Trolls force family to bury Heidi Riding in secret after Toowoomba crash

Hours after a teen girl died in an alleged stolen car crash, trolls sent her family members hundreds of vile hate messages and made threats to drive through her funeral.

Heidi Riding, 18, died when the Holden Commodore she was a passenger in lost control and crashed into a tree in Toowoomba.

The family of a teenage girl who was killed in a horror crash on a Toowoomba street, say they were forced to bury her in secret after trolls threatened to crash the funeral and drive a car through her fresh gravesite.

Just hours after Heidi Riding was killed in an alleged stolen car crash in the early hours of July 14 and as her family was grappling with the loss of the 18-year-old they began receiving online abuse in the form hundreds of vile messages.

The person whose car was involved in the horrific crash, told News Corp Australia she left the car on the the roadside after running out of fuel.

The family said they were forced to keep the date and location of the funeral secret after receiving threats.

Heidi Riding had a heart of gold and would give the shirt off her own back if someone needed it, her father said. Toowoomba. Picture: Social Media

Her twin sister told her dad she lost half her soul when Heidi was killed, and will never celebrate another birthday.
While speaking out about their loss, her family acknowledged she was not perfect, and pleaded with pockets of the community to stop the abuse.

“We want to apologise to anyone who has been affected by Heidi’s actions, she wasn’t perfect but we love her to death,” Heidi’s father Shane Riding said.

The avid footy player’s life was cut short at just 18-years-old. Picture: Social Media

‘I GO TO BED CRYING’

Mr Riding said he was beside himself after having to bury his third child.

“I go to bed crying and I wake up crying,” he said.

Heidi was laid to rest on Monday, July 31, a few feet from her baby brother who died at birth, and her 28-year-old brother who had died from a medical condition.

“The trolls got what they wanted, they just have to look at her gravesite – she’s in the ground dead.

“We just want it to stop.”

The trolling is a part of an alarming and growing trend as community members turn to vigilantism, which has now affected Heidi’s innocent family members who have to grapple with the vile abuse alongside their grief.

Heidi’s older sister has been inundated with an endless stream of vicious trolling – on one occasion she received 150 messages in the span of 35 minutes.

The trolls even went to one of Heidi's sister's workplace's social media page to sling hatred.

‘YOU SHOULD KILL YOURSELF’

“You should kill yourself, just like your sister,” one message read.

Mr Riding said he and his family were acutely aware of the crime issues facing the town and broader Queensland, and agreed more needed to be done to keep youth out of people’s homes, cars, and detention centres.

“Too many kids are dying,” he said.

“We need to find a way to get into the heart of these troubled kids before it’s too late.

“I would tell these kids to just stop – the game is up.

“Heidi wouldn’t want them out stealing cars, and she wouldn’t want anyone else to die.”

Growing up Heidi always loved riding motorbikes and going camping with her family.

Mr Riding said everyone who knew Heidi, knows she has a heart of gold and would give the shirt off her own back if someone needed it.

On Monday, July 31, Heidi was laid to rest a few feet from her brothers. Picture: Social Media

The day after she died, Heidi’s family said they were contacted by a woman they did not know, because Heidi had used $20 to buy dinner for a complete stranger.

“I just wanted to reach out and say thank you because the night before the crash she brought my son dinner,” the message read.

Mr Riding said Heidi often helped people on the street who were struggling.

“There was a young girl chroming on the street, and so many people walked past her, but it was Heidi who stopped to help,” he said.

“She picked up all her cans, threw them in the bin, and held out her hand and got her help.

“But she hid her soft side. Not many people knew the real Heidi, those who did were lucky.”

The 19-year-old who was allegedly driving the reported stolen car, with Heidi in the passenger seat, Kyaharlem Hazard, is in police custody charged with manslaughter.

Originally published as Trolls force family to bury Heidi Riding in secret after Toowoomba crash