Police confirm Belanglo bones are humanHuman Skull among remains, says trail biker (Sydney Morning Herald)
POLICE have discovered what they believe are human skeletal remains in Belanglo State Forest - the scene of the backpacker murders by Ivan Milat.
The find raises the possibility that he may have had an eighth victim.
Police said a group of trail bike riders made the grisly discovery about 3.15pm on Sunday while riding in the forest.
They called police, who sealed off the scene and began a search of the area, but were forced to abandon their work soon after due to bad light.
The sealed off track is roughly 10km into the forest along Bunnigalore Road. It is believed the remains are a further 3km from where police have sealed off access just past the turnoff to Brethren Point Road.
Detectives are being briefed at Bowral Police Station and a police spokesman said a press conference would be held today (Monday) 12.30pm at Bowral Police Station.
The head of the NSW homicide squad, Detective Superintendent Peter Cotter, said police were treating the discovery "as human, until we know better".
He said homicide squad detectives would speak to Goulburn detectives and forensic police today. He some animal remains looked like human remains.
Clive Small, the former Assistant Commissioner who headed the investigation into the Backpacker murders, said on ABC Radio it was too early to start speculating if the remains were an eighth victim of Milat.
He said there were more than 80km of fire trails in the forest and they had been thoroughly searched during the Backpacker investigations.
It is not uncommon for the discovery of bones in the forest to be reported to police due to its infamy, but with police being called in from Wollongong it indicates the remains could be human.
“If they are human bones we need to remember that the last murder committed by Ivan was some 20 years ago,” Mr Small told the ABC.
“As I understand it from the reports today - these [remains] were found by people riding trail bikes through the forest and they were essentially on tracks.
“The bodies that Milat was charged with, you would not have seen from a track, they were off the track.”
A police spokesman refused to say where in the forest the remains were found, or whether they were above or below the surface. When asked whether police were considering if the remains belonged to an additional victim of Milat, the spokesman said they were "considering all possibilities".
Police were still waiting to confirm if the bones were human or animal, the spokeswoman said.
Former roadworker Milat is serving seven life sentences for murdering seven backpackers, aged 19 to 22, between 1989 and 1992. Five of them were visiting Australia (three German, two British), and two were Australian travellers from Melbourne.
Speculation about more victims has continued since the murders. At least 10 other backpackers disappeared about the same time in NSW and Queensland.
After the discovery of Milat's seventh victim in 1993, an extensive search of the 4100-hectare forest involving up to 1000 police and volunteers was conducted. No more bodies were found.
If you were one of the trail bike riders, call the News on 4861 2333 and ask for Ben McClellan
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