Colleen South, 58, drove her Hyundai Getz from her home in Renown Park SA across the Victorian border on July 1 and was spotted parked on the side of the Calder Highway on July 2 before disappearing the following day. After weeks of holding out hope and searching the area and small town near where her car was found, her devastated family broke the news Monday night. “I don’t know how to write this. We are devastated and in shock,” a family member wrote on social media. “Colleen’s body was sadly found in a paddock this evening, 5km from where her car was found.” “We don’t have answers yet about what happened, but we’ll let you know when we do.” The family, including Ms South’s daughter Veronica, later expressed their gratitude for the outpouring of support they have received over the past five weeks. Veronica South (pictured right with her mum Colleen) insists her mother’s disappearance is out of character and should be treated as suspicious Actress Farah Mak’s niece said she was holding out hope that together the family would find Colleen alive (pictured) Family members who had been searching for Colleen for weeks revealed on Monday that her body had tragically been found a short distance from her abandoned car. Mary Headon, who spotted Ms South’s car on the side of the motorway on July 2 and stopped to check on the grandmother, said she looked ill. “When we got back there, she was just laying in the car with her head back. She looked very, very tired or a bit sick, I thought, her eyes were very glassy,’ said Mary Headon, who pulled up to check on her on A Current Affair. The next day a farmer spotted the vehicle driving along the nearby Jeruk River Road at about 3:30 p.m. But later that afternoon on July 3, her car was found abandoned in a ditch in Bunguluke about 545km from her home in the Adelaide suburbs. Her family have been desperate for answers and are calling on the police to treat the case as suspicious. None of the surrounding farmers or any of the 600 people in the nearby town of Wycheproof had seen or heard from Ms South. Her belongings, including a handbag and diary, were found meters away from her car, in which the airbags had deployed, but her mobile phone has not been located. Around 10 concerned relatives visited Wycheproof as the family carried out their own inquiries for any clues. Veronica sent a message to her mum on TV a few weeks ago telling her they were ‘not giving up’ on finding her (pictured with her aunt and Mrs South’s sister) Veronica’s daughter repeatedly made the five hour drive from SA. contacting the police, talking to locals and posting missing persons posters. “Mom, if you see this, we just hope you’re safe and we don’t give up on finding you, we’re here to search as much as we can and we’re not going to give up,” Veronica previously announced on national television. Ms South’s actress niece Farah Mak has also joined the search and has been trying to uncover what really happened saying she “keeps envisioning us all finding her together, which would be incredible”. “There’s this eeriness, like you’re retracing your steps and wondering, what were her steps? What was he thinking? What did he do?’ he said before. “We’re looking around for clues, for evidence of where he might have walked, where he might have been.” After previously criticizing the police response, the family said they were pleased to see a large number of officers searching on one of their subsequent visits in mid-July. Around 40 specialist officers were involved in the investigation. “We have our branch on horses. We had our special solos on motorbikes. We had our canine police with their dog team here,” said Inspector Gerard de Vries. “We have a number of officers on foot and some officers from Melbourne, Swan Hill, Mildura. “We have the location where the vehicle was discovered and we’ve expanded it, but this is reviewing our maps and GPS tracking on what we’ve done previously and expanding it into areas that we think need to be looked at. ‘ Veronica, who led the public search effort, said she was holding out hope that the family would soon find Ms South alive. A relative of Ms South previously claimed her uncle found “spent shotgun shells at the scene” but detectives “didn’t follow up on it, or report it”. While it was “out of character”, Victoria Police said they were not treating the grandmother’s disappearance as suspicious. Medicine found by Veronica South and her friends in the area where her mother disappeared Ms Mack had previously taken to social media to criticize Victoria Police over claims it had botched the investigation. “My cousin found footprints and lit a fire nearby – @victoriapolice said no footprints,” she wrote. “Photos taken by @victoriapolice show truck tires of a vehicle being pulled right next to my aunt’s personal belongings where she would have been sitting – no crime scene investigation. My cousin and her friends were told “this could be anything”. Victoria Police previously issued a statement rejecting the family’s claims that Ms South may have been the victim of a crime. He also responded to allegations that a proper investigation had not been conducted. “Victoria Police have launched a comprehensive search of dense bushland in the surrounding area by conducting Air Wing and Drone searches along with Mounted Branch, Canine Unit, foot and vehicle police along with SES,” the statement said. Local farmers were also asked to check buildings and sheds on their properties. Detectives claim the only fears they have for Ms South stem from a known medical condition and that “her disappearance was out of character”. Her diary found in her abandoned belongings contained a handwritten note with the words ‘help me please’. It’s been almost five weeks since Colleen South (pictured) walked out on her own A disturbing note asking for help was found inside Ms South’s diary near her abandoned car “Our hope is to get action and result from Victoria Police, treating this as a crime and investigating accordingly to find Colleen as soon as possible,” Ms South’s niece Farah Mak (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia. Veronica told Daily Mail Australia she had made the five-and-a-half-hour trip from Adelaide at least three times in the past week to carry out her own searches at Wycheproof. She believes her mother’s disappearance is suspicious because her belongings were left behind with the car door locked. “Also… there is no sign of my mom, no trace of where she has walked, no scent detected by the dogs. “Also my mom didn’t go to the farmers for help. The house is right next to where her car was found, so she would certainly have gone there for help, but there’s no record of anyone seeing her which I think is strange.” A Facebook page called Bring Colleen Home set up by Ms South’s family has grown to more than 500 members. Her daughter took to Facebook in mid-July to share her harrowing ordeal. “It’s been two weeks since you’ve been missing mom,” Veronica wrote. Ms South was last seen by a witness in her Hyundai Getz (pictured) on July 3. The car was found abandoned an hour later Ms South’s personal belongings, including handbags and keys, were found 20 meters from her car “Although, it seems like a long time, but I’m just getting started with this quest. Talked to locals today and met with farmers, no luck getting any new info today. “I pray we find you soon and every day I feel like I’m one step closer to finding you. It wasn’t easy. I miss you every day. “Tomorrow we may have an update from the police on where to go with the investigation from here. We are thinking positively and we hope that we will have a positive result.’ CCTV footage captured Ms South visiting a Liquorland in St Agnes at around 11.50am. on July 2, with police believing he then went to rural northern Victoria. The last reported sighting came the following day, when a witness spotted her behind the wheel of her Hyundai Getz in Ninyeunook, 267km north of Melbourne. About an hour later, a farmer spotted Ms South’s car parked under a tree on the side of Mackies Road, 26km away in Bunguluke. Two days later, the farmer called the police after realizing the car had fallen into a ditch and was damaged, with airbags deployed. Mrs South’s belongings were found about 20 meters from the car, including her handbag, purse, keys and a diary. On Saturday, the team found Mrs. South’s essential medicine, downed grass, a pen, footprints and a freshly lit fire. Ms South is described as 154cm tall with a heavy build, green eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing blue jeans and a black and white striped shirt. Anyone who sees Colleen or has any information is asked to contact police.
