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The state’s acting top cop has offered support to family and frontline staff involved in the continuing investigation into the death of a seven-month-old boy near his family’s campsite on the weekend.
The infant was found unresponsive about 10.40am on Saturday after his mother pulled him from a lake about 50 metres from where his family had been camping at Chatsworth Park – a rest stop about 160 kilometres north of Brisbane.
The baby was rushed by ambulance to hospital but could not be revived and was declared dead that night.
A baby boy was found unresponsive in a lake in Chatsworth Park in Gympie on Saturday morning.Credit: Google Maps
Acting Police Commissioner Shane Chelepy remained tight-lipped on the investigation on Tuesday, but offered support to frontline workers involved in the case.
“[The death] is absolutely tragic – when we see any child death, it’s absolutely tragic to the family,” Chelepy said.
“It’s hard on emergency service workers that turn up to those jobs as well … we’ll support our staff [and] all people involved in it.”
The baby’s family had been camping overnight at the well-known rest stop just north of Gympie, off Gympie-Curra Road, on their way home to north Queensland.
Police received a report from the coroner about 8.30am on Monday, but had yet to release the findings.
Speaking from the Gympie police station on Monday, Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said the family had set up a campsite 40 to 50 metres from the water’s edge.
“The family were passing through. They were just staying there overnight and, tragically, this incident has happened the following morning,” Mansfield said.
He said the infant’s death had been particularly traumatic for his mother. Other people at the scene had given him CPR while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Both parents remained in Gympie on Monday while the investigation continued. In a statement, police said: “The mother and father of the child are assisting police with inquiries.”
No persons of interest had been identified or taken into custody, Mansfield said.
He said several people had called triple zero on Saturday morning, and police were yet to determine whether the child’s parents had a history of mental health issues or domestic violence.
Mansfield said the incident was being treated as an “unexplained death”, but the child trauma unit, homicide investigation group and local detectives were involved in the ongoing investigation.
Detectives also launched an appeal for information on Monday, with Manfield explaining the rest stop was popular with motorists travelling north of Gympie.
Detective Inspector Craig Mansfield said the infant’s family had spent the night at the rest stop.Credit: Google Maps
“We’ve had a lot of campers staying there overnight, and we’ve also had a lot of people just popping in to use the facilities, and also the parks, so we’re aware that some people have left shortly [after] or thereabouts at the time of this drowning,” Mansfield said.
“We’re just missing parts leading into [the infant’s death] that we need to try and establish and square away,” he said.
Mansfield asked anyone who had been at the park between 9am and 11am on Saturday to come forward.
He added that police had spoken to several people, but maintained everyone officers had interviewed were “just witnesses”.
Mansfield said some people spent more than one night in the park, but he hadn’t “drilled into whether they’re homeless or not”.
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