- INTERACTIVE: TRACKING FUGITIVES: Gino and Mark Stocco’s trail of havoc
- This story will be updated regularly. Please refresh your browser for the latest information.
FAST FACTS
- Command post established at Yea
- Sightings of Gino, 57, and Mark Stocco, 35, at Glenburn
- Stoccos believed to be carrying at least two guns
- Previous confirmed Stocco sighting was at a service station at Euroa on Monday
- Police urge public not to approach Stoccos, call triple-0 if sighted
UPDATES
3.15pm: According to police, Gino and Mark Stocco are carrying at least two guns – a high-powered gun and a rifle – as well as camping supplies.
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The ute they are travelling in had a distinctive green esky and two chairs in the tray when it was spotted at Euroa.
Police have taken the information seriously enough to contain a 100 square kilometre around Yea.
2.45pm: Police have confirmed that the sighting at Glenburn is a credible one, however the Stoccos have not been seen since.
The 57-year-old father and his 35-year-old son are believed to be travelling in a stolen Toyota Landcruiser, with a 145-litre fuel tank.
It is understood the pair are familiar with the Yea area, having worked there as farmhands for several years earlier in the decade.
Police checked security footage at the Glenburn service station, but are believed to have found nothing that shows the men stopping to refuel.
The Landcruiser can travel up to 800 kilometres between refills.
2.30pm: Police numbers at the command post in Yea are continuing to build, and members of the public warned to keep away from the area.
Police will address the media shortly. Stay tuned.
2pm: Police are swarming the Victorian towns of Kinglake and Yea and the public has been told to steer clear following a possible sighting of two armed and dangerous fugitives, The Age reports.
Two men, believed to be the Stoccos, were seen travelling south on the Melba Highway at Glenburn about 9am.
Fairfax Media understands a woman gave a detailed description of the Stoccos’ Landcruiser to police.
Authorities have stationed cars from Flowerdale, Strath Creek and down to Yarra Glen.
1.30pm: Gino and Mark Stocco were last seen heading south on the Melba Highway earlier today, Channel Nine has reported.
It is understood the pair is carrying an SKS semiautomatic rifle similar to an AK-47.
1.05pm: Media helicopters in the area surrounding the command post have been grounded.
Channel 7 has tweeted that its chopper had been asked to land by Victoria Police.
12.50pm: Just to recap: Victoria Police confirmed a possible sighting of the Stoccos earlier today, but would not say if it was in Kinglake.
A command post has been established at Yea, about 50 kilometres north of Kinglake, but a police spokeswoman said they would not be providing a "running commentary on sightings or the ongoing search".
Most recently, police were forced to abandon a pursuit after the pair allegedly shot at officers when they were spotted near Wagga in NSW on Friday afternoon.
The community has been warned not to approach the men as police consider them to be armed and dangerous.
Detectives believe the men have contacts across the state and have urged Victorians to remain vigilant and report any sightings of the distinctive Toyota Landcruiser, which may already be displaying different registration plates.
12.30pm: Though they’ve only recently emerged in NSW, the Stoccos have been on the run from police for eight years.
They are wanted in three states for offences such as arson, theft and fraud.
The Stoccos reportedly have dozens of victims in regional areas of the eastern states, allegedly stealing thousands of dollars of equipment and torching property in farming communities.
They’ve made their way on the run by taking on general work in farming communities in exchange for cash payments and accommodation.
12pm: The Age is reporting the pair have been sighted at Kinglake, about an hour north of Melbourne, earlier today.
Victoria Police detectives joined the manhunt on Monday evening, after the Stoccos were spotted in Euroa.
11.45am: Victoria Police has established a command post in central Victoria amid reported sightings of father and son fugitives Mark and Gino Stocco.
The pair have been on the run for eight years and surfaced last week in a shoot-out with police at Mangoplah, south of Wagga.
The last confirmed sighting of the two was in Euroa, in northern Victoria, on Monday night.
They were seen fuelling up a Landcruiser, believed stolen from a property at Little Billabong on Sunday night, at a service station.
They paid for the fuel before leaving the area.
Victoria Police have set up the command post in Yea and are following up a possible sighting of the criminals, who are assumed armed and dangerous.
“We ask the community to continue to remain vigilant and to report any sightings of the men or the vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser tray with registration plates BV70WP, to Triple Zero (000) immediately.”
“(We) will not be providing a running commentary on sightings or the on-going search,” a post on the Victoria Police Facebook page stated.
“We ask the community to continue to remain vigilant and to report any sightings of the men or the vehicle, a Toyota Landcruiser tray with registration plates BV70WP, to Triple Zero (000) immediately.”