Mick Peet said he was concerned the double-murderer, once Australia's most wanted man, had gained a kind of "Ned Kelly" cult status while he was on the run before his capture just west of Gloucester in March 2012.

He said he did not want the play to perpetuate that myth.

"As soon as I hear his (Naden's) name I quiver, and there are a lot of family members who feel the same," Mr Peet said.

"It has to be handled very sensitively."

Last year, Naden was sentenced to life in jail for crimes including the murders of Dubbo women Lateesha Nolan and Kristy Scholes in 2005 and the indecent assault of a child the previous year.

Gloucester High drama students Jack Ferris, Sophie Kingston, Jemma Clarke and Alicia Snedden are seeking anecdotes from Gloucester locals about the fugitive's time on the run to produce a play for their major HSC work.

"The play isn't necessarily going to be about Malcolm Naden and what he did," Ms Kingston told the Gloucester Advocate.

"We want it to be more an exploration of the effect he had on the town.

"The idea of the play is to explore myth versus reality. It's going to be a satirical piece poking fun at the situation and how people responded but with serious undertones.

"What we want from members of the community is stories about Malcolm Naden - scary, funny, happy or sad - even if they're not actually true."

She said the play would explore the local reaction to the manhunt, the effect it had on tourism and how it influenced popular culture with things such as hamburgers being named after Naden being sold while he was on the run.

When Mr Peet heard of plans to produce the play, it brought back a wave of emotions that had never been far away from him since the disappearance of his daughter, the subsequent search for her killer and the arrest, trial and sentencing that followed.

News of the play came shortly after detectives from Sydney had travelled to Queensland to provide Mr Peet with more details about Lateesha's death.

"There was a 25-page confession of how he murdered and cut my daughter up," Mr Peet said.

"It's sickening. It was like a horror story. I couldn't stop thinking about what she went through, the pain.

"How could a human do this? It was a catch-22 because I needed to know what happened to her but at the same time I didn't want to hear it. It was a terrible thing that he did to my daughter."

Mr Peet said news of the play had already polarised members of the community, who took to Facebook to have their say.

"A family member of one of the murdered girls wrote a post on Facebook asking 'Why are people caring about this dog? Let's not mention his name and move on'," Mr Peet said.

"We have two families to think of, and there will be a lot of mixed emotions.

"In the past he has been portrayed as a hero and a skilful bushman but he's someone who was cruel to women and a parasite who broke into places and stole food from people when he was on the run."

Another woman posted the message: "I'm going up the the (sic) bloody school and giving them a price of my mind. Does anyone want to join me in having this sh- stopped if you message me your letters to the school I will print them of (sic) and personal hand deliver them. There is no way in hell I'll be sending my child there if this is the sh- they are going to do."

Mr Peet said he emailed the students yesterday morning, offering to speak with them so they could understand the impact Naden's actions had had on his victims.

"I understand there were so many people with stories about him (Naden), and there were hundreds of sightings," he said.

"When he was on the run I had people ring me and tell me he was working as a public servant in Canberra.

"One bloke said he gave Naden a lift, he remembered how smelly he was, he pointed out where he dropped him off.

"But if they do go ahead with the play, I would like them to highlight Lateesha's bravery, the fact that she stood up to a murderer about the attack (on a child) and that is, unfortunately, what got her killed."

Meanwhile, Mr Peet remained hopeful his daughter's body would be found.

"The police have shown me plans about what they are going to do to try to find her body, it would be a big job and looks as though they would have to divert the river," he said.

"I don't like to use the term closure, I may never get that, but it would be nice to have somewhere where we can remember Lateesha and a memorial her kids can go and visit her."