Surfers Paradise baby death: Little sign left of heartbreaking discovery

It was soon after midnight yesterday when a passer-by found a baby girl lying at the water’s edge Surfers Paradise beach but, as the tide rolled in, the beach quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

ON a dark and windswept Surfers Paradise beach, less than a kilometre from carousing Schoolies revellers, a bizarre but terrible tragedy was unfolding.

It was soon after midnight yesterday when a passerby stumbled on a baby girl lying in the sand near the water’s edge at the end of Staghorn Ave, a block north of the Cavill Ave party hub.

Key question in baby’s tragic death

Paramedics on duty at Schoolies rushed to the scene from their triage centre on the Surfers Paradise Esplanade, along with police.

They performed CPR on the nine-month-old infant but their frantic attempts to revive her were in vain. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police at the scene where a baby’s body was found. Picture: 7 News Gold Coast

“The body was located on the edge of the surf … clearly it had been in water,” Detective Inspector Marc Hogan, of Gold Coast CIB, told reporters.

“I don’t know how long for. We will set about trying to find that out as best we can.

“This is a very tragic event … a very sad situation. It will impact a lot of people.”

The baby’s parents, a homeless couple, were found later at Broadbeach, several kilometres south of Surfers. The man 48, and woman, 23, were yesterday helping police with their investigation.

Police immediately set up a crime scene on the beach in the wake of the tragedy but there was little in the way of evidence.

“It’s probably not a typical crime scene you’d have to say,” Insp Hogan said.

“Police this morning did a great job in terms of searching the beach with motorised vehicles and the helicopter. There’s nothing too substantial to come out of that so that gives us some indication of what may have happened … but at this stage we’re not sure.”

The beach where the body of an infant was found at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Picture: AAP Image/Regi Varghese

Insp Hogan said there were no visible signs of injury on the baby but a post-mortem was being carried out.

He said the couple, who drifted from park to park on the Gold Coast, had not reported the child missing.

The couple had family at Tweed Heads and Gold Coast detectives are working with NSW police, as well as the Homicide Squad, to determine what happened.

“We’ve got to dig into the background of the people involved,” Insp Hogan said.

First-responders to the tragedy were offered counselling.

“These are extremely tragic events, I can only imagine what it was like,” Insp Hogan said.

“But full credit to them, they stood up and did their service and I’m very proud of what they did.”

Tributes left for the infant who died on Surfers Paradise beach. Picture: Glenn Hampson

The crime scene tent was removed yesterday morning as the tide came in, and the beach quickly returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Lifeguards set up a patrol right next to where the tragedy happened, schoolies kicked a football on the sand, a couple of surfers paddled out and a Norwegian tourist sunbaked only metres from where the baby was found.

The woman was shocked when told she was soaking up the sun at the scene of the tragedy.

“I only arrived in Australia yesterday and hadn’t caught up the Australian news,” she said.

“It’s very sad.”

The only sign of the tragedy was a couple of bunches of flowers and a small stuffed toy left on a timber viewing platform at the end of Staghorn Ave.

‘RIP little angel’, read a handwritten note left with the flowers.

A local resident, who gave her name only as Karen, wiped away tears after riding to the beach on her pushbike to ‘pay my respects’.

“I didn’t know this baby but still it hurts … it’s just awful,” she said.

“She hadn’t even started life and she’s gone. I hope they make a little plaque for her and put it here.”