Police have found bullets on a riverbank in South Australia's Mid North, which they believe are connected with the suspected murder of Adelaide man Robert Atkins.
Thirty-seven police officers begun searching the Hutt River and in an area alongside the Goyder Highway this morning following a tip-off last month that led to finding ammunition nearby.
Taskforce Southern was sparked by the death of Mr Atkins, who police say owed a $1,000 drug debt.
The 31-year-old from Christie Downs was reported missing in January 2021, but police believe he was murdered in November 2020.
A search for his body and any evidence related to his death in an area farther north in February this year turned up nothing.
Superintendent Des Bray today said police received information that a middle-aged couple was seen acting suspiciously on Broughton Valley Road, near the bridge over the Hutt River at Spalding, on June 22.
"Today we are searching that area," Superintendent Bray said.
"A truck drove past at the time and spooked the couple who left in a dark sedan – they returned after they thought the truck had left the area."
Bullets for a .38 calibre pistol and packaging were found the next day in the area and are now in the possession of police.
They hope DNA and fingerprints on them will prove useful in the investigation.
"We believe the people seen at the bridge on June 22 may have been disposing evidence on behalf of a suspect in Robert's murder," Superintendent Bray said.
Police have asked anyone who found bullets or packaging along the Goyder Highway or RM Williams Way to come forward.
Taskforce also looking into other deaths
Taskforce Southern is also looking to the murders of Trevor King and Jeff Mundy, which police say were also associated with the methamphetamine scene in southern Adelaide.
Mr Mundy was last seen in late 2020.
Mr King was found dead at West Lakes in January 2020, in what detectives now believe was a staged drug overdose.
Rewards worth $200,000 are on offer for information connected with each of the three deaths.
Police are also reviewing 201 drug overdose deaths that have occurred in South Australia since July 2019, to make sure they are not related.
Police have also seized an excavator they believe is connected with suspects in the murders.
They say the vehicle, worth $50,000, was stolen from Meadows, in the Adelaide Hills, in November 2019.
Northern Territory Police seized it from a property in Borroloola, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, on July 12.
