Darling Downs couple, toddler killed in Ipswich Motorway crash remembered by friends, family

Loved ones have shared their heartbreak and anger that the ice-addict who killed himself as well as a couple and their young daughter in a horrific crash will never ‘realise what tragedy he has caused’.

Devastated family and friends say their lives changed “in the blink of an eye” when they were told of the horrific crash that claimed the lives of a couple and little girl.

Kyle Stacey and his partner Rani Adams were travelling west along the Ipswich Motorway with her two-year-old daughter safely buckled into the back seat when the unthinkable happened just after 11pm on Wednesday.

Rani Adams died alongside her little girl and partner Kyle on Wednesday night. Picture: Facebook

A speeding car driving in the wrong direction collided with the couple’s SUV, killing all three.

Both cars instantly exploded into flames that were so ferocious, emergency services could not gain access to the family still inside.

The 34-year-old driver of the other car, Calvin Clack, was thrown from his vehicle and died at the scene.

Police are investigating whether Clack was affected by drugs when he got behind the wheel of his Ford Focus.

Friends said Kyle Stacey and his partner Rani had “the biggest hearts”. Picture: Facebook

Family and friends of Mr Stacey, 39, Ms Adams, 37, and her little girl – who had just turned two – were left in disbelief that an “innocent honest family” were taken so suddenly.

Mr Stacey’s ex-partner Hayley Ashcroft said she had been woken by a phone call that changed their lives “completely, in the blink of an eye”.

“To think that a person would purposely make a decision that kills an innocent honest family including a two-year-old. Just makes my head explode,” Ms Ashcroft wrote.

“That person didn’t even live to suffer the consequences or even realise what tragedy he had caused.”

Ms Ashcroft, who had a child with Mr Stacey, said: “Kyle and Rani had the biggest hearts and were always running around looking after everyone. Because they wanted everyone they loved to be happy.”

The pair had been together since 2019 and only months ago, Mr Stacey lost his brother.

Rani’s close friend Katie Bates said she was heartbroken to learn her friend had died. She said she had been “truly one in a million”.

“I’ve been trying all day to find the words to describe what you meant to me and there just isn’t any,” she wrote on Facebook. “Over 24 years you were one of my best friends, we’ve been through deaths, marriages, divorces, births and no matter what we always found time. I honestly am heartbroken.”

A Go Fund Me fundaising page has been opened to raise funds to help and support Rani and Kyle’s family.