Father and Baby Boy Found Dead in Alleged Sunshine Coast Murder-Suicide

The family of a baby boy killed in an horrific alleged murder-suicide have begged the public to help his devastated mother pay for the funeral.

The Go Fund me appeal for baby William comes as police reveal the father was pulled over for a traffic check before allegedly killing his infant son and himself.

It’s another devastating blow for the Queensland family, whose world was shattered forever on 6 February, 2019. That’s when a council worker found the bodies in a car on a remote track near the Beerburrum State Forest camping ground, 80km north of Brisbane.

baby murder-suicide victim William — Baby William was only six months old. Image source: Facebook

Police let killer dad go

In a heartbreaking twist, police reportedly caught the father driving over the legal alcohol limit on the night William went missing, but let him go even though he had also been speeding. Police pulled him over in his red Holden Commodore not far from where a council worker later found the bodies.

According to a Nine News report, the father was left off with a fine after giving the officer a “sob story”. The police officer searched the back of the car with a torch, but did not see a baby. The officer is “distraught” after learning what happened when he let the man go

‘Please help her’

Katie Buckingham started the Go Fund Me appeal for her cousin, William’s mum.

“This should never have happened! The courts have let her down and not kept the baby’s father away from her son! Now this beautiful and innocent baby boy has been taken from her by the man who did nothing but make her life hell,” Katie wrote.

Please help her and her kids to be able to pay for everything they need to so that they can grieve. This is the saddest day for everyone involved.”

A sad and unsuspecting discovery

9News reports Queensland Police are investigating the scene after a council worker made the grim discovery on Wednesday, at 8am at Roys Road camping ground, Coochin Creek, Queensland.

Roys Road camping ground crime scene — *The car found with the deceased father and baby. Images courtesy of 9NEWS*

The investigation continues

Authorities are still to confirm the circumstances surrounding the heartbreaking incident. However Queensland Police did reveal in a statement that detectives are treating the death of the baby boy as suspicious, and the death of the man as non-suspicious.

The pair were reported missing on Monday after failing to turn up in relation to some custody arrangements. The mother was concerned so some welfare checks were undertaken initially, before it escalated into a missing person investigation.

“At this stage, detectives are treating the death of the child as suspicious and the man’s death as non-suspicious,” police said in a statement.

Detective Inspector Dave Drinnen described the incident as “extremely distressing”. He went on to say that the father and the child’s mother had separated and didn’t have any other children.

“The mother was distraught as you could imagine,” he said.

“It’s still early stages in the investigation and we will be determining the circumstances surrounding [the deaths] but at this stage we have a tragic incident in which a father and his child are deceased.”

Detective Inspector Drinnen said there were allegations of domestic violence against the 46-year-old man.

The investigation continues.

Our hearts go out to the families and friends of the victims, the people who were first on the scene, emergency service personnel and their communities.