Mr Burdon killed himself on Wednesday afternoon after extensive questioning by police. They were still on the property when he died, as were the couple’s two young children
Police have called off the search for missing mother-of-two Tanja Ebert after spending the day examining and excavating the remote South Australian property she called home for evidence.
Ms Ebert went missing on August 8, allegedly following an argument with her husband Michael Burdon, who killed himself with a single gunshot hours after her missing persons report became a murder investigation on August 16.
On Friday, police officers dug up multiple ‘key areas of interest’ on the family’s property at Oulnina Park Station, north of Adelaide. The areas had been decided on following an aerial search of the area, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.
They believe Ms Ebert may have been murdered, but efforts to find her body or evidence of her whereabouts have been to no avail.
Officers will now spend the next two days reviewing evidence before interviewing more friends and family members of the tragic couple, who appear to have left their two sons, aged one and three, orphaned.
After an extensive examination and excavationof the outback sheep station she lived on, police called off the search for Ms Ebert’s body on Friday evening
Ms Ebert is believed to have been murdered, but police have failed to find any trace of her body
Oulnina – which at 410 hectares dwarfs the size of Sydney’s CBD – is north-east of Adelaide
Major Crime officer-in-charge, Detective Superintendent Des Bray told reporters searching for Ms Ebert had become ‘frustrating’, following ‘significant’ excavation work done on the property.
Major Crime officer-in-charge, Detective Superintendent Des Bray, described the search process as ‘frustrating’, while speaking to reporters at the remote property.
‘Again unfortunately we haven’t been able to find Tanja,’ he said.
‘It’s very frustrating, we’ve been working hard to get a result for Tanja’s parents and we would encourage anybody who has any information at all that might help us recover her body to contact police immediately so we can bring this to an end for that family.’
Mr Bray believes if Ms Ebert was murdered, it is likely the killer would have told someone what they had done.
The death of Mr Burdon, which sparked an investigation as police were present at the time he committed suicide, and the presumed death of Ms Ebert, have left locals shocked.
SES teams prepare to search the station at Oulnina, where the tragic young family lived
Family friend Melanie Lewis told the Advertiser Ms Ebert was an ‘adoring mother’ and despite the 18-year age difference between her and her husband, the mother-of-two was ‘extremely mature for her age’.
‘The boys adored her and were extremely clingy to her. She was a very hard worker, would give anything a go and always had confidence in her opinions of things,’ she said.
Police believe Ms Ebert had been considering leaving her husband of only six months, and had perhaps intended to move to NSW.
Both families have been left devastated by the deaths, particularly the Burdon family, who lost the man’s brother to suicide and his father to a brain tumour.
The station is home to about 6000 Merino sheep, locals told Daily Mail Australia
Just 16 people live in the dusty and isolated region where the tragic sequence of events took place, locals told Daily Mail Australia.
Police on Friday morning launched the mammoth task of searching the young couple’s Oulnina sheep station for Ms Ebert’s body.
At 410 hectares, the property dwarfs the size of the 280ha Sydney CBD, and by road the nearest neighbour is 37km away.
‘It’s a massive task. We’ll do our best to find her but there’s no guarantees,’ Detective Superintendent Des Bray said on Friday morning- as a massive search team gathered including 12 SES cars, three mounted police cars and floats, two motorbikes and a helicopter.
The tragedy has devastated Outback residents along the highway spanning towards the New South Wales border.
A rescue helicopter has joined the search effort for missing Tanja Ebert
Michael shot himself on Wednesday as police searched for Ms Ebert’s body. Investigators suspect he murdered her.
‘There has been lots of tears and hugs and just shock,’ said Mannahill Hotel publican Dianne Highet, who described herself as one of six residents of that town.
‘You know, we just can’t get our heads around it…. I’m hoping they find her alive and clear Michael’s name’.
Ms Highet attended the couple’s wedding six months ago. It was held on top of the highest peak at the sheep station, and she described it as the most beautiful ceremony she had ever witnessed.
‘It’s somewhere they’d get lost in. It’s huge. It’s vast. It’s beautiful. It’s a bit like the Flinders,’ she described.
The couple’s home was located ten minutes from the property gate, and their land is red dirt, salt bush, gullies and hills.
Ms Ebert at first adored living on the Burdon family’s remote property (pictured) but it is believed she was planning to move to NSW before her disappearance
Ms Ebert, a German citizen, previously worked at the Mannahill Hotel
Hotelier Dianne Highet said Ms Ebert moved to town with one bag before meeting Michael
Ms Ebert was last seen in Roseworthy, getting out of her car at this BP service station and walking away. She reportedly left behind her two boys and personal possessions
Another scene in Roseworthy, north of Adelaide, where Tanya was last seen on Tuesday, August 8
Ms Ebert was last seen alive on August 8 in Adelaide enjoying a family outing with her husband and two young children (pictured)
The property was home to up to 6000 Merino sheep and the winds on Friday morning were bone-chilling.
Ms Highet said Ms Ebert, a German citizen, was a backpacker and ‘knew how to live with a few dollars in her pocket.’
‘When she came here she had one bag, then she met Michael and moved onto the station where she had everything she wanted.
‘They would come to the pub with the kids and she would mingle while he looked after them – I never heard them argue.’
The Burdon family has suffered its fair share of tragedies in recent years. Michael’s brother died in 1997. The Adelaide Advertiser reported the cause was suicide.
His beloved father, Peter, died after a battle with brain cancer in April 2014.
The couple’s young sons are in the care of their grandmother Marlis. Reports said she was thought to have been at the property to help her son after Tanja went missing. She declined to comment.
For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14.
For further support contact Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 and MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.