Note: This article contains the name and image of deceased Indigenous individuals.
A body described as “very decomposed” has been discovered during the search for Julian Ingram, the suspect in a triple homicide. Authorities are planning to conduct tests to verify the identity of the remains.
The police have transported the body from a secluded national park in New South Wales, where it was located yesterday. A post-mortem examination is scheduled for Friday in Newcastle to confirm if the body belongs to Ingram.
Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland stated that both a vehicle and a firearm found at the scene will undergo forensic examination.
“A firearm was found beside the deceased, which was a large-caliber weapon, and a shotgun was found on the front passenger seat of the vehicle,” Holland reported.
“The deceased appeared to be clad in the same attire worn on the day of the incident, which suggests the possibility that it is indeed Julian Ingram,” he added.
“The injuries appear self-inflicted with a firearm.”
When asked if Ingram potentially received help from somebody in the community, Holland said, “It does not appear to be the case”. 
The update from police comes as new aerial footage revealed the bushland location where a white ute was found in relation to the manhunt for the accused triple killer.
Lake Cargelligo community reacts to the grim discovery
Loved ones were rocked by the discovery but said they could finally grieve.
Assistant Commissioner Andrew Holland yesterday said the discovery was a relief for officers who’d been involved in a major manhunt for the accused killer, but particularly for the affected families.
“For the last four months, the strike forces involved in ⦠the manhunt for Julian Ingram, have not given up,” he said.Â
“There’s been hundreds of police involved.Â
“Obviously, it’s a relief for them to find this body – again, yet to be confirmed as Julian Ingram – but the main thing is, it brings closure to this investigation, it brings closure to the people of Lake Cargelligo and gives some solace to the town so they can relax.”
Holland said the body was found in a “very decomposed” state but didn’t give a specific estimate for when the man may have died, saying only it “appears to have been there for some time”.
He did not confirm whether the weapon was the same alleged to have been used in the shooting or whether the man was believed to have died by suicide.
Police said NPWS workers carrying out feral animal eradication found the vehicle about 3.40pm yesterday in Round Hill Nature Reserve, roughly 100 kilometres north-east of Lake Cargelligo.
Ingram, 37, had been on the run since the January 22 shooting.
“I heard boom, boom. I seen her – she was holding her neck, and then he was laughing,” Macqueen told 9News in January.
Sophie’s mother, Cathy Quinn, called Ingram “gutless”.
“We still grieving but justice will be served,” she told 9News.
Her sister, Tegan, said it was “about time they found him”.
“We can grieve but now it feels so real and it’s only has hit me now,” she said.
The shooting devastated the tiny town and rattled the entire state.
Last month, police said Ingram was seen on the side of a road two days after the alleged murders.
In March, police offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
The coroner will now be charged with confirming how the man died and when.
If the body is confirmed to be Ingram, everything leading up to the killing will also be investigated, including why the repeated domestic violence offender was out on bail.
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