Grieving dad blasts ‘mistakes’ that cost Krystal Cain her life in 2022 floods

A year after teenager Krystal Cain disappeared in raging flood waters west of Gympie her father has opened up about the catastrophic events of that night and “mistakes” he says were made by emergency services.

Krystal Cain’s father Lenny paid tribute once again to his “amazing” daughter a year on from the tragic event leading to her disappearance.

The grieving father of a 14-year-old girl swept away by raging flood waters west of Gympie in 2022 has opened up about the devastating events that night as the pain remains raw for the family one year on.

Krystal Cain disappeared in floodwaters near Booubyjan on January 8, 2022 after she and her father, Lenny Cain, clung to surrounding trees, waiting to be rescued for hours.

Mr Cain said on Tuesday there were “mistakes made” by emergency services that night, and that when he called 000 at 12.19am, he was told there were “more important things going on” with emergency services deeply concerned about housing damage in Gympie.

“I told them we’re going to die here,” Mr Cain said. (QFES did not take the 000 call)

He said that three hours later, a vehicle arrived near where his car had been washed off Murgon Gayndah Road by a rapidly rising Boonara Creek.

A Queensland Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson said:

“Queensland Fire and Emergency Services was tasked to the incident at approximately 2:10am on 8 January 2022 via the Queensland Police Service.

“Fire and Rescue Service crews were dispatched within minutes to the location at Booubyjan.”

Krystal Cain and her father Lenny were travelling from Victoria to visit her grandparents in Agnes Waters. Photo: supplied.

Mr Cain said he could see the truck clearly 75m away, as he and Krystal clung to a tree, but that nobody got out to search and that the search light was not turned on.

He said he was told during his coroner’s interview that emergency services subsequently ruled his 000 call a “prank call” as they could not see anyone nor the car.

The QFES spokesperson said firefighters tried to reach the area but it was “inaccessible to ground crews due to significant rainfall, flooding and extremely dangerous conditions”.

“Firefighters attempted access via multiple locations and routes, including Murgon and Gayndah, however they could not locate the persons and any further search attempts were not possible due to the dangerous conditions,” they said.

“Once it became clear firefighters could not make access via the ground, QFES requested aerial support to assist with the rescue attempt.”

The SES arrived on the scene about 5.30am – not to search for the father and daughter who were still desperately clinging to a tree downstream – but to close the road to traffic.

It was a few hours later – about 9am – that Krystal was swept away, never to be seen again.

The tree in Booubyjan which Lenny Cain and his daughter Krystal held onto during deadly flash flooding which eventually carried Krystal away. Her body was never found. Today, a memorial to Krystal has been created at the site. Photo: Contributed.

“They left us out there to die,” Mr Cain said.

Once the sun came up, Mr Cain was spotted by Booubyjan farmers Julie and Ken Thompson, who called 000. Two hours later he was airlifted by a Life Flight helicopter once it was safe enough to retrieve him. But it was too late for Krystal.

“If it wasn’t for them (Mr and Mrs Thompson) reporting it, I would probably be dead as well,” Mr Cain said.

He said he was yet to receive a coroner's report or death certificate for his daughter and had been told the process could take years.

When the search for Krystal began, Mr Cain said emergency services were “fantastic” and had done an “amazing job”.

He told The Gympie Times in January 2022 he was beyond grateful for the effort put in to find her and wanted to thank the numerous people involved in the search.

Pictured is the bridge Lenny and Krystal were stranded on when the flood waters began to rise. This was the centre of the search for Krystal.

The past year, however, had been “hell” for he and the family.

“It’s just been a horrible, horrible year.”

Krystal was “everything” to him and what he and his daughter went through was “just horrific”.

“I just miss talking to her and seeing her every day,” Mr Cain said.

“Just everything she had done was amazing.”

A memorial to Krystal at the church Lenny Cain's mother attends in Agnes Waters. Photo: contributed.

Mr Cain said his daughter was an “amazing girl” and talented with her art.

“I need to let people know how amazing Krystal was,” he said.

Echuca College has a memorial for Krystal on their grounds and held an aboriginal smoking ceremony in February 2022, which was attended by more than 800 people.

A memorial has been set up at a church in Agnes Waters where Mr Cain now lives, at Krystal’s high school in Victoria and on the tree she and Mr Cain clung to at Booubyjan.

Since the tragedy, Mr Cain has been supported by his partner Wendy and her sister Rosie as well as his mother, stepfather, sister, doctor and Bundaberg mental health services, he said.

He said he had also received support from close friends, businesses owners and even his dog, which had been right by his side the whole time.

“I wouldn’t have coped otherwise.”

A police spokeswoman said on Tuesday “police continue to investigate the disappearance of 14-year-old Krystal Cain in flood waters in Booubyjan”.

“Specialist search and rescue police have and continue to use drone technology in conjunction with traditional land searches in the search for Krystal,” the spokeswoman said.