Police have uncovered the remains of missing woman Lucinda Miller three years to the day since she went missing in bushland in Victoria’s east.
Human remains “consistent” with Ms Miller, along with clothing and a bottle of vodka, were found 80 metres off the side of the road in bushland on Thursday.
Acting Inspector Paula Linford said new information from a member of the local community gave police a “new place to start”, which led police to consulting “Uber data”.
“We never know which piece of information is going to be that linchpin that points us in the right direction,” she said.
“That gave us a different point to start our search again.”
Ms Miller disappeared after taking a ride home from Melbourne to Neerim South in Gippsland in October 2022.
Police said the 24-year-old was dropped off along a roadside at 11:30am but never arrived home.
The acting inspector added there was “no malice” involved in the ride share that Ms Miller took or the information the driver gave police back in 2022.
“At the time, that was what he remembered,” she said, referring to the driver.
“But the new information that we received gave us the new location.”
Search was a ‘huge effort’
Acting Inspector Linford said AFP’s technology detection dogs also played a major role in locating Lucinda’s remains as police resumed their search for Ms Miller on Tuesday.
The search focused on a new location about 2 kilometres north of the original search area.
“One of the dogs started to have some indication that something was going on,” Acting Inspector Linford said.
“One of our detectives came back to where they [the dogs] were and located the vodka bottle,” she said, adding that the bottle led the police to Lucinda’s remains.
Victoria Police said 60 people were involved in the search over the past three days.
“It’s been a huge effort for everyone, it’s been really hard going in the bush,” Acting Inspector Linford said, adding that searchers were at times on their “hands and knees” in the bushland.
Police thanked volunteers who helped in the search. (ABC Gippsland: Jack Colantuono)
“It’s been a huge effort for everyone, it’s been really hard going in the bush,” she said.
“That we were able to actually find Lucinda is an amazing achievement.”
“Local police would like to extend their thanks to the Neerim South CFA, SES, DEECA and the AFP for their support and assistance,” police said in a statement.
Acting Inspector Linford said that the disaster victim identification team, alongside a forensic anthropologist, were currently investigating the Ms Miller’s cause of death.
Ms Miller’s death is not being treated as suspicious.
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2h agoThu 16 Oct 2025 at 4:35am
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2h agoThu 16 Oct 2025 at 4:34am
No malice involved, police say
Acting Inspector Linford said at this stage there was no malice involved with the Uber driver providing information regarding her location.
“At the time, that was what he remembered,” she said.
“But the new information that we received gave us the new location.”
2h agoThu 16 Oct 2025 at 4:31am
So, what changed in three years?
Three years on, Acting Inspector Linford said the new information provided provided to police led the team to look at the search differently, including with the use of Uber data.
“That gave us a different point to start our search again,” she said.
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