Richard Wills, 65, was found shot dead in a shallow grave on his rural property after he failed to return home from work.

The daughter of a farmer who was mysteriously shot dead and found in a shallow grave on his farm has revealed another family tragedy.

Richard Wills, 65, was found on his rural property in Ouyen, 101km south of Mildura in Victoria, on Tuesday April, 7 after going missing on Easter Sunday two days prior.

Posting on Facebook after he was found, Wills’ daughter Kayla Phillips revealed she had lost her sister 10 years ago and that her father’s death “feels like yet another nightmare we don’t get to wake up from”.

She said the family had already suffered so much loss and that they were all in “shock and disbelief”.

“We have a long road ahead while we wait for answers as to what has happened,” Phillips said.

Wills’ wife of 32 years Donna last saw her husband as he headed out the door about 8am to work on his farm off the Mallee Hwy at Ouyen.

“He just got up and had breakfast and left the house. I was still in bed,” she said.

“He just kissed me goodbye, and I thought I’d see him at lunchtime.”

Donna began to grow concerned when Richard did not return home for lunch.

An autopsy on Wills’ body has confirmed that he was shot dead.

Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Trewavas said on Saturday the grandfather had been “clearly met with foul play” and described the killing as “vicious”.

He also said there was some evidence to suggest Wills’ body has been dragged behind a vehicle on his farm.

“This is a vicious killing,” he said.

Donna “thought it was odd that he didn’t have his phone with him” — she was worried sick, but “thought maybe a mate has come and they’ve gone for a drive somewhere and perhaps they’ve got a flat tyre.”

But the people she thought he might be with, would have got Richard to call her on their phones if something like that had happened.

When he still had not returned the next morning, she reported Richard missing to Victoria Police, which kickstarted a search involving SES, friends and family, and members of the community within the farm.

Trewavas said that what they found was “confronting”.

The shooting occurred on the family’s 1600-acre sharecropping farm, with sheep and a piggery, and lots of machinery “which Ric spent his time tinkering with and repairing in an effort to sell,” Trewavas said.

The “very remote, very dusty … crime scene has been examined – it’s extensive.”

Despite being in a remote community, Trewavas said that its highway location makes Ric’s farm accessible to passers-by — but he said, “we suspect that a person who knows Ric is responsible for this crime.”

Police investigators have been in Mildura and Ouyen, canvassing the local community, checking CCTV and working through other evidence.

“This crime has happened in a remote community,” Trewavas said.

“There will be somebody in this community who knows what happened.”

Police say their has been no update in their investigation into Wills’ death and they still remain on the hunt for the gunman.

Anyone with any information about the incident is being urged to come forward.