Human remains found in search for Adelaide man believed murdered
Police say they’ve found human remains on a property near Orroroo in the state’s mid-north during an ongoing search for an Adelaide man believed murdered in 2020.
Missing Adelaide man Robert Atkins. Photo: SA Police
Police this afternoon said detectives from Task Force Southern returned to the region yesterday as part of the search for 29-year-old Robert Atkins.
A search discovered human remains on a property at Peak Road, Minvalara, south east of Orroroo, with police investigating if they are the remains of Atkins. He went missing in November 2020 and is believed to have been killed and his body disposed of near Orroroo, 275km north of Adelaide, with police conducing numerous searches of the area.
Detectives from Major Crime Investigation Branch are currently at the scene along with Forensic Response members and a forensic anthropologist.
In April this year, four men and a woman were arrested over the alleged kidnapping, assault and murder of Atkins. A 32-year-old man was charged with his murder this year, with four other people charged in relation to his alleged detention at different locations between November 8 and 16 2020.
The alleged murder of Atkins is thought to have links to two other deaths, of Trevor King and Jeff Mundy.
King, 41, was found dead in water at West Lakes in January 2020 with police now believing his death was staged to look like a suicide.
His death was initially determined as suicide or misadventure but police now believe it to be drug related.
A toxicology report later indicated a high level of GHB (fantasy) in his system to a degree that would have rendered him unconscious, potentially causing his death.
In February this year, a 44-year-old man from Hallett Cove appeared in court over charges in connection with the unlawful detention and aggravated assault of King in 2019.
The charges relate to a “violent and prolonged assault” police allege occurred on February 5, 2019 at North Plympton.
Police previously said King was assaulted with a baseball bat, had the back of his hands, his back and the hair on his head burnt with a blow torch and had his feet cut with scalpels and doused with bleach.
Mundy, 36, was last seen in December 2020. His body has not been found, with police suspecting it was disposed of somewhere on the Fleurieu Peninsula.
