Two toddlers found dead in Queensland

[Ellery84]

*Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised the following story contains the name and image of people who have died.

Breaking: The mothers of the 2 young children who died were 5 hours away from Woorabinda at the time of their deaths(s).

Toddlers' mothers were five hours away when they died in an unused car

Relatives found a two-year-old in the vehicle in the backyard of a home in Woorabinda, south-west of Rockhampton, at about 6.30pm on Friday. Another young child was later found in the rear footwell.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Absolutely heartbreaking.

 

[LadyL]

10 deaths in the last two months??!!
what is the population of this place?

Toddlers' mothers were five hours away when they died in an unused car

Relatives found a two-year-old in the vehicle in the backyard of a home in Woorabinda, south-west of Rockhampton, at about 6.30pm on Friday. Another young child was later found in the rear footwell.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[Ellery84]

10 deaths in the last two months??!!
what is the population of this place?

Toddlers' mothers were five hours away when they died in an unused car

Relatives found a two-year-old in the vehicle in the backyard of a home in Woorabinda, south-west of Rockhampton, at about 6.30pm on Friday. Another young child was later found in the rear footwell.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Iirc/ population 1000

 

[Ellery84]

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/rockhampton/police-courts/mums-of-woorabinda-toddlers-in-cherbourg-at-time-of-deaths/news-story/bfad8349adaa8d625ffef378e34b0977

The mothers of the two boys were in Cherbourg at the time of the children’s deaths.
One of the boys was in Woorabinda visiting his father. The other boy resided in Woorabinda.

The day after the death of the toddlers (Saturday), four youths in the town allegedly overpowered a teacher who was over 60 years of age, and took his car by force.

Detective Acting Inspector Peachey said the stolen vehicle, a white Kia with the registration 235IM4, was also still outstanding and the four alleged offenders are still on the run.

Police are asking for the public’s help to inform them of the whereabouts of the car and the alleged offenders.

 

[Ellery84]

10 deaths in the last two months??!!
what is the population of this place?

Toddlers' mothers were five hours away when they died in an unused car

Relatives found a two-year-old in the vehicle in the backyard of a home in Woorabinda, south-west of Rockhampton, at about 6.30pm on Friday. Another young child was later found in the rear footwell.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Population of 1019 people, as of 2021.

Woorabinda, Queensland - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Cubby]

How did the toddlers get into the car?

 

[Ellery84]

Police update on the case;

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/rockhampton/police-courts/police-provide-update-after-two-boys-found-dead-in-car-at-woorabinda/news-story/623665967a095838ddc6f47ac9c8e61c

 

[Ellery84]

Police update on the case;

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/rockhampton/police-courts/police-provide-update-after-two-boys-found-dead-in-car-at-woorabinda/news-story/623665967a095838ddc6f47ac9c8e61c

An autopsy will be conducted on Thursday, November 16, on two toddlers who tragically lost their lives after they were found in a car almost a week ago at a home in the Central Queensland town of Woorabinda.
Emergency services were called to a property in the Indigenous town 170km southwest of Rockhampton on November 10 after a two-year-old boy was found unconscious in the vehicle about 6.30pm.

The child was driven to the local hospital and hospital staff and paramedics attempted to save him but he could not be resuscitated and died before a rescue helicopter sent to the town could land.


(From the article above in Original Post).

 

[Ellery84]

How did the toddlers get into the car?

Good question. AFAIK, police haven’t said.

They’ve also not named any persons of interest, and they haven’t published if the homicide team is or is not investigating.

IMO

 

[Couldbe]

An autopsy will be conducted on Thursday, November 16, on two toddlers who tragically lost their lives after they were found in a car almost a week ago at a home in the Central Queensland town of Woorabinda.
Emergency services were called to a property in the Indigenous town 170km southwest of Rockhampton on November 10 after a two-year-old boy was found unconscious in the vehicle about 6.30pm.

The child was driven to the local hospital and hospital staff and paramedics attempted to save him but he could not be resuscitated and died before a rescue helicopter sent to the town could land.


(From the article above in Original Post).

Thank you for the extract here Ellery.

 

[Ellery84]

Thank you for the extract here Ellery.

No problem, @Couldbe .

It’s such a sad case.

 

[Ellery84]

An autopsy will be conducted on Thursday, November 16, on two toddlers who tragically lost their lives after they were found in a car almost a week ago at a home in the Central Queensland town of Woorabinda.
Emergency services were called to a property in the Indigenous town 170km southwest of Rockhampton on November 10 after a two-year-old boy was found unconscious in the vehicle about 6.30pm.

The child was driven to the local hospital and hospital staff and paramedics attempted to save him but he could not be resuscitated and died before a rescue helicopter sent to the town could land.


(From the article above in Original Post).

I just wanted to add here,

Sudden deaths investigation, Woorabinda:

Investigations are ongoing.

If you have information for police, contact Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24hrs per day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting or call 131 444.

Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au.

Quote this reference number: QP2301880106

(Source: QPS)

 

[Ellery84]

The sudden death in Woorabinda QPOL investigation web page / link has been taken down. <images from the missing web page below>

I am a little perturbed by this, by the lack of updates from QLDPOL…. by the silence.

IMO

Autopsies were due to be conducted on or around 16 Nov.

https://www.facebook.com/100063792293407/posts/pfbid02WiA6KeojZBosSkmci3C23hphjdNmKQT3E5xn2rSAV4iCCVAsHw6H1Ajh3GbEcwATl

It’s now Nov 24, 2023 and no update. How long does an autopsy take?

https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/news/2023/11/11/sudden-deaths-investigation-woorabinda-2/

 

[Ellery84]

Update from Woorabinda State School official Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/100064346246065/posts/pfbid02YKeBSNVv5UzmqN7XxyMCukFcP4M1tstbhYR3Tgk97QZb1wgJ7zAL9NgxHcpBj8ikl

The statement reads:
Today our Woorabinda State School Captains presented thank you cards made by all of the classes to members of the emergency services and hospital staff. We are very grateful for their hard work and support for our school and community. We are very lucky to have such committed people in Woorabinda.
Jo Ross - Principal

 

[ChatteringBirds]

My heart goes out to the loved-ones of the victims.

There have been many cases of children becoming trapped in cars and quickly succumbing to the heat while their caregivers thought they were playing safely nearby, so I reserve judgment on that part of the case.

I also understand how the people who found the first boy might have just accidentally missed the 2nd one, in their panic to remove the first from the car.

But how did the boys' caregiver(s) not miss the 2nd boy, so that police had to end up incidentally finding him?

There have been cases where a caregiver was taking a nap and thought the child was, too, but I don't know if even that type of scenario fits this timeline? JMO.

 

[Ellery84]

My heart goes out to the loved-ones of the victims.

There have been many cases of children becoming trapped in cars and quickly succumbing to the heat while their caregivers thought they were playing safely nearby, so I reserve judgment on that part of the case.

I also understand how the people who found the first boy might have just accidentally missed the 2nd one, in their panic to remove the first from the car.

The second toddler was apparently found by police to be in the footwell of the car, which is a recessed compartment in front of the seats of a vehicle.

**attached, random photo of footwell of a vehicle, not the vehicle in question **

But how did the boys' caregiver(s) not miss the 2nd boy, so that police had to end up incidentally finding him?

There have been cases where a caregiver was taking a nap and thought the child was, too, but I don't know if even that type of scenario fits this timeline? JMO.

 

[Ellery84]

“Among Nyungar [Aborigines in the south-west of Western Australia] and in the Darwin region the business of ‘watching for’ and ‘worry for all them kids’ is the business of groupings of ‘close up’ people. This is to say that care for kids and expression of concern for their respective destinies falls with a weight of obligation on a set of people and adults of the extended family made up not merely of nominal kinfolk, but of those who are recognised as effective kin because the placement of children and the allocation of responsibilities for guardianship are things that ordinarily belong within the ambit of ‘close up’ kinship, special problems are encountered when a grouping of ‘close up’ kin fail to accommodate and care for a child.[53]” (from ALRC document below)


“It is quite common for Aboriginal children within Aboriginal communities to be fed and to sleep at the house or camp of a number of different people. It may be that for periods of time often extending over a number of years primary responsibility for a child’s upbringing may rest with an aunt or grandmother. Members of the extended family may have particular roles in child rearing prescribed under the kinship system. Persons other than the parents will play, and be expected to play, an important part in ‘growing-up children’.” (from ALRC document below)

IMO it’s going to be very difficult for police to establish who had the responsibility and duty of care at the time of the childrens deaths.

In Western society, we turn first to the mother to look at how she has cared for the child, but the police will not be able to blame either child’s mother, as both mothers were hours away in Cherbourg when the toddlers died. Toddlers' mothers were five hours away when they died in an unused car

IMO




Aboriginal Family and Child Care Arrangements | ALRC