A decomposing body believed to be that of triple murderer Julian Ingram has been found in the NSW Central West, bringing to an end one of the largest manhunts in the state’s history.

Ingram, 37, had been on the run since January 22, when he fled Lake Cargelligo after shooting dead his heavily pregnant former partner Sophie Quinn, 25, her friend John Harris, 32, her aunt Nerida Quinn, 50, and seriously injuring 20-year-old Kaleb Macqueen, who was 19 at the time of the attack.

Police found the body on Monday afternoon after NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service workers reported Ingram’s abandoned Lachlan Shire Council ute in Round Hill Nature Reserve, about 100 kilometres north-west of Lake Cargelligo.

The bushland is between Lake Cargelligo and the remote township of Mount Hope, where several sightings of Ingram were reported in the days after the shooting.

Two firearms – a rifle and a shotgun – were found with the body, which is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be Ingram’s. His driver’s licence was found in the ute, and the body, suffering what is believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was dressed in clothes matching those Ingram was wearing on January 22.

“He was gutless,” Cathy Quinn, Sophie Quinn’s mother, told this masthead on Monday.

“We [are] still grieving, but justice will be served.”

Sophie Quinn’s sister, Tegan, said her family could start grieving.

“Now it feels so real,” she said.

Police received hundreds of individual pieces of information and searched tens of thousands of hectares of bush and farmland around Lake Cargelligo – a town of about 1200 people – since the shootings. Police previously conducted large-scale searches of Mount Hope and its surrounds, but NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Andy Holland said it was unclear if officers had searched the scrub where the body was found.

“Obviously, it’s a relief for those involved in the investigation, and probably a bigger relief for the people of Lake Cargelligo and the Quinn family,” Holland said.

“It brings closure to this investigation, it brings closure to the people of Lake Cargelligo and gives some solace to the town so they can relax.”

Police offered a $250,000 reward leading to Ingram’s arrest in the days before hundreds farewelled Sophie and Nerida Quinn and Sophie’s unborn son, who was to be named Troy after her father. She was due to give birth in March. At the time, police said they believed Ingram was being helped to evade capture.

“We had all intentions of bringing Julian Ingram before a court,” Holland said.

Detectives will continue to investigate whether allies helped Ingram on the run. A coronial investigation is expected to help determine how soon after the shootings he died.

Interactions between police and Ingram in the months before the shooting are the subject of an ongoing critical incident investigation being overseen by the state’s policing watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. The investigation is examining Ingram and Sophie Quinn’s ongoing relationship in the lead-up to the killings, Ingram’s access to firearms, and how the 37-year-old, who never held a gun licence in NSW, accessed the weapon used in the shootings.

Sophie’s mother Cathy Quinn, holding a boy at the funeral in March. Sophie’s grandmother Bev also looks on (centre, black and white shirt).© Janie Barrett

Local police granted Ingram bail on domestic violence charges last November after he allegedly assaulted Sophie Quinn around the time the pair separated.

“Why did he get bail?” Dwayne Kirby, who witnessed Sophie Quinn and Harris’ deaths, said.

“We’re glad he’s been found, but he should still be alive, so the family can get justice. I’m hoping in some way they can.”

Mikaila Elms, Nerida Quinn’s daughter, told this masthead that Ingram’s death meant her family would “never get justice”.

“It just leaves us wondering,” she said.