Divers are searching a 42-metre deep reservoir south of Adelaide as part of an ongoing investigation of three murders thought linked to the South Australian drug trade.
The five-day operation to try to find the remains of Jeff Mundy began on Monday, following information his body may have been dumped near the Myponga Reservoir weir.
Detective Superintendent Des Bray said the search would be challenging for the seven divers involved.
"It will be cold, with very limited visibility and there's a significant silt build-up at the bottom," he said.
"They will be feeling through the bottom of the dam, feeling for his remains.
"They will have to go through decompression as they rise to the surface so that's going to prolong the search."
In December, detectives investigating Mr Mundy's death swooped on a property at suburban Lonsdale where they believed he was held in a container for several weeks before his death.
It was thought he escaped at some stage but was recaptured and killed about two weeks later.
The 36-year-old was last seen in December 2020.
His death is one of three thought linked to the Adelaide drug scene, along with those of Robert Atkins and Trevor King.
Mr Atkins, 29, went missing in November 2020 and is thought to have been killed, with his body disposed of somewhere near Orroroo, 275km north of Adelaide.
Mr King, 41, was found dead at suburban West Lakes in January 2020, with police now believing his death was staged to look like a suicide.
Earlier this year, police set up Task Force Southern to investigate the three cases.
Supt Bray said information provided to the task force linked Mr Mundy's remains to a large body of water but that information pointed to a number of locations.
"Clearly he can't be at all of them, but there's a possibility that one of them may be true so this is the one we're doing first," he said.
"Hopefully we find him. If we don't we can eliminate it and move on to others."
