South Australian Police will today resume searching for a missing baby off Cape Northumberland in the state’s south-east, a day after the bodies of a woman and toddler were recovered.
The bodies were seen floating in the ocean when police attended reports of a vehicle left running near cliffs west of Port MacDonnell, about 400 kilometres south-east of Adelaide.
Police launched an operation with support from the SA SES, CFS and local fishermen, where the bodies of a 36-year-old woman from Compton, near Mount Gambier, and her toddler were retrieved.
Another child seen with the woman earlier yesterday morning remains missing, with grave fears for their safety as searching resumes today.
“The child is less than one year old. In any conditions that would cause great concern about the child’s ability to survive,” said Superintendent Trent Cox, officer in charge of Limestone Coast Region.
He said it remained unclear how the woman and the toddler came to be in the water.
“We can’t tell exactly how the woman and the young child have entered the water,” he said.
“We’re keeping an open mind as to how they’ve come to be in the water and that will be part of the investigation.”
Police said detectives from the Major Crime Investigation Branch and specialist officers from the Forensic Response Section had also travelled to the scene.
Emergency services conducted an extensive search over waters near Port MacDonnell. (ABC News: Aiden McNamara)
Community comes together
Tom Egan is a local fisherman and member of the Port MacDonnell Offshore Angling Club.
He told ABC South East SA he was concerned weather conditions could significantly hamper the resumed ocean search.
“Conditions weren’t great visibility wise, but I would say it would be nigh on impossible today to do anything via the ocean just with conditions,” Mr Egan said.
“There were waves breaking out towards Cape Northumberland probably a mile offshore, that means it’s probably a 3-plus-metre sea but I believe it’s going to get up to round that 5, 6 metres even possibly later on this afternoon.”
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Mr Egan said the police search area was along a notoriously dangerous stretch of coast.
“History will tell you it’s one of the most treacherous coastlines in Australia … it’s just rugged and there is lots of reef,” Mr Egan said.
“It will be very tough today … when you get over a couple of metres swell it makes it impossible to get within 500 metres of the shore.
“The community will get around each other and help in any way they can as [with] most communities around the Limestone Coast if anything goes in the town everyone bands together.”
‘It gets around a small town quickly’
Port MacDonnell local and lobster fisherman Tom Ryan said the town was mourning the loss of the woman and her child.
“Anything like this, it gets around a small town quickly and people are pretty upset by things like this,” Mr Ryan said.
The incident occurred less than a kilometre from Mr Ryan’s home.
“It’s pretty confronting having something that serious happen that close to your house, especially when you hear that there’s children involved; that also brings a whole other dimension to what’s happened.”
Cape Northumberland near Port MacDonnell where the bodies of a woman and toddler were recovered. (ABC News: Josh Brine)
Mr Ryan said the incident highlighted again the need for Port MacDonnell to have its own marine rescue boat.
“It’s one of the things that we’re lacking,” he said.
“We’re one of the biggest fishing ports in South Australia, specifically for southern rock lobster, but we don’t have our own search and rescue vessel.
“Most ports in Australia that have this many commercial fishing boats and/or just a harbour that houses that many boats, even if they’re recreational fishers, [have] a marine rescue.”
Superintendent Cox confirmed volunteers had contributed to the search efforts yesterday and would likely do so again today.
“Any marine asset in proximity would be useful, we’ve been very fortunate to have the services of volunteer marine rescue from Kingston. We would never stop advocating for as many resources as we can get,” he said.
Police have urged anyone who may have seen a white Isuzu MU-X registration S592 BJR to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.