Naden, from Dubbo, is wanted in relation to his cousin Lateesha Nolan’s disappearance in 2005 and the murder of Kristy Scholes about six months later.

He is also wanted on indecent assault charges. Naden is believed to be hiding along a long strip of remote bushland, hopping between well-hidden campsites, and breaking in to up to 20 homes, the Newcastle Herald reported. Police are on high alert for any reports of break-ins at remote properties from Barrington Tops to Kempsey.

The latest break-ins linked to Naden occurred west of Kempsey in April.

It follows the Newcastle Herald revealing last year that Naden, an expert bushman and former Dubbo abattoir worker, was responsible for more than 20 burglaries of remote farmhouses east and north of the Barrington Tops.

Police remain nervous about Naden’s movements through the Hunter, with four patrol cars racing to a remote property at Wards River, near Gloucester, on Thursday after a resident suspected someone was in his roof.

The resident had returned home to find a manhole open and raised the alarm.

According to the Herald, senior police have publicly suppressed all new leads on Naden with the homicide squad failing in numerous attempts to hunt down the fugitive since he evaded capture near Dubbo’s Western Plains Zoo in 2005.

Earlier this year the reward for information leading to the capture of Naden, one of the state’s most wanted outlaws, was doubled to $100,000.