Baby still missing as police pull bodies of woman and toddler from sea | World | News
SES at the scene (Image: Nine News)
Day two of an urgent race against time to find a missing infant is now underway after the bodies of a mother and toddler were pulled from the sea on Monday (July 27).
Police have expressed ‘grave concerns’ for the baby, who is less than one year old, after the state emergency service and police were called to a South Australia beach just after 11am local time on Monday after a car was found west of Port MacDonnell with its engine still running.
Emergency workers will continue with their search for the missing baby in the coastal waters of the small town, 477 kilometres south-east of the state capital of Adelaide, on Tuesday morning.
Superintendent Trent Cox said on Monday (July 27) that the baby was with the 36-year-old mum earlier in the day, but it remains unknown if the baby was with her when she entered the water or abandoned the car.
A rescue helicopter searches for the msising baby (Image: Nine News)
“The baby is known to have been with the mother earlier that day but as to whether the baby was still with her when the vehicle was left, that’s open to speculation,” Cox said, adding: “I honestly don’t know.”
While first responders are “keeping an open mind about everything”, Cox added that he does not “hold out great hope” for the baby. “The child is less than one year old,” he told NCA.
“In any conditions, that would cause great concern about the child’s ability to survive, if not in the water.”
The search for the missing infant was called off on Monday night after conditions became too dangerous for searcgh operations to continue. The break at Port MacDonnell as per time of writing on Tuesday was producing five footers, or waves two times overhead, making rough seas all the harder for lifeboats to carry out search and rescue duties. Water temperatures are 15C and the temperature out of the water is 12C – very cold conditions, particularly for a baby left alone both in or out of the water.
SA Police will continue the search on Tuesday, as officers are determined “to find the missing child”, Superintendent Cox said.
Police have since released an image of the car believed to belong to the woman; a white Isuzu MU-X, (Image: SA Police)
“We wish incidents like this didn’t happen, but we’ve got to maintain the safety of not just emergency services, but we’ve been assisted by a number of volunteers as well with their boats. We need to be very much aware of their welfare,” he said,
“The conditions were not easy for the waterborne assets, and I’m led to believe that (Tuesday) is not going to be an easy day either.”
He added the incident was “tragic” for everyone involved. I can’t imagine what the family are going through.
“It’s tragic for them. It’s an awful thing for emergency services and the community to have to deal with.”
Police have since released an image of the car that they say belonged to the woman.
Anyone who may have seen a white Isuzu MU-X, with South Australian registration S592 BJR, in the Mount Gambier, Compton, or Port MacDonnell areas on Monday are urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
