September 2, 2025 • 32 mins
When people in Australia go missing, families often hear the same chorus: "Resources are limited, searches can't go on forever, we don't have enough officers".
In this episode of Exhuming the Truth, we dive right into the deep end of reality in how missing persons cases in Australia rely on popularity. Using the current and "high-profile" case of Dezi Freeman as a lens, we explore why some disappearances trigger massive resources, while the majority fade into the system.
This is a hard-hitting, confrontational discussion about fairness, accountability, and the human cost of selective attention.
Tune in if you want the stark contrasts in missing persons responses and why every life deserves equal urgency.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:17):
Welcome to Exhuming the Truth, the podcast where we delve into
the mysterious worlds of cold cases, missing persons, true
crime, and the fascinating science that is forensics.
I'm forensic scientist and criminologist Asha Walther, and
I am so thrilled to have you with me on this journey as we
dance in the shadows of the world of crime, shining a light
on scientific discovery while becoming another voice for those
(00:40):
who need it most. So grab a drink and get
comfortable while we jump into this episode together.
As always, this podcast is recommended for persons over the
age of 18 and contains explicit content that is not suitable for
minors. If you find any content to be
distressing, I have listed a number of resources that may be
able to help you in the podcast notes.
(01:00):
I'd also like to finally remind our listeners that all victims
and all offenders are someone's loved 1.
So I ask that in any discussionsin our group or on our social
accounts that you remain respectful of this at all times.
And by listening today, you alsoacknowledge that all persons of
interest remain innocent until proven otherwise.
Hey team, Happy Tuesday or whatever day it is where you're
(01:23):
listening to this. I don't know where that slight
American accent just came from. I am recording back in my study,
which is nice because I've been very lazy the last few weeks and
decided to record in bed. But I have, you know, put my big
girl pants on and moved back into my study, which is actually
so nice. I forgot how nice it is in here
(01:46):
to record because everything's already set up.
I don't have to transport equipment, but I am actually in
the middle of kind of sorry. I just have to stop and start
because my little one came in yeah I'm I'm not really
renovating I'm redesigning I guess I want to yeah make it
very old school study vibes in here like dark colours and that
(02:11):
and at the moment everything is like this really disgusting
yellowy cream colour. Anyway moving on from that, I
have been absolutely flooded thelast couple of weeks.
I feel like I've got nothing done because my youngest boy has
been unwell, but he's finally back at school now.
He did his first full day back at school today, which was
(02:33):
amazing. I felt like a new person.
So I'm very happy about that. Today's episode is a tad
controversial and I thought about whether I should do or not
do it or not, but I thought like, no one else is going to do
this. Like, I might as well just do it
and just say what lots of peopleare thinking.
(02:56):
So I'm just going to go ahead and do that.
Obviously the the story that I'mtalking about is the current one
and two people have been killed.And I don't want to take away
from the fact that two people have lost their lives.
It's incredibly sad and it should never have happened, and
my thoughts and my love and my support are primarily with the
(03:19):
families of those who have lost a loved one.
It's incredibly sad and tragic, but I don't want anything I am
talking about to take away from those lies.
It's more so about systemic issues and systemic resource
allocation and things like that.So I just want to acknowledge
(03:41):
that before we jump in. So welcome to Manhunt versus the
Missing. Why resources vanish when people
do. When someone goes missing in
Australia, families are often told the same thing.
Resources are limited. Searches can't go on forever.
And after a few days, the case will be scaled back.
(04:02):
Yet when Desi Freeman fled custody, police managed to
mobilize dozens of officers as well as specialist units,
drones, helicopters, and sustained operations for weeks
on end. The difference is stark, and it
lays bare a double standard in how we treat criminals on the
run compared to victims who simply vanish.
(04:24):
This episode takes a hard look at the Freeman manhunt and what
it reveals about policing priorities, as well as funding
and accountability. If authorities can pour massive
resources into chasing down a fugitive, why can't the same
urgency, tools, and persistence be applied when a child, a
woman, or a man disappears undersuspicious circumstances?
(04:48):
Families are left begging for answers while excuses about
budgets and staffing are used asShields.
And to the families who've livedthis injustice, who've been told
to stop searching or to accept silence or to accept less, this
episode is for you. Because the truth is clear to
me. The system can do better, the
question is will they choose to?OK so who is Desi Bird Freeman?
(05:14):
He was actually previously knownas Desmond Philby.
But Desi Bird Freeman is a self styled sovereign citizen, one
who rejects governmental authority and basically any
legal stance in the country. So I do not follow the law in
this country and I'm against thecops essentially.
(05:35):
So he adopted the surname Freeman in order to reflect this
ideological stance that he has. He has a well documented history
of confrontations with the justice system.
He once attempted to arrest a magistrate in court.
And no, I am not kidding. He challenged traffic
convictions, launched a private prosecution accusing the then
(05:56):
Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne of treason, and
efforts that were consistently dismissed by the courts.
The court records also reflect his history of insulting police
using terms such as terrorist thugs, Gestapo and Nazis.
So that's a bit of his history. Let's talk about the actual
(06:18):
recent incident with Desi Freeman in Paw Punka.
So this incident took place on the 26th of August, which was a
Tuesday. So here's a bit of what went
down. Police essentially wanted to go
to Freeman's residence in Port Punka, which is very remote, to
execute a search warrant that they had.
Now this is in Victoria's high country and the reason for this
(06:42):
search was for historical child sex abuse and firearm related
offences, so we don't know the exact details or anything of
what exactly went down when theyarrived.
However, Desi Freeman allegedly opened fire, which then in turn
killed a 59 year old detective and a 35 year old senior
(07:03):
constable and then he also seriously injured a third
officer I believe shooting him to the leg.
Freeman is believed to be heavily armed and very
experienced in Bush survival. He fled into the rugged terrain
surrounding his property. This sparked a major manhunt
which involves specialist units,aerial surveillance, Interstate
corporation, etcetera. The authorities obviously
(07:26):
advised the locals to remain indoors and people to avoid the
area, etcetera. Schools such as the local
primary school were locked down,families were reported safe and
community grief has been widespread.
Obviously it's very small, tightknit town and they're all very
shocked and saddened. The senior leaders of the
(07:46):
country like the premier JacintaAllen and the Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese have obviously addressed it publicly, standing
up against it. Obviously it's very extreme
ideologies and he's obviously allegedly commit murder.
So before we go ahead, I obviously just want to
acknowledge the victims in this case because it's incredibly sad
(08:10):
and they have people who love them who were left without them.
So it's obviously in incredible sadness that I share this, these
little bits of information. But just to put names behind,
you know, we don't want to say our two officers have that lost
their lives. We have Detective leading Senior
Constable Neil Thompson, he was the 59 year old.
(08:32):
And we have Senior Constable Vadeem de Ward.
I hope that's how you say it. He's the 35 year old senior
constable, so Detective Leading Senior Constable Neil Thompson a
bit about him. He joined Victoria Police in
September of 87 and after completing his training he spent
seven years in general duties atCollingwood Police Station.
In the following years, he worked as a detective at the
(08:54):
Major Fraud Squad and the State Crime Squad before taking up his
most recent post at Wangaratta in 2007.
I've got noted down here that hewas known to be an adventurer,
enjoying all things outdoors. He loved getting in nature and
his friends and colleagues regularly joined him on these
trips. Neil had spent the last six
years alongside his partner Lisa, who was the love of his
(09:16):
life. The pair had met and Lisa had
essentially given Neil a new purpose for retiring.
And, yeah, living out. He's retired years with his
beautiful wife. And he was actually, you know,
very close to doing that until he lost his life.
(09:36):
This day. Together with Lisa, Neil had
built a new home, and they had made a long list of tasks
planned after he knocked off work for the last time.
Which is just, yeah, incredibly heartbreaking.
And I, all of my love is with Lisa and the family.
It's incredibly sad and Senior Constable Vadim Vadim de Ward.
(09:58):
I'm so like bad at this. Anyway.
Vadim started his policing career at the Victoria Police
Academy in December 2018. Following his training, he
joined St. Kilda Police Station, where he
worked for three years before joining Port as Senior Constable
in April 2023. At the time of his passing, he
was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta.
(10:20):
I also love what they've writtenabout him, calling him an
eternal optimist and an avid traveller.
He was fluent in French, Spanish, Flemish and English.
He had also completed scuba dives all around the world and
motorcycling trips more locally with his friends and colleagues.
He was a keen gin collector and always picked up local local
bottles on his overseas adventures for his large
(10:40):
collection at home. I love that while travelling was
his passion, Vadim was extremelyproud to have purchased his
first time in Melbourne in recent years.
He is survived by his beloved parents Carolina and Elaine, who
live in his IN their native country Belgium, and his younger
brother Sasha, who lives in Switzerland.
Closer to home in Melbourne, however, he leaves behind his
(11:01):
Auntie Jacqueline, Uncle Shane, Uncle Peter, Auntie Maria and
his cousins Christopher, Jeremy,Laura and Tessa.
So he has quite a big family whowill have an even bigger hole in
their hearts, so all my love go to them as well.
So thank you for listening to that little acknowledgement.
Now let's just get on to the facts of this situation.
(11:24):
OK, so I've gone through multiple reports to make sure
I've got this as accurate as I can.
Of course, sometimes they're doing O sent and looking at
media reports, things can be allover the shop.
So I've done my best. But according to these reports,
the Victorian authority have, you know given these figures.
So over 450 police officers are currently engaged in the massive
(11:47):
multi agency manhunt for Desi Freeman.
These officers include personal from Victoria Police as well as
specialised units like the Critical Incident Response Team,
dog squads, armoured vehicles, aerial support like helicopters
and of course contributions fromfederal and Interstate agencies.
This is insane. This blows my mind.
(12:10):
So in terms of their search strategies, they are like we
just said, they've got 400 to 450 officers who are actively
involved. Insane, including Victoria, Pol,
AFP, reinforcements from NSW, SAACT.
They have specialized tactical units like the Critical Incident
Response Team, like I just said,AFP, elite tactical teams, dog
(12:33):
squads, helicopter surveillance,armoured vehicles like the
BearCat, thermal or air support are being used to comb dense
bushland and rugged Alpine terrain.
Obviously the weather hasn't been ideal for these types of
searches. However, the resources are still
there. They're kind of focusing on like
hideouts and which range from like caves and gold mines and
(12:53):
things like that. Even still on his own property
they are looking. They also, what else do they
have in place? They have roadblocks, no fly
zones, public information zones.They've got a like information
caravan situation set up. They've imposed a no fly zone
over Mount Buffalo National Parkand then since doing that
(13:14):
they've also increased increasedthe roadblock measures along the
access routes to that area. So in Bright they have mobile
police units for tips and thingslike that.
And that's also so they can coordinate intelligence from
what they have and with what thepublic are giving them.
They have issued a number of stern warnings, particularly
(13:34):
after the anti immigration rallies yesterday when there was
a gentleman seen holding a sign in support of Desi Freeman.
So the authorities are essentially saying aiding
Freeman is going to result in severe criminal charges,
including up to 25 years for perverting the course of
justice. They've also made several
appeals to Freeman's associates,particularly his wife.
(13:57):
His wife and kids actually took themselves into a local police
station and said, hey, like, we're not with him and we're
willing to cooperate with you inany way possible.
They're kind of trying to urge for cooperation, for cooperation
and a peaceful surrender. I'm unsure if that's going to,
(14:17):
you know, but that's not why I'mhere.
Anyway, I'll continue to tell you the facts that I have and
then get into the issue of and the main topic of this episode.
I've just wanted to note down like the strains on other
services and the community disruption, because this is a
very small town who do rely on alot of people coming through and
(14:39):
tourism. So this manhunt has obviously
significantly impacted the tourism.
Caravan parks are emptier. You know, people's winter travel
plans are disrupted and the locals are very clearly, and
it's warranted, rightly so, worried about their holiday
season with hundreds of officersfocus on this single case.
(15:03):
Routine policing duties and other investigations may face
delays or under resourcing. This is my biggest, well, my
second biggest issue here. They haven't released specific
details around this, but obviously if we've got 450 cops
in one area, that's a lot of opportunity for crime in other
areas. And yeah, that is just scary to
(15:24):
think about. And then obviously we've got
like the community stress and the public safety and things
like that. But I want to get into the main
issue here, which is the implications for missing
persons, because that is one of my main focuses in my work is
missing persons. So while Freeman's case involves
(15:44):
A fugitive criminal being him, he is the fugitive criminal.
So it is, you know, slightly different.
This differs from typical missing person scenarios.
Like I said, it still suggests broader considerations in terms
of like police response to missing persons.
We, we have many points we can go from.
(16:04):
What about intensive resource allocation as #1 like the sheer
scale of this manhunt demonstrates how a single high
profile case can absorb, literally absorb vast law
enforcement resources which likestrayed away after maybe a day
or two. This is raising questions in my
(16:25):
mind about the balance and the coordination, like when multiple
missing persons cases emerge simultaneously or like all of
these resources going one place,for example.
You know, for a real life example aside from this one, we
have Haley Dodd. And a now retired officer who
(16:46):
worked on Haley's case at the time has come out talking about
his regret over not having the resources or time to focus on
Haley Dodd. Because at the time the
Claremont serial killings were going on and he was actually
directed and the other officers were directed to focus on that.
And that took away essential time and like crucial time that
(17:10):
they're never going to get back for Haley.
So also the interagency collaboration like this
operation is literally underscoring the value of the
multi jurisdictional efforts. And by that I mean like the
cooperation between Victoria Pol, AFP, State Police,
specialized units, etcetera in missing persons workflows such
(17:30):
as, you know, collaborations like this that already exist in
frameworks like the Family and friends Missing Persons unit or
the F, FM, PU, the national databases like Crimtrac and the
Australian Federal Police's oversight.
So we do have that like we can coordinate services for missing
(17:52):
persons, we just kind of don't. So this shows a need for
centralized coordination and training, obviously.
So similar to how this search has been coordinated like across
various agent agencies, missing persons responses benefit from
streamlined systems and unified protocols.
But in saying that, there's still gaps there.
(18:14):
So even if they did do that, that would include like
inconsistent media guidelines, data collection and things like
that, but it would be better than what they're doing now, the
emerging technology and specialized capabilities.
So the tools like the aerial surveillance, thermal cameras
and that they're all very beneficial if used in the
(18:34):
correct time frame. So I think while they may be of
a higher cost to use those, if they use them in the right time
frame and within the 1st 24 to 48 hours, then the cost overall
might be less because you might have a better outcome.
And I'm talking about missing persons cases, obviously.
(18:54):
But this like, what can we even call it deployment?
This is like an incredibly high profile deployment and it draws
attention to how under resourcedmissing persons investigations
often are. And it's obviously not because
of funding because don't tell meyou have 450 cops on one thing
and you know you don't have the funding for search for searching
(19:17):
for a missing person. Like, I just don't get it.
And I went over reports to kind of see how much this is costing
and yeah, it's you guys are going to die.
Yeah, it's a lot like. So if we say that we've got like
30,000 Australians who have beenreported annually and 86% are
(19:43):
located with within one week. So that is high, but that still
leaves us with around 3000 people who are long term
missing. And each of those cases cost the
community around $2000. So when you think about that and
when I go down to the budget andwhat they're using these 450
(20:05):
officers and units for, oh, it'sdisgusting.
And why is it disgusting? Because police literally tell
families that resources and funding are too limited to keep
a missing person search active beyond the first week.
I mean, sometimes they do extendit a little bit.
Sometimes they open even just doa few days and they'll kind of
(20:26):
only extend if they kind of knowsomething or suspect foul play.
But usually, typically it's seven days.
But this Freeman manhunt literally shows everybody that
they can find the money, they can find the manpower.
It's just when the system wants to.
So let's break that down and what I have labeled as the
funding contradiction and what families are told in missing
(20:49):
persons cases. So if you are familiar with cold
cases, you I will sound like a broken record to you, but I am
going to go over it. Cops are usually saying that
they have scaled back searches very quickly.
They won't say quickly, but it will be in a matter of days due
(21:10):
to cost and availability of officers.
Let that one sink in. So families are literally told
that resources have to be redirected to urgent priorities
and so therefore long term missing persons.
And when I say long term missingpersons, that's three months,
guys. That's not that long.
They often rely on volunteers, like volunteer searches,
(21:31):
families, fundraising on GoFundMe charities and things
like that. So the specialist resources are,
and I quote, unavailable unless they have a suspicion typically.
So to recap Freeman's case and the figures here, 450 officers
(21:51):
OK deployed from multiple states, including the AFP, elite
tactical teams flying in from Canberra on constant rotation.
We have helicopters, drones, armored vehicles and dock
squads. We have no fly zones, roadblocks
and information centres, which were all established at a major
(22:11):
cost. And this is the search now
enters its second week. So despite the weather and
terrain and the and the sorry quote UN quote resource strain,
they're still going ahead. So I put together the estimated
cost. This is obviously an estimate
guys, but a single helicopter flight for an hour can cost 3 to
(22:35):
$5000 plus. Oh my God.
Daily deployment of 450 officerscost hundreds of thousands of
dollars per day in wages, equipment, fuel and logistics.
Don't forget we flew some of them over here.
This manhunt is likely already in the multi $1,000,000 range,
(22:56):
yet families of missing persons are told extended searches are
unaffordable. In fact, we have the search, the
newly planned search for Jack McLennan, organized by his
mother and all volunteers comingup on the 6th.
Or is it the seventh? Sorry, I've forgotten 6th or
7th, maybe 7th of September thisweek.
(23:17):
And that's all, with no assistance and no funding.
So this is, yeah, just ridiculous.
What else do we have? I've just literally got written
here, double standards in capital letters.
But basically what I mean there is the political pressure.
Obviously 2 police have lost their lives.
(23:40):
And again, it's not at all taking away from them.
And they absolutely deserve the justice that they will hopefully
receive. Again, that's not going to do
anything for their loved ones. You know, it's, it is a tragedy,
but the political pressure, because this is our police
killings, it's generated a massive political and media
(24:00):
attention. And missing persons just don't
get that traction. Why?
Because it doesn't bring them any money.
Yeah. The framing like a fugitive is
treated as a public safety threat, while a missing person
is often framed as like a personal tragedy or a possible
runaway or that person was on XYZ or under the influence of
this or that. But funding priorities like the
(24:24):
budget lines for tactical operations and counterterrorism
are always protected. Missing persons funding is often
discretionary and underfunded. And yeah, I have like have a
number of active missing personscases right now who have
literally requested funding for,you know, like a reward and
they're not even giving them that.
(24:46):
So anyway, now I want to talk about how this enormous manhunt
could actually assist in shifting the policies around
missing persons. If police can mobilize millions
of dollars, and you believe me when I say this is what it is
(25:06):
costing in this search, if they can mobilize millions of dollars
for one fugitive, then that quote, UN quote, a lack of
resources excuse no longer holds.
Families have the right to demand dedicated missing persons
funding pools. This is not unrealistic and this
is also not dependent on media or political interest.
(25:29):
You don't get to pick and choosethe popularity and how much fund
that gets based on how popular the case is.
This is a life. They also deserve guaranteed
minimum search period, for example, 14 days or you know,
longer. It's like you can't just say oh,
we'll spend 2 days on this one. Or there's even like it's very,
(25:50):
very common for them to say, OK,well you know, we've done XYZ
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and we're actually not going to keep
searching unless we get any new information.
They do it all the time. They did it with Julian Story,
who had been dismembered by his then partner, Tamika Chessa, and
she disposed of his head. Or they looked for a couple of
days and then they said we're going to cease looking unless we
(26:13):
get more information from the public.
Mind blowing. They also deserve federal
funding supplements. So like in a situation where
like local stations aren't forced to choose between routine
policing and missing persons, like we need a specialized unit
that actually is actively constantly working on the clock
(26:37):
for missing persons cases, then this is not going to take away
from sworn officers work. And lastly, cost transparency
like hello, annual reporting on how much is spent on fugitive
manhunts versus missing persons searches because this is a
number of $1,000,000 that taxpayers money is going on by
(26:57):
the way. But this is my advocacy angle
here. If we can spend millions of
dollars chasing fugitives, we can spend a fraction of that to
find our missing loved ones. What the Freeman manhunt shows
us is that resources are there, tools are there, and the
persistence is there when the police decide it matters.
(27:20):
The tragedy is that this level of effort isn't given to the
countless families who are left searching on their own, forced
to hold fundraisers, print Flyers and beg for media
attention while police tell themthat their loved one's case is a
low priority. It shouldn't take being a
fugitive to warrant an all handson deck response.
(27:40):
Every missing person deserves that urgency.
They deserve that commitment andthat refusal to give arm and
until the system is forced to reckon with its double
standards, families will keep paying the price of neglect and
the public needs to keep asking the question whose lives are
worth searching for. I just want to say before I run
(28:03):
away that I did touch a few weeks ago on these two petitions
that I was had sent off to Parliament.
Hopefully they were going to approve and I was able would
then be able to collect signatures.
And then you don't pass those forwards.
And there were two very important ones.
Now the first one was CCTV surveillance at the access
(28:28):
points of all national parks. And that is like a plate
recognition system. And that's to, you know, narrow
down searches and things like that for missing persons and
cold cases. And that would, you know, put
somebody at a certain place in acertain time that got rejected.
(28:48):
And the second one was that all perpetrators of family and
domestic violence are to be placed on a mandatory 7 to 10
day hold in jail so that the families have the time to get
their things together and leave without having the stress of
knowing if that person's coming back out for them.
(29:10):
That that was also rejected. Sorry, I'm not laughing because
it's funny. I'm laughing because I'm not
shocked. I am going to persist with this.
I'm going to actually now just try and take it to a state level
and see if any of the states will take these on.
I had a lot of data backing up why these two things would be
(29:33):
beneficial. They didn't seem to care.
I'm going to persist. I think they're both really
important. I just wanted to give you a
quick update on those because I had mentioned them earlier.
It is an uphill battle, but withyou guys behind me, makes the
walk a bit more comfortable and makes me feel supported in
(29:56):
trying to, you know, put put oursociety on a better path through
our children. It is not an easy time.
But yeah, there's my update. Unfortunately, it's not
fantastic, but anyway, I want tothank you guys so much for
listening to this. I know it's not your typical
episode, but it is one that has just been really irritating me
(30:20):
just watching this every day. You know, you turn the TV on and
you see all of like, they just go on and on about all the
resources they're using. And I just think fuck, like I
wish I could get a fraction of this attention on some of these
missing persons cases that we have.
I also want to quickly before I go remind everybody that if
(30:42):
you're in NSW and you're anywhere near the Toronto court,
it is. Aaron clears inquest date next
week, Wednesday next week, whichis the 10th.
And, you know, if you're able to, you are welcome to attend in
support of Aaron's family. And yeah, otherwise send them
(31:08):
all your love. You can find their Facebook
page. Where is Aaron Clear?
And we have an episode on him ifyou haven't listened to that.
And yeah, they're just a really lovely family who deserve
answers and deserve all of our support.
So anyway, thank you so much forbeing here.
And thank you for joining us on this new episode.
(31:28):
You can subscribe to stay up to Date.
Oh my God, sorry. Or you can find us on Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. You can help us out by
subscribing to our paid episodes, which are on Spotify,
or making a donation to allow usto help more families.
You can also join in on the casediscussions and make case
requests in our Facebook group, which you can find the link to
(31:51):
in our podcast notes. But as always, stay curious,
stay informed, and until next time, trust your instincts and
keep seeking the truth.
Welcome to Exhuming the Truth, the podcast where we delve into
the mysterious worlds of cold cases, missing persons, true
crime, and the fascinating science that is forensics.
I'm forensic scientist and criminologist Asha Walther, and
I am so thrilled to have you with me on this journey as we
dance in the shadows of the world of crime, shining a light
on scientific discovery while becoming another voice for those
(00:40):
who need it most. So grab a drink and get
comfortable while we jump into this episode together.
As always, this podcast is recommended for persons over the
age of 18 and contains explicit content that is not suitable for
minors. If you find any content to be
distressing, I have listed a number of resources that may be
able to help you in the podcast notes.
(01:00):
I'd also like to finally remind our listeners that all victims
and all offenders are someone's loved 1.
So I ask that in any discussionsin our group or on our social
accounts that you remain respectful of this at all times.
And by listening today, you alsoacknowledge that all persons of
interest remain innocent until proven otherwise.
Hey team, Happy Tuesday or whatever day it is where you're
(01:23):
listening to this. I don't know where that slight
American accent just came from. I am recording back in my study,
which is nice because I've been very lazy the last few weeks and
decided to record in bed. But I have, you know, put my big
girl pants on and moved back into my study, which is actually
so nice. I forgot how nice it is in here
(01:46):
to record because everything's already set up.
I don't have to transport equipment, but I am actually in
the middle of kind of sorry. I just have to stop and start
because my little one came in yeah I'm I'm not really
renovating I'm redesigning I guess I want to yeah make it
very old school study vibes in here like dark colours and that
(02:11):
and at the moment everything is like this really disgusting
yellowy cream colour. Anyway moving on from that, I
have been absolutely flooded thelast couple of weeks.
I feel like I've got nothing done because my youngest boy has
been unwell, but he's finally back at school now.
He did his first full day back at school today, which was
(02:33):
amazing. I felt like a new person.
So I'm very happy about that. Today's episode is a tad
controversial and I thought about whether I should do or not
do it or not, but I thought like, no one else is going to do
this. Like, I might as well just do it
and just say what lots of peopleare thinking.
(02:56):
So I'm just going to go ahead and do that.
Obviously the the story that I'mtalking about is the current one
and two people have been killed.And I don't want to take away
from the fact that two people have lost their lives.
It's incredibly sad and it should never have happened, and
my thoughts and my love and my support are primarily with the
(03:19):
families of those who have lost a loved one.
It's incredibly sad and tragic, but I don't want anything I am
talking about to take away from those lies.
It's more so about systemic issues and systemic resource
allocation and things like that.So I just want to acknowledge
(03:41):
that before we jump in. So welcome to Manhunt versus the
Missing. Why resources vanish when people
do. When someone goes missing in
Australia, families are often told the same thing.
Resources are limited. Searches can't go on forever.
And after a few days, the case will be scaled back.
(04:02):
Yet when Desi Freeman fled custody, police managed to
mobilize dozens of officers as well as specialist units,
drones, helicopters, and sustained operations for weeks
on end. The difference is stark, and it
lays bare a double standard in how we treat criminals on the
run compared to victims who simply vanish.
(04:24):
This episode takes a hard look at the Freeman manhunt and what
it reveals about policing priorities, as well as funding
and accountability. If authorities can pour massive
resources into chasing down a fugitive, why can't the same
urgency, tools, and persistence be applied when a child, a
woman, or a man disappears undersuspicious circumstances?
(04:48):
Families are left begging for answers while excuses about
budgets and staffing are used asShields.
And to the families who've livedthis injustice, who've been told
to stop searching or to accept silence or to accept less, this
episode is for you. Because the truth is clear to
me. The system can do better, the
question is will they choose to?OK so who is Desi Bird Freeman?
(05:14):
He was actually previously knownas Desmond Philby.
But Desi Bird Freeman is a self styled sovereign citizen, one
who rejects governmental authority and basically any
legal stance in the country. So I do not follow the law in
this country and I'm against thecops essentially.
(05:35):
So he adopted the surname Freeman in order to reflect this
ideological stance that he has. He has a well documented history
of confrontations with the justice system.
He once attempted to arrest a magistrate in court.
And no, I am not kidding. He challenged traffic
convictions, launched a private prosecution accusing the then
(05:56):
Premier Daniel Andrews in Melbourne of treason, and
efforts that were consistently dismissed by the courts.
The court records also reflect his history of insulting police
using terms such as terrorist thugs, Gestapo and Nazis.
So that's a bit of his history. Let's talk about the actual
(06:18):
recent incident with Desi Freeman in Paw Punka.
So this incident took place on the 26th of August, which was a
Tuesday. So here's a bit of what went
down. Police essentially wanted to go
to Freeman's residence in Port Punka, which is very remote, to
execute a search warrant that they had.
Now this is in Victoria's high country and the reason for this
(06:42):
search was for historical child sex abuse and firearm related
offences, so we don't know the exact details or anything of
what exactly went down when theyarrived.
However, Desi Freeman allegedly opened fire, which then in turn
killed a 59 year old detective and a 35 year old senior
(07:03):
constable and then he also seriously injured a third
officer I believe shooting him to the leg.
Freeman is believed to be heavily armed and very
experienced in Bush survival. He fled into the rugged terrain
surrounding his property. This sparked a major manhunt
which involves specialist units,aerial surveillance, Interstate
corporation, etcetera. The authorities obviously
(07:26):
advised the locals to remain indoors and people to avoid the
area, etcetera. Schools such as the local
primary school were locked down,families were reported safe and
community grief has been widespread.
Obviously it's very small, tightknit town and they're all very
shocked and saddened. The senior leaders of the
(07:46):
country like the premier JacintaAllen and the Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese have obviously addressed it publicly, standing
up against it. Obviously it's very extreme
ideologies and he's obviously allegedly commit murder.
So before we go ahead, I obviously just want to
acknowledge the victims in this case because it's incredibly sad
(08:10):
and they have people who love them who were left without them.
So it's obviously in incredible sadness that I share this, these
little bits of information. But just to put names behind,
you know, we don't want to say our two officers have that lost
their lives. We have Detective leading Senior
Constable Neil Thompson, he was the 59 year old.
(08:32):
And we have Senior Constable Vadeem de Ward.
I hope that's how you say it. He's the 35 year old senior
constable, so Detective Leading Senior Constable Neil Thompson a
bit about him. He joined Victoria Police in
September of 87 and after completing his training he spent
seven years in general duties atCollingwood Police Station.
In the following years, he worked as a detective at the
(08:54):
Major Fraud Squad and the State Crime Squad before taking up his
most recent post at Wangaratta in 2007.
I've got noted down here that hewas known to be an adventurer,
enjoying all things outdoors. He loved getting in nature and
his friends and colleagues regularly joined him on these
trips. Neil had spent the last six
years alongside his partner Lisa, who was the love of his
(09:16):
life. The pair had met and Lisa had
essentially given Neil a new purpose for retiring.
And, yeah, living out. He's retired years with his
beautiful wife. And he was actually, you know,
very close to doing that until he lost his life.
(09:36):
This day. Together with Lisa, Neil had
built a new home, and they had made a long list of tasks
planned after he knocked off work for the last time.
Which is just, yeah, incredibly heartbreaking.
And I, all of my love is with Lisa and the family.
It's incredibly sad and Senior Constable Vadim Vadim de Ward.
(09:58):
I'm so like bad at this. Anyway.
Vadim started his policing career at the Victoria Police
Academy in December 2018. Following his training, he
joined St. Kilda Police Station, where he
worked for three years before joining Port as Senior Constable
in April 2023. At the time of his passing, he
was on temporary assignment in Wangaratta.
(10:20):
I also love what they've writtenabout him, calling him an
eternal optimist and an avid traveller.
He was fluent in French, Spanish, Flemish and English.
He had also completed scuba dives all around the world and
motorcycling trips more locally with his friends and colleagues.
He was a keen gin collector and always picked up local local
bottles on his overseas adventures for his large
(10:40):
collection at home. I love that while travelling was
his passion, Vadim was extremelyproud to have purchased his
first time in Melbourne in recent years.
He is survived by his beloved parents Carolina and Elaine, who
live in his IN their native country Belgium, and his younger
brother Sasha, who lives in Switzerland.
Closer to home in Melbourne, however, he leaves behind his
(11:01):
Auntie Jacqueline, Uncle Shane, Uncle Peter, Auntie Maria and
his cousins Christopher, Jeremy,Laura and Tessa.
So he has quite a big family whowill have an even bigger hole in
their hearts, so all my love go to them as well.
So thank you for listening to that little acknowledgement.
Now let's just get on to the facts of this situation.
(11:24):
OK, so I've gone through multiple reports to make sure
I've got this as accurate as I can.
Of course, sometimes they're doing O sent and looking at
media reports, things can be allover the shop.
So I've done my best. But according to these reports,
the Victorian authority have, you know given these figures.
So over 450 police officers are currently engaged in the massive
(11:47):
multi agency manhunt for Desi Freeman.
These officers include personal from Victoria Police as well as
specialised units like the Critical Incident Response Team,
dog squads, armoured vehicles, aerial support like helicopters
and of course contributions fromfederal and Interstate agencies.
This is insane. This blows my mind.
(12:10):
So in terms of their search strategies, they are like we
just said, they've got 400 to 450 officers who are actively
involved. Insane, including Victoria, Pol,
AFP, reinforcements from NSW, SAACT.
They have specialized tactical units like the Critical Incident
Response Team, like I just said,AFP, elite tactical teams, dog
(12:33):
squads, helicopter surveillance,armoured vehicles like the
BearCat, thermal or air support are being used to comb dense
bushland and rugged Alpine terrain.
Obviously the weather hasn't been ideal for these types of
searches. However, the resources are still
there. They're kind of focusing on like
hideouts and which range from like caves and gold mines and
(12:53):
things like that. Even still on his own property
they are looking. They also, what else do they
have in place? They have roadblocks, no fly
zones, public information zones.They've got a like information
caravan situation set up. They've imposed a no fly zone
over Mount Buffalo National Parkand then since doing that
(13:14):
they've also increased increasedthe roadblock measures along the
access routes to that area. So in Bright they have mobile
police units for tips and thingslike that.
And that's also so they can coordinate intelligence from
what they have and with what thepublic are giving them.
They have issued a number of stern warnings, particularly
(13:34):
after the anti immigration rallies yesterday when there was
a gentleman seen holding a sign in support of Desi Freeman.
So the authorities are essentially saying aiding
Freeman is going to result in severe criminal charges,
including up to 25 years for perverting the course of
justice. They've also made several
appeals to Freeman's associates,particularly his wife.
(13:57):
His wife and kids actually took themselves into a local police
station and said, hey, like, we're not with him and we're
willing to cooperate with you inany way possible.
They're kind of trying to urge for cooperation, for cooperation
and a peaceful surrender. I'm unsure if that's going to,
(14:17):
you know, but that's not why I'mhere.
Anyway, I'll continue to tell you the facts that I have and
then get into the issue of and the main topic of this episode.
I've just wanted to note down like the strains on other
services and the community disruption, because this is a
very small town who do rely on alot of people coming through and
(14:39):
tourism. So this manhunt has obviously
significantly impacted the tourism.
Caravan parks are emptier. You know, people's winter travel
plans are disrupted and the locals are very clearly, and
it's warranted, rightly so, worried about their holiday
season with hundreds of officersfocus on this single case.
(15:03):
Routine policing duties and other investigations may face
delays or under resourcing. This is my biggest, well, my
second biggest issue here. They haven't released specific
details around this, but obviously if we've got 450 cops
in one area, that's a lot of opportunity for crime in other
areas. And yeah, that is just scary to
(15:24):
think about. And then obviously we've got
like the community stress and the public safety and things
like that. But I want to get into the main
issue here, which is the implications for missing
persons, because that is one of my main focuses in my work is
missing persons. So while Freeman's case involves
(15:44):
A fugitive criminal being him, he is the fugitive criminal.
So it is, you know, slightly different.
This differs from typical missing person scenarios.
Like I said, it still suggests broader considerations in terms
of like police response to missing persons.
We, we have many points we can go from.
(16:04):
What about intensive resource allocation as #1 like the sheer
scale of this manhunt demonstrates how a single high
profile case can absorb, literally absorb vast law
enforcement resources which likestrayed away after maybe a day
or two. This is raising questions in my
(16:25):
mind about the balance and the coordination, like when multiple
missing persons cases emerge simultaneously or like all of
these resources going one place,for example.
You know, for a real life example aside from this one, we
have Haley Dodd. And a now retired officer who
(16:46):
worked on Haley's case at the time has come out talking about
his regret over not having the resources or time to focus on
Haley Dodd. Because at the time the
Claremont serial killings were going on and he was actually
directed and the other officers were directed to focus on that.
And that took away essential time and like crucial time that
(17:10):
they're never going to get back for Haley.
So also the interagency collaboration like this
operation is literally underscoring the value of the
multi jurisdictional efforts. And by that I mean like the
cooperation between Victoria Pol, AFP, State Police,
specialized units, etcetera in missing persons workflows such
(17:30):
as, you know, collaborations like this that already exist in
frameworks like the Family and friends Missing Persons unit or
the F, FM, PU, the national databases like Crimtrac and the
Australian Federal Police's oversight.
So we do have that like we can coordinate services for missing
(17:52):
persons, we just kind of don't. So this shows a need for
centralized coordination and training, obviously.
So similar to how this search has been coordinated like across
various agent agencies, missing persons responses benefit from
streamlined systems and unified protocols.
But in saying that, there's still gaps there.
(18:14):
So even if they did do that, that would include like
inconsistent media guidelines, data collection and things like
that, but it would be better than what they're doing now, the
emerging technology and specialized capabilities.
So the tools like the aerial surveillance, thermal cameras
and that they're all very beneficial if used in the
(18:34):
correct time frame. So I think while they may be of
a higher cost to use those, if they use them in the right time
frame and within the 1st 24 to 48 hours, then the cost overall
might be less because you might have a better outcome.
And I'm talking about missing persons cases, obviously.
(18:54):
But this like, what can we even call it deployment?
This is like an incredibly high profile deployment and it draws
attention to how under resourcedmissing persons investigations
often are. And it's obviously not because
of funding because don't tell meyou have 450 cops on one thing
and you know you don't have the funding for search for searching
(19:17):
for a missing person. Like, I just don't get it.
And I went over reports to kind of see how much this is costing
and yeah, it's you guys are going to die.
Yeah, it's a lot like. So if we say that we've got like
30,000 Australians who have beenreported annually and 86% are
(19:43):
located with within one week. So that is high, but that still
leaves us with around 3000 people who are long term
missing. And each of those cases cost the
community around $2000. So when you think about that and
when I go down to the budget andwhat they're using these 450
(20:05):
officers and units for, oh, it'sdisgusting.
And why is it disgusting? Because police literally tell
families that resources and funding are too limited to keep
a missing person search active beyond the first week.
I mean, sometimes they do extendit a little bit.
Sometimes they open even just doa few days and they'll kind of
(20:26):
only extend if they kind of knowsomething or suspect foul play.
But usually, typically it's seven days.
But this Freeman manhunt literally shows everybody that
they can find the money, they can find the manpower.
It's just when the system wants to.
So let's break that down and what I have labeled as the
funding contradiction and what families are told in missing
(20:49):
persons cases. So if you are familiar with cold
cases, you I will sound like a broken record to you, but I am
going to go over it. Cops are usually saying that
they have scaled back searches very quickly.
They won't say quickly, but it will be in a matter of days due
(21:10):
to cost and availability of officers.
Let that one sink in. So families are literally told
that resources have to be redirected to urgent priorities
and so therefore long term missing persons.
And when I say long term missingpersons, that's three months,
guys. That's not that long.
They often rely on volunteers, like volunteer searches,
(21:31):
families, fundraising on GoFundMe charities and things
like that. So the specialist resources are,
and I quote, unavailable unless they have a suspicion typically.
So to recap Freeman's case and the figures here, 450 officers
(21:51):
OK deployed from multiple states, including the AFP, elite
tactical teams flying in from Canberra on constant rotation.
We have helicopters, drones, armored vehicles and dock
squads. We have no fly zones, roadblocks
and information centres, which were all established at a major
(22:11):
cost. And this is the search now
enters its second week. So despite the weather and
terrain and the and the sorry quote UN quote resource strain,
they're still going ahead. So I put together the estimated
cost. This is obviously an estimate
guys, but a single helicopter flight for an hour can cost 3 to
(22:35):
$5000 plus. Oh my God.
Daily deployment of 450 officerscost hundreds of thousands of
dollars per day in wages, equipment, fuel and logistics.
Don't forget we flew some of them over here.
This manhunt is likely already in the multi $1,000,000 range,
(22:56):
yet families of missing persons are told extended searches are
unaffordable. In fact, we have the search, the
newly planned search for Jack McLennan, organized by his
mother and all volunteers comingup on the 6th.
Or is it the seventh? Sorry, I've forgotten 6th or
7th, maybe 7th of September thisweek.
(23:17):
And that's all, with no assistance and no funding.
So this is, yeah, just ridiculous.
What else do we have? I've just literally got written
here, double standards in capital letters.
But basically what I mean there is the political pressure.
Obviously 2 police have lost their lives.
(23:40):
And again, it's not at all taking away from them.
And they absolutely deserve the justice that they will hopefully
receive. Again, that's not going to do
anything for their loved ones. You know, it's, it is a tragedy,
but the political pressure, because this is our police
killings, it's generated a massive political and media
(24:00):
attention. And missing persons just don't
get that traction. Why?
Because it doesn't bring them any money.
Yeah. The framing like a fugitive is
treated as a public safety threat, while a missing person
is often framed as like a personal tragedy or a possible
runaway or that person was on XYZ or under the influence of
this or that. But funding priorities like the
(24:24):
budget lines for tactical operations and counterterrorism
are always protected. Missing persons funding is often
discretionary and underfunded. And yeah, I have like have a
number of active missing personscases right now who have
literally requested funding for,you know, like a reward and
they're not even giving them that.
(24:46):
So anyway, now I want to talk about how this enormous manhunt
could actually assist in shifting the policies around
missing persons. If police can mobilize millions
of dollars, and you believe me when I say this is what it is
(25:06):
costing in this search, if they can mobilize millions of dollars
for one fugitive, then that quote, UN quote, a lack of
resources excuse no longer holds.
Families have the right to demand dedicated missing persons
funding pools. This is not unrealistic and this
is also not dependent on media or political interest.
(25:29):
You don't get to pick and choosethe popularity and how much fund
that gets based on how popular the case is.
This is a life. They also deserve guaranteed
minimum search period, for example, 14 days or you know,
longer. It's like you can't just say oh,
we'll spend 2 days on this one. Or there's even like it's very,
(25:50):
very common for them to say, OK,well you know, we've done XYZ
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and we're actually not going to keep
searching unless we get any new information.
They do it all the time. They did it with Julian Story,
who had been dismembered by his then partner, Tamika Chessa, and
she disposed of his head. Or they looked for a couple of
days and then they said we're going to cease looking unless we
(26:13):
get more information from the public.
Mind blowing. They also deserve federal
funding supplements. So like in a situation where
like local stations aren't forced to choose between routine
policing and missing persons, like we need a specialized unit
that actually is actively constantly working on the clock
(26:37):
for missing persons cases, then this is not going to take away
from sworn officers work. And lastly, cost transparency
like hello, annual reporting on how much is spent on fugitive
manhunts versus missing persons searches because this is a
number of $1,000,000 that taxpayers money is going on by
(26:57):
the way. But this is my advocacy angle
here. If we can spend millions of
dollars chasing fugitives, we can spend a fraction of that to
find our missing loved ones. What the Freeman manhunt shows
us is that resources are there, tools are there, and the
persistence is there when the police decide it matters.
(27:20):
The tragedy is that this level of effort isn't given to the
countless families who are left searching on their own, forced
to hold fundraisers, print Flyers and beg for media
attention while police tell themthat their loved one's case is a
low priority. It shouldn't take being a
fugitive to warrant an all handson deck response.
(27:40):
Every missing person deserves that urgency.
They deserve that commitment andthat refusal to give arm and
until the system is forced to reckon with its double
standards, families will keep paying the price of neglect and
the public needs to keep asking the question whose lives are
worth searching for. I just want to say before I run
(28:03):
away that I did touch a few weeks ago on these two petitions
that I was had sent off to Parliament.
Hopefully they were going to approve and I was able would
then be able to collect signatures.
And then you don't pass those forwards.
And there were two very important ones.
Now the first one was CCTV surveillance at the access
(28:28):
points of all national parks. And that is like a plate
recognition system. And that's to, you know, narrow
down searches and things like that for missing persons and
cold cases. And that would, you know, put
somebody at a certain place in acertain time that got rejected.
(28:48):
And the second one was that all perpetrators of family and
domestic violence are to be placed on a mandatory 7 to 10
day hold in jail so that the families have the time to get
their things together and leave without having the stress of
knowing if that person's coming back out for them.
(29:10):
That that was also rejected. Sorry, I'm not laughing because
it's funny. I'm laughing because I'm not
shocked. I am going to persist with this.
I'm going to actually now just try and take it to a state level
and see if any of the states will take these on.
I had a lot of data backing up why these two things would be
(29:33):
beneficial. They didn't seem to care.
I'm going to persist. I think they're both really
important. I just wanted to give you a
quick update on those because I had mentioned them earlier.
It is an uphill battle, but withyou guys behind me, makes the
walk a bit more comfortable and makes me feel supported in
(29:56):
trying to, you know, put put oursociety on a better path through
our children. It is not an easy time.
But yeah, there's my update. Unfortunately, it's not
fantastic, but anyway, I want tothank you guys so much for
listening to this. I know it's not your typical
episode, but it is one that has just been really irritating me
(30:20):
just watching this every day. You know, you turn the TV on and
you see all of like, they just go on and on about all the
resources they're using. And I just think fuck, like I
wish I could get a fraction of this attention on some of these
missing persons cases that we have.
I also want to quickly before I go remind everybody that if
(30:42):
you're in NSW and you're anywhere near the Toronto court,
it is. Aaron clears inquest date next
week, Wednesday next week, whichis the 10th.
And, you know, if you're able to, you are welcome to attend in
support of Aaron's family. And yeah, otherwise send them
(31:08):
all your love. You can find their Facebook
page. Where is Aaron Clear?
And we have an episode on him ifyou haven't listened to that.
And yeah, they're just a really lovely family who deserve
answers and deserve all of our support.
So anyway, thank you so much forbeing here.
And thank you for joining us on this new episode.
(31:28):
You can subscribe to stay up to Date.
Oh my God, sorry. Or you can find us on Instagram,
Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. You can help us out by
subscribing to our paid episodes, which are on Spotify,
or making a donation to allow usto help more families.
You can also join in on the casediscussions and make case
requests in our Facebook group, which you can find the link to
(31:51):
in our podcast notes. But as always, stay curious,
stay informed, and until next time, trust your instincts and
keep seeking the truth.
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