The human remains found in the search for missing Victorian campers Carol Clay and Russell Hill may take investigators several weeks to identify.
The remains were found in bushland near Dargo yesterday on day two of their search for the pair, who have not been sighted for more than 20 months.
They will be forensically examined, with DNA testing carried out to determine if they are those of the missing campers.
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Police this morning are scouring the alpine region for further evidence following the discovery of the remains just a few hours away from where the pair vanished while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley in March last year.
Forensic investigator Greg Kelly, who has been following the case closely, said it could take weeks or even months for detectives to confirm the identities of the remains.
The remains would also be contaminated to some extent due to natural intervention, he said.
"Police have to consider that the temperature of the earth, the decomposition of the bodies that takes place in that period of time and the forensic evidence that surrounds that," he told Today.
"But moreover, we are looking not just at the forensic evidence associated with the identification, which is extremely important both to the authorities and also to the families concerned.
"But we are also looking at what physical evidence, material evidence that might be identified - as the bodies start to break down we might find the remains of projectiles or other injuries that help the police put the case together and be the evidence that they will ultimately present in court."
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Locals yesterday helped police bring a large excavator and a bobcat to the remote search site, which is an old gold mining area known as the Grant Historic Area.
Police have charged 55-year-old Greg Lynn, a Jetstar pilot, with two counts of murder.
He has been remanded in custody and he will face court in May next year.
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