman | |
| On Sunday police arrested a 48-year-old man, reported to be her neighbour, after an hour-long pursuit. His white ute was picked up because it was connected to a suspected kidnapping of a 48-year-old man, which had been reported to police the day before. Any suggestion of kidnapping was dropped once police managed to speak to the driver. | On Sunday police arrested a 48-year-old man, reported to be her neighbour, after an hour-long pursuit. His white ute was picked up because it was connected to a suspected kidnapping of a 48-year-old man, which had been reported to police the day before. Any suggestion of kidnapping was dropped once police managed to speak to the driver. |
| He remained in custody on Monday but had not been charged. A spokesman from Victoria police told Guardian Australia the man was assisting police with their inquiries. | He remained in custody on Monday but had not been charged. A spokesman from Victoria police told Guardian Australia the man was assisting police with their inquiries. |
| Victoria police has not named the man but he has been identified in the media as Michael Cardamone, a neighbour of Chetcuti in Whorouly who told a number of reporters that Chetcuti had visited him on her way home from the pub on Tuesday night, to pick up some tomatoes he had grown. | Victoria police has not named the man but he has been identified in the media as Michael Cardamone, a neighbour of Chetcuti in Whorouly who told a number of reporters that Chetcuti had visited him on her way home from the pub on Tuesday night, to pick up some tomatoes he had grown. |
| He told Fairfax Media she had left his house about 9.15pm and “took off towards home”. | He told Fairfax Media she had left his house about 9.15pm and “took off towards home”. |
| The burning remains of Chetcuti’s car were found on Halls Road near Myrtleford, about 20km away, on Thursday. That road turns from bitumen to dirt as it loops up to a lookout behind the town. | The burning remains of Chetcuti’s car were found on Halls Road near Myrtleford, about 20km away, on Thursday. That road turns from bitumen to dirt as it loops up to a lookout behind the town. |
| Lake Buffalo, where police search and rescue teams began searching on Monday, is 44km from Chetcuti’s house in Whorouly and 26km from where her car was found. It is surrounded on two sides by pine plantations and bushland and is usually busy with waterskiiers in summer. | Lake Buffalo, where police search and rescue teams began searching on Monday, is 44km from Chetcuti’s house in Whorouly and 26km from where her car was found. It is surrounded on two sides by pine plantations and bushland and is usually busy with waterskiiers in summer. |
| Teams from the State Emergency Service, police and other government agencies have been searching bush and farmland near Whorouly and Myrtleford. Police have also searched the Ovens river and properties around Chetcuti’s house, including Cardamone’s home, and were preparing to begin aerial searches on Monday afternoon. | Teams from the State Emergency Service, police and other government agencies have been searching bush and farmland near Whorouly and Myrtleford. Police have also searched the Ovens river and properties around Chetcuti’s house, including Cardamone’s home, and were preparing to begin aerial searches on Monday afternoon. |
| The alarm was raised by her colleagues when she did not turn up to her job as records coordinator at Wangaratta council on Wednesday. | The alarm was raised by her colleagues when she did not turn up to her job as records coordinator at Wangaratta council on Wednesday. |
| Police have said they suspect foul play. The lights were left on at her home and her handbag and purse were there, but her phone was missing. which Det Sgt Sol Solomon, from the homicide squad, said “certainly paints a picture of the involvement of a second party in her disappearance”. | Police have said they suspect foul play. The lights were left on at her home and her handbag and purse were there, but her phone was missing. which Det Sgt Sol Solomon, from the homicide squad, said “certainly paints a picture of the involvement of a second party in her disappearance”. |
| He called the discovery of the burned vehicle “totally alarming to us”. | He called the discovery of the burned vehicle “totally alarming to us”. |
| “I hope she’s still alive, she could be still alive, but the longer it goes, the more grave the situation becomes in relation to her survival,” he told reporters on Friday. | “I hope she’s still alive, she could be still alive, but the longer it goes, the more grave the situation becomes in relation to her survival,” he told reporters on Friday. |
| Chetcuti moved from Melbourne to run the Whorouly Hotel with her husband, from whom she has since separated, about 20 years ago. She is well known in the small community. | Chetcuti moved from Melbourne to run the Whorouly Hotel with her husband, from whom she has since separated, about 20 years ago. She is well known in the small community. |
| One of her friends, Greg Haysom, told Fairfax she was “a major part of Whorouly” and a “great mother” to her two children, aged 14 and 15, who are now staying with their father. | One of her friends, Greg Haysom, told Fairfax she was “a major part of Whorouly” and a “great mother” to her two children, aged 14 and 15, who are now staying with their father. |
| The Wangaratta Chronicle said the small townhad been left “numb” and “dumbfounded”. | The Wangaratta Chronicle said the small townhad been left “numb” and “dumbfounded”. |
| Friends have been sharing pictures of Chetcuti and her 2004 red Citroën, an unusual car in the town, on social media in the hope of jogging someone’s memory. | Friends have been sharing pictures of Chetcuti and her 2004 red Citroën, an unusual car in the town, on social media in the hope of jogging someone’s memory. |