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Family of missing SA woman Colleen South steps up search in rural Victoria

Colleen (left) with her daughter Veronica, who is determined to find her mother.  (Supplied)

Relatives have joined the search for missing Adelaide woman Colleen South, whose abandoned car was last seen in rural Victoria last week.

Victorian police have renewed calls for public help to find the 58-year-old grandmother, but say her disappearance is not being treated as suspicious.

However, her family disagrees and is now looking for new evidence.

Ms South was last seen in her car in the Mallee town of Ninyeunook, south west of Kerang in northern Victoria, between 3pm and 3:30pm on July 3.

A farmer found Ms South's 2006 Hyundai Getz hatchback in a ditch at Bunguluke, near Wycheproof, at 4pm the same day.

"I need her and my family do too. She's the grandmother to a two-year-old. I know she's out there and wants to be found," daughter Veronica South said.

"My mum is resilient, she's a fighter. She's a friendly person but she's strong."

A journal in her handbag found near the locked car had the words "help me please" written on its last page.

"The note forms part of a larger number of pages that have been written in a personal diary, we're unsure of the date in that diary. It does appear to be Colleen's diary," Mildura Superintendent Rebecca Olsen said. 

"Her diary certainly gives some indication of her travel ... the locations and the people, some personal issues that she was experiencing."

Colleen South's belongings that were found near her car, in the Wycheproof region. (Supplied: Veronica South)

Ms South's abandoned car had some damage to the front and the airbags had been deployed.

Some of her other belongings were found near the car.

Before arriving in Victoria, Ms South was seen on CCTV at the Liquorland store in the Adelaide suburb of St Agnes on July 2.

Victoria Police and the SES have searched dense bushland in an 18-kilometre radius of the surrounding area.

The Air Wing, Mounted Branch and Canine Unit have also been involved but have found no trace of her. 

Local farmers are now being asked to check buildings and sheds on their properties. Police are also appealing to service stations in the Mallee to check CCTV.

"She certainly was behaving erratically in the lead-up to her disappearance, and she was on medication," Superintendent Olsen said.

"There may have been someone who gave her a lift, picked up a traveller on the way, and was unaware that it was Colleen."

Daughter determined to find mother

Colleen's daughter Veronica South has been staying in Wycheproof with her uncle in the hope of finding new evidence.

"We've had a few witnesses that may have seen her on the road, but no one has seen her after that," she said.

"Mum was so stressed out because she was moving houses and suburbs in Adelaide, she was so anxious and stressed, so she usually goes on a holiday when she's overwhelmed."

Colleen South's Hyundai Getz was found by a farmer in a ditch near Wycheproof.  (Supplied: SA Police)

Veronica South said she believed her mother was still alive.

"I believe when she crashed [the car] she went to find help, because she had all her bags lined up,” she said.

“So maybe someone turned up and tried to help her. I believe someone's picked her up.

"I'm feeling determined to find her, I haven't been very emotional because I believe she's out there.”

Community support

A Wycheproof business owner, who did not wish to be named, said dozens of police and SES crews had been searching for Ms South.

"We are all good people around here. We've all got to get on with our lives, [but] if we're out there, we're looking," she said.

"I'm going to look at the CCTV footage I have again, police have already been through it, and farmers have looked in their sheds."

The woman said the area in which the car was found was near the dry bed of the Avoca River through the town, and was near dense bushland.

Colleen South is about 154cm tall, of solid build, and has brown hair and green eyes.

She was last seen wearing a black and white striped shirt with blue jeans.

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