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Police fear a man has died after being shot during an argument, loaded into the back of a ute and not seen again.
Officers are scouring Melbourne’s north for the 56-year-old Meadow Heights man who vanished after a confrontation between four people at a property on Wildwood Road, Wildwood, about a 10-minute drive from Sunbury.
Detective Inspector Leigh Howse, from the Victoria Police homicide squad, said they believe the man was shot in the torso about 7.20pm on Wednesday after he and two other men entered the Wildwood property.
Police allege a 55-year-old Wildwood man put the man into the back of a black Mitsubishi ute and drove away.
Neither man were in the property when police arrived.
CCTV footage, released by authorities, shows a black ute pulling into a Greenvale service station, on the corner of Mickleham and Somerton Roads, just before 1am on Thursday.
Three hours later, fire crews were called to a suspicious fire on Lancefield Road in Sunbury. Burnt clothes were located at the scene, which police believe belong to the driver of the black ute.
The Wildwood man was arrested by police about 5.30am on Wildwood Road. He remains in custody and will be interviewed by detectives.
The victim, who was wearing black clothing and is of Middle Eastern appearance, remains missing.
Police have deployed the air wing, dog squad and other specialist and local units in the Sunbury area as part of a large-scale search across the city’s north.
Howse said he held “great concerns” for the man’s welfare and believe he might be dead.
“At this stage, a thorough search is being conducted to try and locate that individual and confirm their current status,” he said.
Police are still looking for the firearm and a motive behind the shooting but confirmed there were no suspected links to organised crime.
The initial argument between the trio of men and the accused shooter, who police say knew each other, related to an “ongoing dispute.”
The Wildwood man’s partner was home at the time of the incident and spoke to police.
Anyone who may have seen an injured man in the Greenvale, Sunbury, Bulla, Oaklands Junction or Wildwood areas since 8pm on Wednesday is urged to call Triple Zero.
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