Police closing on Friedrich

Press, 5 April 1989, Page 10

Police closing on Friedrich

NZPA-AAP Perth Police hunting the former Victoria chief of the National Safety Council of Australia, Mr John Friedrich, appeared to be closing on their quarry yesterday following a confirmed sighting of him in Western Australia. A massive police hunt was under way throughout the state after the discovery of Mr Friedrich’s abandoned car and reports that he caught a flight on Monday afternoon to Geraldton, 400 km north of Perth. The Victoria police have issued an arrest warrant for Mr Friedrich, who disappeared on March 21, leaving an estimated sAustlso million ($202 million) in debts in his wake. The nationwide hunt for Mr Friedrich turned to Western Australia after a Ford Falcon he bought in Albury on the New South Wales-Victoria border on March 21 was found dumped on Monday at Kalbarri, a holiday resort 500 km north of Perth. The man leading the hunt, Acting Detective Inspector Vince Katich, said Mr Friedrich caught a flight on Monday morning from Kalbarri to Geraldton aboard a 10-seater aircraft. He was last seen inside the Geraldton airport terminal. “He could still be in Geraldton. He could be in Kalgoorlie, he could be on the Nullarbor,” Detective Inspector Katich said. “The noose is there, it’s only a matter of slipping it over his neck.”