Tragic twist after Australian mum found dead beneath a cliff with daughter | Daily Mail

When news emerged earlier this week that a 36 -year -old woman had plunged to her death from a remote clifftop in South Australia alongside at least one small child, with another one missing, the country was left in shock.But the news was to get even worse still.Police have revealed they are now investigating the incident as a murder -suicide.

I'm able to say that the investigation is now being treated as a murder -suicide.It's important we get that information out because we understand the strong community and media interest in this investigation and this matter.We have needed to conduct preliminary aspects of the investigation in order to reach a stage where we can make that statement.

With a mother and an almost two -year -old girl dead and a three -month -old little boy missing in the frigid wild waters off the coast of South Australia's southernmost point.Police have now been forced to reveal that Helena Wright, a young mother from Compton, South Australia, at a semi -rural suburb just outside of Mount Gambier, had actually attended the Mount Gambier police station on Sunday, pleading for help, and was apparently told to go home and come back tomorrow.So, going by the timeline, she had apparently gone and asked for help just hours before she leapt to her death with her two small children.When she did not return to the police station on Monday, some patrol officers attended her home address, which they found on Monday morning empty.There was no Helena, no kids and no car.Around 11 .30am that morning, her Isuzu MU -X was found with the engine still running at the car park of the Cape Northumberland Clifftops.

Now this is a really interesting story.outcrop that forms the southernmost point of South Australia before you start heading towards the Victorian border.It juts into the wild freezing cold, especially at this time of year, freezing cold southern ocean and at the base of those cliffs in the water it's also surrounded by sharp rock hazards.The Cape is a 30 minute drive south of Compton and about 6km west of Port Macdonald, which is a lovely little fishing town and tourist stopover spot.If anyone's done the Great Ocean Road from Victoria to Adelaide, you've most likely stopped off at Port Macdonald for a quick coffee or even a couple of nights.Soon after Helena's car was located in that car park, so too were two bodies in the water.

One was an adult and one was a toddler -aged little girl.Those bodies were pulled from the water by local fishermen and found to be Helena and her 23 -month -old daughter, Hazel.There was no sign of her three -month -old son, Lewis.A desperate search for that baby boy was immediately launched.There were boats in the water, a helicopter and drone circling, police, SES, CFS scouring the shoreline between Cape Northumberland and Port MacDonald.There was no sign of this baby.

These search and rescue workers, they were battling horrific conditions on Monday and Tuesday in particular.It was freezing cold, the swell was huge, winds were up, it was raining and visibility was so limited that some of the smaller vessels actually had to turn back to port.As the days went by, hopes were very quickly fading of finding that little boy's remains.I spoke to one local in the town who told me that things that go into the water at Cape Northumberland tend toup in the township beach at Port Macdonald.But she also didn't have a lot of hope of the little boy appearing anywhere along that shoreline because she also said that the area is patrolled by predators, especially sharks.

As the search went on in the water and along the shoreline there, there was also a thorough investigation being conducted behind the scenes.Police had spoken to Helena's husband, Brad, and were quickly coming to the conclusion that no other adult aside from Helena was involved in her plunging from that cliff alongside what appeared to be both of her children.This led police to come to the conclusion that they were looking at a murder -suicide.On Wednesday evening, Limestone Coast police officer in charge, Superintendent Trent Cox, had to make the sad announcement that the search for the little boy was over.

The reality is, after three days, the chances of finding the baby alive are zero, sadly.

Now, this devastated, tight -knit community in South Australia's southeast, which sits on the border with Victoria, is turning its thoughts to just how such an immense tragedy could have occurred.By many accounts, Helena, who was born in Estonia, was a much -loved member of the wider Mount Gambier community.She volunteered with a local toy library charity, and I'm told she was an active churchgoer and a keen gardener who was often seen in the yard of her Compton home, tending to her plants.According to neighbours who spoke to the Adelaide Advertiser, Helena was a stay -at -home mother and she was quite well known for making her kids clothes herself.Helena and Brad were often seen in the yard of her family home.spending hours pushing Hazel on her swing while the baby boy was strapped to his father's chest.

A picture that has been shared widely of Helena since her death shows a woman who on the outside looks really happy.This photo shows her sitting on the ferris wheel at Glenelg Beach which is an iconic structure there during summer.In the background you can see the the local water park in Glenelg called the Beach House.But beneath this happy picture of Helena and this story of family bliss that we've just heard, clearly behind the scenes something was very, very wrong.We were tipped off to this via a quite intense police press conference in Mount Gambier on Wednesday morning.That's when a Channel 7 reporter confronted Superintendent Cox with a very clear question.

The background to any interactions with police forms part of a brief of evidence for the for the coroner and whatever interactions anyone has had that's relevant will be included in that advice to the coroner.I'm not confirming anything or denying anything I'm saying we will provide factual evidence to the coroner as part of that brief.Like I said, that any contact with police will form part of the brief that we provide the coroner as part of an investigation.I can't confirm or deny that's part of the investigation and I don't want to release information that's not entirely accurate or is just factual that we need to report to the coroner.

Later, the police would confirm that they did conduct a welfare check on Helena at her home address on Monday morning.Police can confirm as a result ofcall from a friend received at about 9 .30 on Monday 27th of July, a patrol conducted a welfare check at the home address of Ms Wright.No one was located at that time.Now the Compton and wider Mount Gambier community is throwing its collective arms around Brad, the devastated father left behind.It's said that he went to work as normal on Monday morning just hours before his wife and kids died.

He is now grappling with the reality of an empty house and whether anything could have been done to prevent his wife from apparently killing his children, especially given that she, according to many, approached authorities for help just before she did this.A coronial investigation is now underway with a report to be prepared for the coroner.If this story raises issues for you, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36.