SA Police say they have finished searching a Kudla property, north of Adelaide, after discovering human remains in a bunker beneath a shed — and they have a suspect.

Key points:

  • Police said the identification process is still ongoing but are treating the case as a homicide
  • Detectives seized items of interest from the house and shed in relation to the investigation
  • Officers failed to find the body of Geoffrey McLean at a dump at Uleybury north of Adelaide

Detectives discovered the remains yesterday afternoon in the six-metre-deep hole at the Ormsby Road property after receiving a tip off about missing 38-year-old northern suburbs man Steven Murphy.

Police said the identification process was still ongoing but are treating the case as a homicide.

Detective Inspector Mark McEachern said police have seized a number of items that they believe will be relevant to the murder investigation.

“We’re certainly not ruling out the possibility of other persons being involved in some capacity, and that is a particular focus of our investigation in the coming days and going forward,” Mr McEachern said.

Mr McEachern said police recovered the items from the house and shed, but wouldn’t say what they were.

He said it appeared a bunker was being built in the shed over a long period of time and “wasn’t completed”.

Search at Uleybury dump yields no find

Detectives have failed to find further remains of 55-year-old Andrews Farm man Geoffrey McLean at a dump at Uleybury, north of Adelaide.

Police have spent two days scouring the landfill site after his torso was found in a wheelie bin on a vacant lot in Salisbury South in October, two months after he went missing.

Police have spent two days scouring the landfill site at Uleybury.(ABC News: Brant Cumming)

Detective Superintendent Des Bray said investigators can’t rule out that Mr McLean’s remains may have ended up at another dump.

“Police will continue to search for Geoff’s remains so that his family and loved ones can farewell him in the right way,” Mr Bray said.

There have been four arrests made in relation to the alleged murder.

A 49-year-old Andrews Farm woman was charged with murder last month and was allegedly known to the victim.

The woman’s co-accused, a 51-year-old man, faced the Adelaide Magistrates Court in March, also charged with murder.

Late last month, a 51-year-old man and a 50-year-old woman both from the northern suburbs were arrested and questioned by detectives.

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