Homicide has not yet been ruled out in the case of Allecha Suzette Boyd as police and emergency service volunteers searched Lester State Forest for links to the missing woman.
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It comes after police seized a green and silver Subaru Outback Ms Boyd was believed to have been seen in on the day of her August 10 disappearance.
Detective Inspector Darren Cloake said as a precaution, police would explore the avenue of treating the case as a homicide until proven otherwise and accepted the potential a body could be found at the site.
“As the general course of this investigation continues, there is an onus upon us to engage with the (homicide) subject matter experts,” he said.
“In this case it is our state crime command homicide unit who treats missing persons, especially under these circumstances, as highly suspicious.
“We know that as the Coolamon township is only some 11 kilometres away (from the forest), given the relative seclusion of this area, we can’t discount (finding a body) from our inquiries at this stage.”
Mr Cloake noted that other information after the date of Ms Boyd’s disappearance had not been confirmed.
He said about 40 police and volunteers would comb the site until all leads were exhausted.
“We are conducting a search using specialist police from our operational support group, SES volunteers, our dog unit and a number of other agencies,” he said.
“It’s quite a large area – approximately 7.53 kilometres squared and if you were to walk the boundary, it is approximately 22 kilometres.”
Police are searching for evidence of any kind that may provide an understanding of the circumstances related to Ms Boyd’s disappearance.
“We’re looking for evidence or trace evidence of perhaps recent activity in the area,” Mr Cloake said.
“We’re looking for signs where fauna may have been disturbed or if there is evidence with criminal activity.”
Ms Boyd is believed to have been sighted in the Coolamon area after noon on Thursday, August 10 and police are “confident with the description of the Subaru Outback” provided in the investigation.
“Our understanding is that shortly after being dropped off in a 1999 Subaru Outback, green in colour, that (Ms Boyd) may have been brought to the vicinity (of Lester State Forest),” he said.
“There is no direct evidence to say she may be located here today. We are here purely to search as a general line of inquiry.
“A number of volunteers will go through the entire state forest until we can exclude it from our inquiries or we find evidence that may give us an understanding of what happened to (Ms Boyd).”
Police made a public appeal for anyone with information on the matter to come forward.
If you have any details on the disappearance of Allecha Boyd, contact Wagga Police anonymously on 6922 2599 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.