Man and child found dead in car

A six-month-old baby found dead in a car with his father in a suspected murder-suicide was reported missing two days earlier.

Police investigate after the discovery of two bodies in a car on the Sunshine Coast.

A six-month-old baby boy found dead in a car with his father in a suspected murder-suicide was reported missing two days ­earlier but police did not issue a public alert.

The 46-year-old father was separated from the baby’s ­mother and failed to appear with the child in line with custody ­arrangements on Monday, police said.

Council workers discovered the bodies inside a red Holden Commodore at Coochin Creek, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, on a track opposite a camping ground at about 8am yesterday.

Police did not say how they died, but no weapons were found in the car.

Detective Inspector Dave Drinnen said there had been a history of domestic incidents and police had been treating the case as a high-risk missing person investigation.

He said there were extensive efforts to find the man and his son before the “extremely distressing” discovery of the bodies.

Despite concerns for the child, an amber alert that may have helped locate the pair was not issued.

“They will be matters we will look at in due course,” Inspector Drinnen said.

Police issue amber alerts to ask for community assistance to find abducted or high-risk ­missing children who appear to be at imminent risk of death or serious harm.

Under the system, the public is given details about the child, where they were last seen, and descriptions of the offender and any vehicle involved.

“We were undertaking a number of extensive inquiries to locate this person,” Inspector Drinnen said.

“The father and the child ­failed to turn up in relation to custody arrangements. As a result of that, the mother was concerned.

“(There were) some welfare checks initially before this was reported as a missing persons ­investigation.”

The baby’s mother was “distraught, as you can well ­imagine”, he said.

“They have obviously been there for some time. It’s a very tragic event.”

An Australian Institute of Criminology report, released yesterday, revealed a child was killed by a parent about every fortnight in Australia.

From 2000-01 to 2011-12, there were 238 incidents of filicide, involving 260 ­offenders and the deaths of 284 children. In most cases a motive was not known. But where there was a known motive, two thirds related to a domestic argument. Of those, a quarter related to the upbringing of children and 18 per cent related to custodial ­arrangements.

Filicides accounted for 18 per cent of domestic homicide incidents and 7 per cent of all homicide incidents.

NSW had the largest number of incidents (72), followed by Queensland (65) and Victoria (47). Almost a quarter of victims died by a beating. Others were strangled or suffocated (14 per cent), stabbed or drowned (10 per cent).

Intervening early and effectively could reduce the risk of harm to a child and improve parent and family wellbeing.

If you or someone you know may be at risk of suicide, call Lifeline ­ (13 11 14), Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800) or the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467), or see a doctor.