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Searchers find two bodies in hunt for elderly Victorian mum and her daughter

Judy (left) and Isabel Stephens.

Judy (left) and Isabel Stephens. Photo: Victoria Police

After almost a week of searching, police believe two bodies found in the Victorian bush are those of a missing elderly mother and her disabled daughter.

The bodies found on a dead end road in Samaria on Saturday afternoon are yet to be formally identified but police believe they are 89-year-old Isabel Stephens and her daughter Judy, 53.

The pair were last seen in Benalla last weekend, their family reporting them missing on Tuesday.

The bodies were found one kilometre from a white Toyota Yaris, the same model of car the women were travelling in, on Aquila Rise – about 35km from Benalla.
The women’s family members were notified about 8pm, police say.

“The exact circumstances of their deaths are yet to be determined, however at this time police do not do not believe it is suspicious,” a police spokeswoman said on Saturday night.

Locals opened an information booth in Benalla on Saturday, with police urging anyone with information on the whereabouts of the pair to come forward.

Search parties swept the mountain terrain, local ranges, nearby water courses and water storage facilities near where the women were last seen.

Police had concerns for the pair due to Ms Stephens’ age, and because her daughter has a disability and a medical condition that requires regular medication.

One of the last sightings of the women was in the regional town of Tatong, just 27km from their hometown of Benalla.
-AAP

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