Hope lost for baby boy missing after family tragedy
Robyn Wuth |
Police have given up hope of finding a missing baby boy alive after confirming a tragedy that killed his mother and toddler sister is being treated as a murder-suicide.
“The reality is, after three days, the chances of finding the baby alive are zero,” Superintendent Trent Cox said on Wednesday.
“Sadly, it’s a retrieval effort. We will continue to search this afternoon and then make decisions about whether we continue or discontinue based on the expert advice.”
The Compton woman has been identified as 36-year-old Helena Wright, according to media reports.
Ms Wright was originally from Estonia and had been living in Compton, a small locality outside Mount Gambier about 26km north of Port MacDonnell.
Police were alerted to an abandoned car that was left with its engine running near Cape Northumberland about 11.15am on Monday.
Police have scoured land and sea around Cape Northumberland, near Port MacDonnell on the Limestone Coast, since the three-month-old vanished with his mother and 23‑month‑old sister on Monday.
Supt Cox said extremely challenging conditions had hampered the search, forcing emergency vessels to stay out of the water for much of Tuesday and limiting efforts to shoreline and clifftop sweeps.
“We’ve been unable to … to launch water assets. We’ve been able to get the SES aerial drone up,” he said, adding that experts had advised against deploying an underwater drone in the dangerous conditions.
A coronial investigation was underway, with a report to be prepared for the coroner.
The bodies of Ms Wright and her toddler daughter were recovered from the ocean on Monday.
The pair was found below the cliffs and retrieved with help from local fishermen.
Police have spoken to the woman’s husband, the father of the children, and say the deaths are being treated as a suspected murder-suicide.
Earlier, officers said there was no information to suggest anyone was involved in the incident.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said the tragedy had shocked the community to the core.
“If it involves children, that breaks your heart … particularly when we know there was a two-month-old baby missing. That’s hard to get your head around,” he said on Tuesday.
Major Crime detectives and specialist forensic officers remain at the scene as investigations continue.
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AAP