Police have removed bags of evidence from a rural area near the Macedon Ranges where they are searching for clues to the disappearance of missing mother Karen Ristevski.
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A police officer carried two brown paper bags from the search site that takes in bushland on Blackhill Road in Toolern Vale about 3.30pm on Tuesday.
However, detectives did not say whether the bags contained evidence that would directly assist in the hunt for Ms Ristevki, who was last seen at her Avondale Heights home six months ago.
Police and State Emergency Service crews returned to Toolern Vale for the second consecutive day on Tuesday where they drained dams and scoured bushland and grassland hoping to yield any clues to the whereabouts of Ms Ristevski.
The 47-year-old mother was last seen at her Avondale Heights home by her husband Borce Ristevski on June 29.
Police have remained tight-lipped on what sparked the renewed search effort, but said they were confident they would find something to help crack the baffling case.
The area being searched is about 40 kilometres from Avondale Heights. There have been reports Ms Ristevski's phone pinged on towers on the Calder Highway and at Gisborne on the day she went missing.
In an eerie coincidence, Adrian Bayley dumped Jill Meagher's body in a shallow grave on Blackhill Road in 2012.
One resident, who did not wish to be named, arrived home from work on Monday after spotting his property on the afternoon news. He said police searched nearby roads on motorbikes two months after Ms Ristevski vanished.
Afterwards, residents combed their properties for any disturbances or clues as to the whereabouts of the missing mother, alarmed that their quiet, rural-fringe suburb would once again make headlines for all the wrong reasons.
However, those searches yielded nothing of significance. Then, around October, police were back in a helicopter.
"They were flying quite low and looking over all the vacant land," the resident said.
On Monday, police said they were confident of solving the case as Ms Ristevski's family, including her 21-year-old daughter, Sarah, prepare to face their first Christmas without Karen.
Mr Ristevski has told police his wife left the house at 10am to go for a walk to clear her head after they had an argument.
The case has been marked with bizarre theories, including that Ms Ristevski has fled overseas.
Roadblocks were in place surrounding the large search area on Monday, but most of the activity was on a property at the corner of Blackhill and Mount Aitken roads.
"We are certainly keen to search this area as thoroughly as we can," Detective Inspector Stephen Dennis said. He said the use of a cadaver dog did not necessarily mean police were looking for a body.
- with Nino Bucci
