A family member of an alleged kidnapper says the accused man and the complainant were in love and intentionally hiding from police.
The 25-year-old South Australian man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is on trial in Warrnambool County Court charged with kidnapping his ex-partner for about a week in 2019 and raping her in a car he drove across parts of south-west Victoria and south-east South Australia against her will.
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The accused man's stepmother this week told jurors the accused man and the complainant were in love.
She said that on August 27, the pair attended her house where they showered and smoked ice.
She said the complainant told her they wanted to hide together in Portland because there was an intervention order in South Australia prohibiting contact.
She said the complaint showed "no signs at all of being held against her will or in fear of (the accused man)".
She said the pair was "in love", the complainant was affectionate to the accused and appeared "most definitely" happy to be in his company.
The witness told the court she was in regular contact with the pair during the alleged offending period.
She said the complainant later informed her that she'd been reported as a missing person.
She said there was no indication the complainant had wanted to go to the police but was "adamant they would stay hidden".
She said she asked the complainant to hand herself into police on multiple occasions but she refused.
The witness said she never heard threats made towards the complainant by the accused and she believed the woman only surrendered to police due to being unwell.
Jurors heard Detective Sergeant Jason von Tunk, of the Portland police crime investigation unit, attended the former stepmother's Portland property on September 2, 2019.
He said he asked the witness to call the accused man for the purpose of finding out where the complainant was.
He told the court the accused man answered and the phone was on loud speaker.
The jury was told the accused man was upset and said something along the lines of "I f***** up. That's it, I'm history".
Detective Sergeant von Tunk said he then recorded a conversation he had with the complainant.
He said there was a "long pause" between the accused man getting off the phone and the complainant speaking.
The Standard is yet to receive a copy of the audio of that conversation, which was applied for after the court was closed due to technical issues.
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Detective Sergeant von Tunk told the jury that he had serious concerns about the situation and the complainant's welfare.
Following the call, Detective Sergeant von Tunk and the accused's stepmother left Portland to coordinate a search in Casterton, where the accused man and victim had travelled by foot following a police chase.
The detective told the court that the accused man was located in a nearby pine plantation, arrested and conveyed to Casterton police station.
Closing addresses in the trial are expected this afternoon.
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