The father of the baby found dead on Surfers Paradise beach on Monday morning has been charged with murder.
The young child is believed to have been thrown into the Jack Evans Boat Harbour in Tweed Heads and subsequently drowned, her empty pram found next to the waterway.
As of Wednesday night, the father – a 48-year-old homeless man – has been extradited from Queensland to NSW to face charges of murder – the man has not entered a plea.
The mother, a 23-year-old private school girl from Geelong, cannot be named for legal reasons, but her teacher described her as a promising and bright student.
“She was a gorgeous kid,” the former teacher told The Australian, “As far as I can remember, there were certainly no family issues when she was at school.”
CCTV footage from the believed day of the murder shows the young girl, her father, mother and two-year-old sibling, travelling from the Gold Coast to Tweed Heads.
Images captured later in the day show the father, mother and the two-year-old sibling, getting a bus from Coolangatta back to Queensland.
The matter has since been handed over to the NSW police.
Tweed Heads Police Detective Inspector Brendan Cullen faced reporters to discuss the complex issues of the case, “This is an extremely complex investigation as it crosses jurisdictional boundaries, time zones.”
It is believed that the family was known to Queensland police prior to the case and that there were several formal notifications to the Department of Child Safety about the baby.
Southport Magistrates Court was told on Wednesday that the father was a violent schizophrenic, who believed his daughter to be possessed.
The 23-year-old mother has been released by police without charges.
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