Baby died in NSW and washed ashore in Queensland
The father of a baby whose body washed up on a Gold Coast beach after a suspected “sacrifice” will likely be charged with her murder today.
The father of a baby whose naked body washed ashore on a Gold Coast beach has been extradited to NSW where he is expected to be charged with her murder.
It’s alleged the baby girl was thrown into the Jack Evans Boat Harbour at Tweed Heads in NSW in what Queensland police believe was a “sacrifice”. Her empty pram was left alongside the waterway.
The girl’s body is believed to have drifted 30km in the current for two days, crossing the state border before washing up at Surfers Paradise beach where she was found by passers-by early on Monday.
Sources familiar with the investigation into the death have told AAP the family of four was tracked on CCTV travelling from the Gold Coast to the Jack Evans Boat Harbour, where the girl was allegedly thrown into the water, on Saturday.
Queensland Police also have images of the mother, father and remaining young child catching a bus at Coolangatta and returning to Queensland, the sources said.
Separate video of the family was obtained by the Daily Mail that appeared to show the parents arguing over money at Jack Evans Boat Harbour.
The distressed mother can be heard saying “$940 bucks” and then “I’ll give it back, I’ll give it back”.
The circumstances surrounding the death of a baby girl, which police responded to in Surfers Paradise on Monday morning, will now be investigated by NSW Police Force https://t.co/DRn2TiRVOu pic.twitter.com/2hGMZLlGM5
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) November 20, 2018
Detectives from the Homicide Squad and Tweed/Byron Police District applied for and were granted the 48-year-old’s extradition at Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
The man was escorted by police to Tweed Heads Police Station and arrived just after 10pm.
The father wore a white hospital gown when he appeared in court.
The hearing was briefly delayed because the man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, faced a number of charges that had to be dealt with before the extradition could proceed.
The court was told he was a violent schizophrenic who had previously tried to attack a Gold Coast City Council officer who was warning him not to camp in the sand dunes with his family.
He had hurled abuse at the officer and threatened him with a bottle and a stick. The court was told it was because he was trying to protect his family and that he had a history of alcoholism, drug addiction and violence. He pleaded guilty to public nuisance and was sentenced to 12 months’ jail.
Sunil Dutt, of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, said on Wednesday his client had been in and out of foster care and endured a “very hard life”.
The man was eventually released into the custody of NSW detectives and will appear in a Tweed Heads court on Thursday.
It is understood the girl’s mother, a 23-year-old transient, has been released from police custody without charge and may be treated as a witness. She is now under the care of Queensland mental health services. Her eldest child is also in state care.
Queensland detectives have been “deeply distressed” by the circumstance of the child’s death, the sources said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Detective Chief Inspector Brendon McCullum of NSW Police said there was a “very strong geographical nexus” of the incident occurring within Tweed Heads.
It’s believed the tiny girl was swept 30km north in the ocean before her lifeless body was found lying in the sand at the edge of the water on Surfers Paradise beach in a tragic discovery by a passer-by in the early hours of Monday morning.
“This is an extremely complex investigation. As it crosses jurisdictional boundaries, time zones, and has made what is a very tragic investigation even the more complex,” said Insp. McCullum.
An autopsy had been held in Brisbane but was yet to be completed. There has been no confirmation on how long the child was in the water.
“This is an ongoing investigation, there is a lot of way to go. We want to find out what happened to this child. We need to put the pieces together,” Insp McCullum said.
Distressing new details about the girl’s family life have been revealed.
The girl’s father told police he believed the baby was possessed by demons, Seven News reported last night.
And, a friend of the parents has told the Daily Mail that the couple was more than happy to leave their child in the care of strangers.
“He (the father) put the baby in my arms and started walking away,” Kirsty Davis said. “I said, ‘Are you coming back for the baby?’ and he just looked at me, gave me a blank look and just kept walking on.”
About 12.30am on Monday, Queensland Police were called to Staghorn Avenue and the Esplanade, Surfers Paradise, after the girl was found unresponsive.
She was assessed by paramedics, but died at the scene.
Divers have been scouring waters south of the Gold Coast in the hope of turning up clues as to the death of the little girl.
Specialist officers were seen entering Jack Evans Boat Harbour at Tweed Heads, NSW, on Tuesday. The child’s family, who were homeless, had lived for a time in Kingscliff, just inside NSW.
Queensland Police said they would continue to assist their southern counterparts after establishing the death occurred south of Coolangatta.
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GOLD COAST REACTS
On Tuesday, several Gold Coast residents said they tried months ago to get help for the baby girl whose family often slept in local parks from Tweed Heads to Surfers Paradise.
The tragic death has exposed a massive homelessness problem beneath the glitz of the city skyline and furious locals are asking how this could have happened.
At least two locals say they contacted police and other authorities about the family, which had been sleeping rough near the beach where the nine-month-old was found dead.
Local resident Erin Sorensen says she went to police two months ago to share her concerns about the baby, as well as a toddler who was also sleeping rough with the couple. “Clearly, I wasn’t taken seriously,” she wrote on Facebook.
“It was winter and the dunes were freezing every time the sun went down. I didn’t think that was good for a baby or toddler.”
“They had blankets at that time but I would hear the newborn crying early hours of morning,” a Surfers Paradise resident told the Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday. “Why was the baby left with the parents — just why?”
Police have recovered a two-year-old boy in a “healthy” condition — who is believed to be the dead baby’s sibling and is now in the care of the state’s Department of Child Safety.
Child safety advocate Hetty Johnston says there must be a public inquiry into how the baby was left in such a heartbreaking situation.
“The public needs to understand the system they are paying for and how broken it is,” the Bravehearts founder told AAP.
“If they (child services) did know about this family, we need to know what happened here. And if they didn’t know, then there’s something seriously wrong there.”
The parents were taken into custody after police attended an alleged domestic violence incident soon after discovering the dead baby.
The couple, who were known to police, had not reported their daughter missing before her body was found.
It is understood the homeless parents were also known to child safety services. However Child Safety Minister Di Farmer refused to comment on the case, citing privacy.
Opposition Deputy Leader Tim Mander said it would be “incredibly disturbing” if the girl was known to child safety services.
“What happened to this little nine-month-old girl was an absolute tragedy,” Mr Mander said. “We will await the outcome of police investigations, but if the parents were known to child safety and nothing was done then that needs to be made public.”
Reverend Jon Brook, of the St John’s Church crisis care centre in Surfers Paradise, told the Courier Mail he believed his service had tried to help the couple find affordable accommodation.
“If it’s the couple I believe, they were living as rough as it gets — in parks, toilet blocks, under bridges, wherever,” he said. “This is just a terrible tragedy. I feel for that poor little child.”
The Bulletin revealed that seven months ago, a concerned Surfers Paradise resident told Gold Coast City Council about the homeless family and it was also flagged with welfare services.
Council staff wrote back after five days, apologising for the late reply and telling the resident to raise the matter with other authorities as it was not a council responsibility.
A support worker from homeless services did visit the family but the couple refused help, the Bulletin reported.
The tragedy has cast a heartbreaking light on the scale of the city’s homelessness problem.
The 2016 Census showed there were 1723 homeless people on the Gold Coast, a 27 per cent jump since 2011.
Kathleen Vlasic, local co-ordinator of community group Rosies — which has been helping homeless people on the Gold Coast for more than 30 years — said it was the very fact Surfers Paradise was so busy that drew them and others in need of a helping hand.
“It could be 100 to 200 people. It varies from time to time, it’s not always the same,” Ms Vlasic told the ABC.
“They seem to be able to blend in and not be so noticed all the time. They can wander through Surfers and they’re not really going to stand out like a sore toe.”
SECOND BABY DEATH
Just a day after the nine-month-old girl’s body was found washed up on the Gold Coast beach, another — even younger — child was found dead in suspicious circumstances in Queensland.
Police say a 35-year-old woman and 37-year-old man are assisting with inquiries following the death of a four-month-old girl in Logan, south of Brisbane.
The infant was taken to the Queensland Children’s Hospital on Tuesday afternoon in a critical condition, but she later died.
Detectives from the child protection unit and the homicide and child trauma squads are investigating.
— with AAP
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