Residents voiced fears about homeless family’s baby

Residents raised concerns about a baby girl living in makeshift camps on Gold Coast beaches, months before she was found dead.

Police divers search for evidence at Jack Evans boat harbour yesterday. Picture: AAP

Residents say they raised concerns about a vulnerable baby girl living in makeshift camps beside Gold Coast beaches months before she was found dead on the surf’s edge this week.

Concerns about the girl’s cries in the night and about her welfare during the winter led locals to contact authorities.

Despite the girl’s homeless parents being well known to police and the child safety department, she remained in their care.

In the second suspicious death of a child in as many days, a four-month-old girl from the Logan district, south of Brisbane, died yesterday.

She was taken to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries on Monday.

A 35-year-old woman and a 37-year-old man were assisting with inquiries in that case.

On the Gold Coast, the nine-month-old girl, her parents and four-year-old brother were seen camped behind a barbecue in Sydney Hamilton Family Park in Surfers Paradise with a tarp set up for shelter two weeks ago.

“They were there one night and then they were gone,” said Craig Witt, manager of Surfers Chalet Holiday Apartments across the road.

The family was also believed to have lived in a car, on sand dunes, in other parks and under bridges on the Gold Coast and across the border at Tweed Heads.

The girl’s father has told police he believed the baby was possessed by demons, Seven News reported last night.

Queensland’s child safety department is under intense pressure after her abandoned body was found at Surfers Paradise beach on Monday just after midnight. “What the hell were they doing leaving that child there?” Queensland Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington said yesterday.

“There is a safer spot for that baby to have been. There are many people out there who are willing to help and love and care for children. It has ended in an utter tragedy.”

The girl’s father, 48, and mother, 23, were taken in for questioning on Monday after being found at Broadbeach, 5km from where the body was discovered.

Locals feared for the rough sleeping children. Two said they contacted police with concerns. Gold Coast resident Erin Sorensen said she went to police two months ago.

“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,” she wrote on Facebook. “I reported it straight away and monitored the following week. And if authorities did the job correctly, this little girl would still be here!”

Child Safety Minister Di Farm­er said she was legally unable to comment on individual cases. “I know everyone wants answers and so do I, but we need this to be done properly and we need to allow police the time and space to do their job,” she said.